World's First Gelato Museum Opens

If you've ever wanted to try a strawberry sorbet made with a recipe from the early 1800s, head over to the gelato museum in Anzola dell'Emilia, near Bologna, Italy.

Gelato-machine maker Carpigiani Group has built a museum dedicated to the history of gelato, starting at the beginning when alchemist Cosimo Ruggieri created gelato in 1530s.

There are references to the earliest snow-wells, ice and salt sherbets, and new gelato technologies of the 1900s.

"Gelato was a symbol of power, used at courts to enhance the prestige of noble families. Ice and salt were key ingredients and were expensive and so only aristocrats could afford it," Luciana Polliotti, the museum's curator, told Reuters.

In total, the museum is 1,000 square meters, cost €1.5 million to build, and includes exhibits with the first-written recipe for sugar syrup and 20 vintage gelato machines. And of course, there's a tasting station, with gelatos like balsamic-drizzled fig gelato, raspberry sorbet from an early 1800s recipe, and a coffee sorbet recipe from 1854. We want it all.