Carpigiani Gelato University: An Education in the Art of Gelato

Forget Underwater Basket-weaving 101. There’s a new fun class in town and you even get to eat your homework! The Carpigiani Gelato University is an entire school dedicated to the art and traditional production of gelato. And I’m now a proud graduate! No, I’m not giving up traveling the world to open up my own gelato shop in Prata, but I am now schooled on all things gelato.

So what is gelato anyway?

Gelato is usually translated to ice cream in English, but like most Italian to English translations, that is a very loose translation of the word. Gelato and ice cream are very different as I learned at Gelato University. Gelato has less fat than ice cream and is even nutritional!

In fact, water – not milk or cream – is the key ingredient in gelato. Fruit gelato, actually called sorbet, contains no milk or cream at all. The simple banana sorbet we made as our very first attempt at gelato had a very short ingredient list:

• water
• Sugar
• bananas
• air whipped into the mixture

That’s it!

Gelato Making 101

Making banana sorbet

My day at Gelato University began with a lesson by Gelato Maestro Luciano Ferrari in the gelato lab. He first explained how to determine the quality of gelato. It should have gusto, meaning it be taste intense, natural, and fresh. The color should be a natural color. For example, banana should be a grayish color, not bright yellow. And pistachio should be a dull green-gray color, not bright green. Finally, it should be dense yet creamy.

Artisan gelato is produced fresh daily because without preservatives, it is only good for no more than 48 hours.

After reviewing techniques and the base recipe for both gelato and sorbet, we actually made gelato. And more importantly, we ate gelato! After all, we had to taste it to make sure it met Maestro Ferrari’s quality standards (but you sure didn’t have to twist my arm).

Fresh pistachio gelato

Gelato Museum

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