Stracciatella means 'little shreds'.
It's the Italian version of Chinese egg drop soup. A traditional Roman dish, with egg strained into the soup to form straccetti along with parmesan, nutmeg and pastine (tiny pasta). Many people like to add spinach as well.
In 1962, in a restaurant in Bergamo by Enrico Panattoni, decided to crack some chocolate into the gelato, and called it stracciatella because it reminded him of the soup, and Italian chocolate chip ice cream was born.
Stracciatella is also the name for shredded bufala mozzarella in Puglia, mixed with heavy cream in making burrata.
Images by stu_spivack, umanigirl