Panna cotta, Italian meaning cooked cream, is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk, and sugar and gelatin. It is believed to have originated in the Northern Italian region of Piedmont, although it is eaten all over Italy. It is not known exactly how or when this dessert came to be, but some theories suggest that cream, for which mountainous Northern Italy is famous, was historically eaten plain or sweetened with fruit or hazelnuts. Earlier recipes for the dish did not directly mention gelatin, but instead included a step in which fish bones were boiled; this is now known to extract collagen from the bones, which turns to gelatin.