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OH GELATO!

Gelato's origin dates all the way back to the 16th century and is generally credited to one Bernado Buontalenti, a native of Florence, while Sicilian-born Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli is credited with introducing it to the rest of Europe. Jim Morgan investigates this delightful treat a little closer to home.

Vespa motor scooters, Alfa Romeo sportscars, Sophia Loren... is there anything more Italian than gelato? Probably not. However, rather than Italy, this month we look at a small business in the countryside north of Auckland making 'gelato artiginale', this most Italian of delights.

Making a start
Charlie Wrigglesworth had been growing and selling fresh fruit from his Matakana property to the local community since 1992. Looking around for ways to add value and diversify he considered making and selling American-style frozen custard. A holiday in Italy put paid to that idea. Having tried gelato, produced and sold by 'gelateria artiginale' (artisan gelato shops) around Italy, he now had an idea he could work with.

Back home and time to put the idea into practice.
A purpose-built gelateria was constructed on the road frontage of the property and the specialist machinery was imported to get things under way.

Gelateria artiginale use fresh ingredients to produce batches of gelato daily to sell from their own premises. This concept was a particularly good fit for Charlie's budding business idea. He had always sold his produce directly to local businesses and the community without having a distributor and this would allow him to do the same, keeping control and maintaining quality.

Making gelato

Isn't gelato just Italian ice-cream? Well not exactly. Ice-cream has to have at least 10% milk fat to be called ice-cream. Gelato typically has about half that amount and also less air whipped into the mix, described in the industry as low overrun. This gives it a creamy texture despite the lower fat content.

The ingredients – milk, egg yolks, sugar and flavour – are loaded into a pasturiser/mixer which heats the contents to 65^oC then rapidly cools to 4^oC. The mix is then allowed to sit overnight before being introduced to the churn where the 5-litre batches are further mixed. Any fruit solids are added to the gelato as it comes out of the churn.

'Charlie's' use their own fresh fruit and fruit grown locally, but the nut flavours are imported as paste from Italy.

As well as the 23 flavours they produce, depending on season and demand, they also make sorbetto, a non-dairy, lighter alternative to gelato.

As we look forward to a hot Kiwi summer what better time to enjoy this cool Italian treat! Oh, and if you're looking for Charlies, they are located on Sharp Road in Matakana!

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