Stracciatella (ice cream)


Stracciatella is a variety of gelato, consisting of milk-based ice cream filled with fine, irregular shavings of chocolate. It was originally created in Bergamo, northern Italy, at the ‘Ristorante La Marianna’ in 1961, and was inspired by stracciatella soup, made from egg and broth, which is popular around Rome. It is one of the most renowned Italian gelato flavours.

Description

Makers produce the effect by drizzling melted chocolate into plain milk ice cream towards the end of the churning process; chocolate solidifies immediately coming in contact with the cold ice cream, and is then broken up and incorporated into the ice cream with a spatula. This process creates the shreds of chocolate that give stracciatella its name. While stracciatella ice cream traditionally involves milk ice cream and milk chocolate, modern variations can also be made with vanilla and dark chocolate.

Origin

Enrico Panattoni, the owner of La Marianna, a gelateria in Bergamo in northern Italy, invented the dish in 1961.
According to Panattoni, the idea came to him after he had grown tired of stirring eggs into broth to satisfy customers of his restaurant who kept asking for stracciatella soup.