i have to agree with KLouis on this one. Where in Italy was your Italian girlfriend from before she moved to the USA? If she is from Italy, it’s hard to believe that she doesn’t know that like many parts of the world where the economy is driven by tourism, fake and counterfeit things abound.

Try getting authentic Florentine leather in Florence. It can be done. My day to day work valise and weekend overnight bags are made of Florentine leather. However, the majority of tourists leaving there with what they think is crafted artigianal leather are leaving with a purse made in China, or increasingly, in a sweat shop, by immigrants, in an industrial part of Tuscany.

A few years ago there was an article in the paper indicating that Italy had reached to 50% tipping point in pizza. It pointed out that 50% of the pizza eaten in Italy is not made in Italy, but is imported from a foreign factory, usually in Germany or England. I’m not talking about 50% of the pizza that tourists eat. I’m talking about 50% of the pizza eaten in Italy by Italians, and all others together.

It’s time consuming to make pizza. It takes a minimum of six hours to let the dough rise, but preferably 24 hours. That’s why they don’t serve pizza for lunch in Italy, except in certain special places in Rome, or in Naples where some places let the dough rise for 48 hours.

Most men don’t cook in Italy, and most wives work. The wife doesn’t come home and say, “I think I’ll whip up a pizza for my husband.” No, they stop at a supermarket and buy a frozen pizza, usually made in England. Most restaurants do the same thing. A truck delivers the frozen pizza in the early morning. Some places with pizza buy the dough and just put sauce and topping on it, but making a pizza is unusual outside of Naples, and some special places.

For gelato, I don’t know what to say. Gelato is not the Italian word for ice cream. It’s a different product. Talking about ice cream and gelato together is like thinking that custard and sorbet are the same thing. The only thing they have in common is that they are both cold.

Wikipedia, Miriam-Webster, Oxford English Dictionary are wrong. You will have a hard time finding gelato even in Italy. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying ice cream. After all, it’s cream, lots of egg yolk, sugar, artificial flavor and coloring, lots of preservatives and emulsifiers, then whipped to twice its size by incorporating lots of air in it, then deep freezing it. Gelato doesn’t have cream, egg yolk, preservatives, air, etc.

Its like confusing sherbet with sorbet, or custard with ice cream, ice cream with frozen yogurt, or gelato with any of these. Gelato isn't Italian ice cream. It's made out of milk, not cream, so how can it be called ice cream?