gelato

Many would say gelato has very little to do with humble ice cream: it packs in some much luscious flavour that it deserves a category of its own. And it doesn't taste better just because you're in Italy.

So what's the difference? Gelato tends to use more whole milk than cream, so it generally has half as much fat in its ice cream (5-7% compared to 10% in ice cream).

Gelato is also churned much slower than ice cream, so it has a lot less air (25% in general, compared to the up to 50% in ice cream), resulting in a much denser product. It also kept at slightly warmer temperatures than ice cream (never frozen solid) which is why you can't get it in a supermarket and have to go to gelateria to buy some. Which isn't such a bad thing.

The great 16th-century Florentine Mannerist architect and engineer, Bernardo Buontalenti invented gelato for a Medici feast. His original recipe was flavoured with bergamot and orange, with a touch of wine, and he also designed ice cellars in the palaces to make and store it. Recently a flavour of gelato, based on Buontalenti's original recipe and called (naturally) 'Buontalenti' was invented in Florence's Gelateria Badiani.

In Buontalenti's honour, Florence holds an annual Gelato Festival in April, featuring innovative artisanal ice creams starts in Florence before moving around Italy and gelato-loving cities around the world.