Stracciatella

Stracciatella is a variety of Italian gelato (ice cream), consisting of milk, cream, and sugar, with chocolate bits swirled inside the mixture. It was originally invented in 1962 at the Ristorante La Marianna in Bergamo by Enrico Panattoni, who first decided to crack pieces of chocolate into the ice cream. He was supposedly inspired by the soup of the same name, made by cracking eggs into a broth, a process similar to cracking chocolate into gelato. Stracciatella is characterized by its smooth texture with a slight crunch. Its name is derived from the Italian stracciare, meaning to tear or shred into pieces. Today, stracciatella is one of the most popular ice cream varieties in the world.