ah dang it

yeah as an italian I just found it very weird, I thought it was like gelato. In italian gelato just means ice cream but when I speak to english speaking people they tell that there's a very huge difference between ice cream and gelato to them so who knows, maybe they mean like actual italian desserts, dolci like tiramisù or cannoli

Because at least based in what is sold in America gelato and ice cream are different products with different taste, texture, and ingredients. It would be like calling frozen custard ice cream. Personally I don't like ice cream in general and I prefer frozen custard or gelato. Because of the ingredient proportions and the way they are mixed both custard and gelato have a smoother texture than American ice cream.

But at the end of the day when it comes to American's naming food we normally differentiate cultural variations with another name. Gelato means ice cream in Italian but if you were to go to a place in Italy and order gelato you wouldn't be getting the same dessert that American's eat. I think a better example of this is actually burritos though. See a burrito is by all technicality is the same as a wrap but the ingredients you expect to bite into when your friend says they made you a wrap are different than when they say they made a burrito. We do this a bit with American variations as well like pizza where Chicago, New York, or Saint Louis might come up as they are 3 different styled dishes.

I see, the burrito example really helped. Maybe the problem is that I've never tried an actual american ice cream... The ones they sell at fast foods and supermarkets, they all taste and look like gelato to me hahah of course it's not the same as a what a pricey gelato artigianale (artisanal ice cream in english??) would taste like, but it is still gelato. Like pizzas are still pizzas even if they are the frozen ones at supermarkets, though in no way they are better than pizzas from an actual pizzeria. I guess it's just hard to wrap my head around this concept of two different types of ice cream since I've never seen a real difference. I'm guessing american ice cream is like another type of gelato, like popsicle. It would be weird to call it gelato since it doesnt look or taste like gelato at all, but here in Italy it's still a type of gelato.

Tbh I always thought in other countries they sell a normal ice cream and call it "gelato" and overprice it just so that people buy it hahah like they slap an Italian name on frozen pizzas or pasta although no one of them were ever made in Italy or with italian ingredients

I guess they look the same which makes it easier to confuse them. For example custard is made with egg 100% of the time and in order to be classified as custard it has to have at least 1.5% egg otherwise it is ice cream. I don't remember exactly how ice cream differs from gelato ingredient wise but it has 2-3x the amount of fat that gelato has. I think Italian gelato tastes more like custard with how smooth it is. It isn't a huge difference I guess but I've always liked creamy foods. Alfredo sauce, creamed lentils, cream of potato soup, etc. My teeth are pretty sensitive to the cold so regular ice cream that doesn't have that creamy smoothness normally isn't worth the calories for me.

I do think the pizza example is really good though if you aren't familiar with American pizza. Chicago pizza is often very thick deep dish like a cake or cheesecake in terms of height. It normally has the ingredients and the cheese on the inside and the tomato sauce on the outside. Saint Louis style pizza is made with a synthetic cheese called provel which is a mix of provolone and something else (I haven't been able to find it since I moved out of Saint Louis) and it is made in a cracker type crust normally that has no yeast in it and is cut in squares unlike the other 2 American pizzas. New York style pizza has a crispy crust but soft bottom and is normally served in slices wide enough that you eat it by hand folded in half. They're all pizza the way that all ice cream is gelato but they are all different enough that people can have strong preferences about which one they like.

I do think it is possible that some people put the word gelato on stuff that isn't gelato but we do have a couple of places near me that make their own gelato and it just doesn't taste the same as going to an ice cream shop. I swear the blue bunny brand store bought gelato tastes like weird foam though. Tried it once and never again.