By Miranda Kohout
Italy has set the world’s standard for gelato, and opportunities to experience it present themselves immediately upon landing – from airport kiosks to convenience stores to artisanal shops. If you’ve managed to visit Italy without sampling some, the fault is entirely yours. Gelato’s quality, whether you’re in Italy or elsewhere, can range from sublime to questionable. Though some might argue that the worst Italian gelato is better than the best ice cream from anywhere else, it comes down to care and quality. SIGEP, with roughly a quarter of its exhibitors and hours of programming devoted to gelato, is an ideal venue to explore first-hand the difference ingredients, equipment, and know-how can make, all in one walkable, albeit sprawling, location.
What is Gelato?
While whole treatises have been written exploring the difference between gelato and ice cream, and tips for identifying quality gelato abound, a boots-on-the-ground look into the matter leaves the following general impressions:
Gelato skews low-fat. Dairy fat can muddy flavor, and so can egg yolks. The milk used most often in gelato is fat-free, and eggs are generally, though not always, omitted.
The best gelato has a creamy texture and offers unadulterated flavor. When you sample a perfect hazelnut gelato, fresh, roasted hazelnuts will be all you can think about. This – complete sensorial absorption – is the ideal you’re seeking; accept no less.
Size does not matter. You’ll read that you should avoid shops where the gelato case displays each flavor heaped in a tall peak. Good luck! This is the preferred way to display gelato, and you’ll see it almost universally. While at one time, an Everest (or Etna) of gelato that did not melt when piled above the freeze line indicated the presence of saturated fats or similar verboten ingredients, this is no longer the case thanks to modern ingredients and display cases.
Ugly gelato = beautiful flavor. When it comes to color, especially for produce-based gelato, bright, attractive hues are best avoided. Vibrant green pistachio gelato, for example, will draw our eyes, but you should seek out one that is a lackluster, muddy beige if you’re looking for a pure and true pistachio experience. Avoid artificial colors; their presence implies a lower quality.
Gelato has a lower overrun and is served warmer than ice cream. Both of these factors contribute to the flavor and texture of gelato. Good gelato should be spread with a spatula, rather than scooped with a disher or similar tool. Less air in the product, coupled with a warmer serving temperature, allows for a creamier texture while also making flavors easier to perceive.
The Gelato World Cup
Every two years, SIGEP hosts the Gelato World Cup, an international competition at which teams of chefs vie for the title of World Gelato Champion. The competition takes place every two years and, for 2026, featured 12 international teams of six chefs each competing in nine challenges, including a Fruit Mystery Box Challenge, Gelato Sticks and Gelato Cake.
Entrée with Gourmet Gelato Gastronomico: The Savory Round
Being on the Gelato World Cup jury is the stuff of dreams for many. While the assignment might bring to mind visions of frozen indulgence featuring chocolate, nuts or berries, journalists were invited to judge the savory portion of the competition. No marshmallow swirls here. Each country’s team was tasked with preparing a tomato gelato and pairing it with three savory mini entrees.
Tomato varieties abound, each with its own flavor and texture. However, regardless of variety, a tomato is 94-95% water, so translating its flavor into a frozen application presents a challenge, as does the basic technology of a gelato recipe. Sugars provide the backbone for gelato’s texture and structure, so choosing a combination of sugars that limit sweetening, while still creating gelato’s signature creamy texture, requires comprehensive knowledge of ingredients. As you’d expect, each team was well up to the task.
The Entrée challenge spanned two days, with six teams presenting their entries on each day.
Entries were evaluated based on taste, texture, “cold feel,” plate aesthetic, taste combination and creativity.
Gelato should be served neither too warm nor too cold, and the cold sensation one experiences when tasting gelato should be refreshing and pleasant rather than brain-freeze-inducing.
Highlights from Day 1
Japan’s team served its entry on a sculptural glass stand reminiscent of an ocean wave. In keeping with the theme, they presented their tomato gelato in a dish shaped like a sea urchin to complement the ocean-themed entrees presented for pairing. The gelato was made with tomato water, the distilled juice of fresh tomatoes. The flavor was subtle, and the color was pure white.
Argentina wooed the Italian judges by using a special tiny tomato from Napoli in its gelato. Italy’s pride in its regional produce is second to none, and this nod to a celebrated Italian tomato variety was a thoughtful gesture that paid off with a sweet and true tomato flavor.
Team Mexico celebrated its own regional roots by using a traditional roasting method featuring mesquite. Before being puréed, the tomatoes were slow-roasted and charred, giving Mexico’s sorbet a unique depth of flavor and subtle smokiness that paired beautifully with the savory accompaniments.
For its pure tomato flavor and a beautiful texture, Belgium’s entry received top marks from at least two judges, but it was not enough to secure the title. Japan won the first day’s savory round, with Italy winning Day 2 and the Entrée round overall.
In an upset notable for a competition that has favored Italy and France in all previous years, Singapore went home with the Cup for 2026.
Tasting Gelato
While you couldn’t find hand- or house-made artisanal gelato at SIGEP, you could find almost everything you needed to make it, including purées, dairy ingredients, flavorings, ready-made mixes and mix-ins, all right next to the non-ingredient components of a gelato shop, such as machinery, freezer cases, logo-emblazoned cups and branded spoons.
But if there were no artisans presenting gelato at SIGEP, is any of it worth tasting? Absolutely. A chef making their own gelato base from local ingredients can source top-quality nut pastes, purees, compotes and other flavorings from around the world, and SIGEP offered the opportunity to explore a wide range of options – from fully fabricated fruit gel to exotic fruit puree from fruits picked at their peak and flash-frozen. Many purveyors allowed attendees to experience their products “in action” by crafting top-notch gelatos with their signature ingredients.
As expected, pistachios were nearly ubiquitous at the event, both because of the recent Dubai chocolate trend and because Italy produces some of the best pistachios in the world. Hopping from booth to booth and tasting only pistachio gelatos was an education in itself. Many manufacturers featured pistachios from different regions and in vegan, low-sugar or dairy-free formats, so one stop could offer five or six different pistachio gelatos to taste and compare.
Gelatos that accommodate special diets such as dairy-free or vegan continue to gain traction in the gelato world. The results are mixed, but the best producers are using the lack of dairy fat to their advantage, producing gelatos with flavors that sing, unobscured by palate-coating animal fats.
Labor shortages and other issues in the culinary industry have made ready-made mixes increasingly attractive rather than verboten, and manufacturers have made strides in meeting the demand for high-quality products that save on labor and don’t require specialized training. One manufacturer’s premium gelato mix featured both milk and sugar sourced from Italy, and the corresponding fruit preparations used local, unique and specially grown produce, processed with utmost care. All the passion and knowledge that a chef would put into making their own product had been provided by the manufacturer, and the result was incredible.
As you were powered by espresso shots and propelled by tiny tasting spoons, your exploration of gelato at SIGEP was as much an exploration of Italy and Italian pride in tradition and quality ingredients as it was in gelato itself. With everything one might need to open up shop so close at hand, dreams of owning a little gelato shop of one’s own were hard to tamp down. For many, the fantasy will become reality, and more gelato shops worldwide can only be a good thing.
(This article appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of Pastry Arts Magazine)
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