The origins of gelato
The origins of gelato go back 12,000 years when, in Mesopotamia, slave runners traveled up to 100 kilometers to collect ice and snow used to cool drinks served during royal banquets and religious ceremonies. During the 11th century, the Arabs developed shrb, “sugar syrup”, a base for making fruit sorbets, medical herbs, spices and flowers. Shrb was the predecessor of sorbet, which became very popular in Sicily when it was under Arab rule; the Arabs grew in fact as many as 400 different types of flowers to flavor their sorbets.
The modern history of gelato
The “modern” history of gelato begins in the Renaissance with alchemist Cosimo Ruggieri, who is credited with creating the first gelato flavor at the court of the Medici family in Florence, the fior di latte. The architect Bernardo Buontalenti seems to have invented the egg cream gelato (gelato alla crema d’uovo); Francesco Redi and Lorenzo Magalotti made gelato famous by singing its praises and describing its ingredients. The Sicilian Francesco Procopio Cutò made gelato available to all when he opened Café Le Procope in Paris in 1686 and started selling it to the public; before then, gelato and sorbets were food for the rich because ice and salt were expensive and, therefore, only served in private residences. In the 19th century, the Neapolitan doctor Filippo Baldini wrote a treatise where he stated that gelato and sorbets are good both for the body and mind.
The passion and joy
I’ve had a passion and appreciation for Gelato for as long as I can remember. It’s so engrained in our culture that it wasn’t until I left Italy 12yrs ago, I realised the everyday joy of gelato wasn’t so easy to find elsewhere.
After living in Australia for a few years, I decided I wanted to share with my family and my new home the gelato culture I had been brought up in. I wanted them to be able experience the pure pleasure and happiness Gelato brings to the moment – anytime. So, my family and I began the journey, and here we are today with a beautiful Italian Gelato Cart.
Being able to bring our gelato to you in our beautiful Italian cart is something that we are really proud of. It means that where ever you want us, we can be there...whether it’s a wedding, birthday party, corporate event or just because…there is never a time that’s not right!
It’s the smile on people’s faces when they taste it that I love the most.
— Massimo Bernardini
Ready to make your world just that little bit sweeter?
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