Panna cotta is a typical Italian dessert made by mixing cream of cow's milk (about 35% of lipids), sweetener (honey or sugar) and a thickening / gelling ingredient which, originally, consisted of egg whites.
Nowadays however, even in Italy, panna cotta is packaged by adding as a thickener the "fish glue", which is a product of animal origin based on collagen. By managing the dose of this ingredient it is also possible to vary the composition of the main liquid, that is the food destined to be gelled / thickened. In fact, isinglass is able to compact cream, milk, fruit juices etc., or any liquid having a significant portion of free water, since collagen is chemically hydro-soluble. Obviously, excessively distorting the main ingredient of the recipes, the result is not always the one hoped for; panna cotta is no exception. If desired, it would be possible to replace the milk cream with low-fat milk, obtaining a kind of pudding; it goes without saying that this is a similar preparation but, on the palate, totally different.
In short, the "original" panna cotta, in addition to having an intense and fat taste, is perceived to the touch with the sensation of "creaminess". On the contrary, the low-fat milk pudding, which on the palate is rather insipid (even if not very caloric and easy to digest), is perceived in the mouth with the sensation of "gelatinous". An abysmal difference ... Try it!
