Customer Reviews

Gelato!: Italian Ice Creams, Sorbetti, and Granite

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was very excited to get my first ice cream maker. I ordered this book, as well as Bruce Weinstein's "The Ultimate Ice Cream Book : Over 500 Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, Drinks, and More". While this book does a wonderful job of describing how Italians have made gelato, and the art and science involved, the recipes can be complicated and a little obscure. For example, she lists a prickly cactus pear sorbetto (the cactus has it's own lenghty preparation - if you can even find the stuff!), but there is no recipe for chocolate gelato or sorbet. (There is one for chocolate-hazelnut gelato, so it can be adapted). I like the inclusion of the more obscure varieties, but not at the expense of the basics.

It is a beautifully photographed and presented book, and would actually look quite good on the coffee table, or make an informative read outside the kitchen. However, I'm a little afraid to actually bring in into the kitchen, for fear of messing it up!

After my first 4 batches, I prefer Weinstein's book for variety, and for many flavors he offers more than one recipe so I can choose which level of complexity I want in the preparation. I haven't made enough batches to comment yet on how the final products came out, but thus far I am inspired to try more from Weinstein's book. I can relax and read this book while I eat my frozen treats.

This is a wonderful gift for ice-cream lovers (and we all know at least one!). Readers do not need an interest in Italian cuisine to appreciate the delicious recipes found in this book. A home ice cream makers is required but this does not mean the recipes are hard. On the contrary, I found the recipes to be very simple and easy to follow. And while waiting for the ice cream to finish, readers can browse the moth watering color photos! The end result is a pure, creamy and rich ice cream that is unrivaled by any store bought brand.

The author does a great job of explaining what makes gelato so good (much better than what any "super-premium" brand has to offer, in my opinion). If you love ice-cream and want to know how to make it in its purest form, then this is the book for you. I loved it.

I LOVE this book. The recipes are simple and pure. I love that there is minimal sugar and NO corn syrup (which is a big ingredient in many American ice cream recipes). I'm a bit confused by someone saying that some of the ingredients were hard to find? I live in New Hampshire (NOT a big city) and I was able to find ingredients. Also, someone complained about the process of preparing a prickly pear. Since when is PEELING considered a complicated procedure. If you love to cook, love food, and love cooking with fresh ingredients, then you will definitely love this book.

This cookbook of Italian ices, ice creams and granite requires an ice cream maker and an appreciation for ice cream: else preparation instructions are simple and recipes accompanied by intriguing color photos of completed dishes. Gelato!'s bright and appealing and is recommended for any newcomer to gelato-style ice cream.

I would have given this 3 stars if this was a history book. Maybe even 4. The pictures are nice; the tales of old Italy are interesting.

But as cook books go, this one is pretty sad. This popped up as recommended when I purchased a Lello 4070 Gelato Junior. So I assumed it would be good to use for an ice cream maker. It is not. Only 29 of the 47 (49 if you consider 2 variations on a syrup as 3 recipes and not 1) recipes in the book can even be made in an ice cream maker. And then the proportions are all off and wildly varied, from 1-6 liters. Plus you are not making Ice cream; you are making Gelato which will freeze rock hard in your freezer. They offer 3 solutions if you are in America instead of Italy: Eat it immediately and don't save it, set your freezer to a warmer temper (where your food will spoil but the Gelato will be nice) or get a separate Haier HNCM070E 7.0-Cu-Ft Chest Freezer, White for Gelato. You could also freeze a slab of marble, let the Gelato thaw a bit, and then mix it to a creamy texture on the frozen marble. Some non-ice cream maker recipes are labor intensive, like the Granatia, where you put it in a large baking dish, put it in the freezer, then take it out and stir every 30 minutes, until it is consistently crystallized.

If you want less creamy deserts that have less air and are willing to eat them immediately (or have a separate freezer) this might be exactly what you are looking for. If you are looking for recipes for your Ice cream Maker, try Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book

I thought the recipes looked and sounded awesome but when it came to making them, the recipes were not made for everyone. Alot of the ingredients are hard to find, or expensive, unless you live in a large city. The recipes I tried turned out great and were big hits.

The author does a great job of explaining what makes gelato so good (much better than what any "super-premium" brand has to offer, in my opinion). If you love ice-cream and want to know how to make it in its purest form, then this is the book for you. I loved it.

After spending 3 months in northern Italy and eating lots of gelato, we were anxious to buy a machine and a book of recipes to see if we could duplicate what we had eaten in Italy. The recipes are great and are easy to follow. I really like the history and the lay-out of the book...and the photos are excellent.

This is a great book! Although some of the recipies are a bit time-consuiming, all of them are easy to make and very tasty. It's a guaranteed hit with anyone who tastes it.