Hello God!
Thank You for my cone of stracciatella I am licking now! As for me and it has deep roots from my childhood true Spring begins from a cone of ice-cream without a threat of laryngitis.
Vanilla ice cream with small, delicious shreds of dark chocolate – mmmm, it is mouthwatering. With this epitome of perfect taste I am happy to invite you in Bergamo, Northern Italy, where the door to the single place where you can try original taste of Stracciatella Gelato opens!
Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, derived from the Latin word “gelātus” (meaning frozen). What differentiates gelato from ice cream is its dense, yet super creamy texture. This is mainly the result of two things: gelato is churned so that very little air is incorporated, so it’s less fluffy than ice cream; two, gelato at the gelaterias is stored at a higher temperature than most ice cream, so even though its dense it doesn’t freeze solid – like many ice creams left too long in the freezer.
The story of Stracciatella Gelato begins here on Largo Colle aperto 2/4, Bergamo, in cafe “La Marianna”. Please, come in and seat at the table you like.
“La Marianna” is a strong family-run business, and in Italy it means that father has unlimited power to involve his children to help than to live by the business. Enrico Panattoni, the youngest son, was responsible for stirring eggs in the soup-like dish called “Stracciatella”. “Stracciare” means “to shred” or “to tear up” in Italian and, indeed, that is how the soup looks after stirring some beaten eggs with some cheese in a good chicken broth.
The soup was the main dish in the menu of “La Marianna” in 60’s. The cafe was mecca for “Stracciatella” soup. But Enrico Panattoni was sad – every customer wanted to eat only the soup.
“It seems I have to stir eggs for the end of my life” he thinks even not asking a new client what he or she would like to order. Enrico was sure all clients want to eat this damn soup!
It happened in April in 1961. A girl had changed everything! This girl in a silk vanilla color blouse and dark chocolate-brown skirt in soft cream suede ballerina shoes opened “La Marianna”s door and Miracle had smiled to Enrico! He floated in her eyes and he knew she would not order the soup. She would order something different. “I would like, mmm, I want, I will, ge-la-to. Yeas, I would like a cone of gelato” the girl made her choice.
“Tuk, tuk, tuk – I hear every beat of my heart” Enrico happily noticed. “My dream, my old dream is on the way to its realization. Today I am going to present my creation. This girl will try my Stracciatella Gelato!”
After various and repeated experiments in tight secret from father, Enrico Panattoni created a particular gelato. His method of “drizzling in” melted chocolate creates the characteristic shreds – when melted chocolate hits the cold vanilla ice cream base it immediately hardens and breaks into small, brittle shreds – which are dispersed throughout the ice cream during the churning. The melted chocolate just remember the egg congeals into the boiling broth of the soup “Stracciatella”.
“You have to give a name to this delight and then … why not call it as one of the most popular dish of the restaurant “La Marianna”, “Stracciatella”?” happy Enrico had just prepared the cone of his creation to the girl.
The girl was beautiful. April tender breeze was playing in her hairs and her lips had touched the cone of gelato – Enrico’s creation! Do you know what happened with the girl and Enrico? For romantic Italian boy the lips which tried his creation at the first time became the single lips he kissed every day in their happy marriage.
Enrico Panattoni held tightly the original recipe, which is still a family secret – no patent, no copyright, people arrive to “La Marianna” to try “Vera Stracciatella”!
Stracciatella Gelato prepared according to the original recipe here. That Stracciatella which is still produced with vertical machines (the famous Carpigiani L40 with tinned copper bell and wet brine) with simple ingredients such as fresh milk, egg yolks, sugar, cream, gelatin and alginate sodium as a stabilizer. Chocolate coverage today is the Lindt dark chocolate with 58% cocoa.
I strongly recommend to buy a cone of Stracciatella Gelato in the nearest gelateria. You will understand what I am telling here about. Thank You for your pleasure!
Happy gelato weekend!
Glorialana Magazine 