Stracciatella

Stracciatella is a gelato flavour made from milk and cream, with fine, irregular shreds of chocolate running through it. It is one of the best-known ice cream flavours in Italy.

History

The flavour is usually credited to Enrico Panattoni, owner of La Marianna, a gelateria in Bergamo in northern Italy, who created it in 1961. The story goes that he had grown tired of stirring beaten egg into broth to meet customers' requests for stracciatella soup, a dish popular in Rome. After many experiments, he settled on a white cream ice with chunks of dark chocolate.

The method involves pouring melted chocolate into plain milk ice cream near the end of churning. The chocolate hardens on contact with the cold and the machine's paddles break it into thin shreds that spread through the base, which gives the flavour its name, roughly 'little shreds' in Italian. The traditional version uses milk ice cream and milk chocolate, while modern versions may use vanilla and dark chocolate.

Culture

Stracciatella is a staple of Italian gelaterias, often displayed alongside vanilla and chocolate. Its appeal lies in the contrast between the creamy base and brittle chocolate pieces, which has made it familiar in Italy and abroad. Its link to the Roman soup survives mainly in the name and in the idea of a hot liquid that sets instantly as it is poured in.

Trivia