Gelato is Italian for ice cream.

The difference between most American and Italian ice creams is that gelato has less air (usually less than 35 percent), making it dense and rich. Like ice cream, gelato can be made with milk, sugar and things like fruit, nuts (hazelnut gelato is a Northern Italian specialty) or chocolate.

Unlike ice cream, traditional gelato is not homogenized, meaning that it melts faster. Gelato is kept frozen in a special forced-air freezer that keeps it at a firm but not rock-solid temperature that means it can be eaten straight out of the freezer. Putting gelato in a traditional ice cream freezer overfreezes it.

Milk-based gelato is traditional in Northern Italy. Water-based fruit sorbetto is more common in the South of Italy.