• The classic refreshing dessert, ice cream, is a constant of gastronomic culture in many parts of the globe. In India, it is called kulfi, in Italy it is called gelato, and in Japan it is called mochi. It seems that every country has its own version of the savory dessert.
But where and when exactly did it appear? There are several myths about the origin of ice cream. Some say that Marco Polo introduced this dessert to the world when he returned from his travels in the Far East. Others say it was Catherine de Medici who introduced the dessert recipe to France when she moved here to marry King Henry II.
None of these romanticized stories are very likely to be true, although they have fired the imagination of many. In fact, ice cream has a much older history. But we have to admit that the shape of the ice cream that we know bears very little resemblance to its historical version.
The origins of ice cream are known to date back to the XNUMXnd century BC, although there is no specific date of origin and no inventor to whom its discovery can be unequivocally attributed.
The long history of the savory dessert
Biblical references tell us that King Solomon enjoyed iced refreshments during the harvest season.
And although Hippocrates disparaged snow dessert or iced drinks as unhealthy and advised avoiding them because they produce "flows of the stomach", frozen treats they enjoyed great popularity throughout the Aegean for a long time, so that a hundred years later even Alexander the Great was indulging in snow and ice flavored with honey or nectar.
The Persians were equally enthusiastic. Around the same time that Hippocrates was criticizing his fellow Greeks for eating ice cream, they developed "faloodeh", a dessert made from rosewater-flavored snow and vermicelli-like noodles.
On the other hand, in the Roman Empire, while Seneca and Pliny the Elder criticized Nero Claudius Caesar (AD 54-68) for frequently sending ice down from the mountains just to cool his swimming pool, they seem to have seen nothing unusual in his fondness for cold wines and snow flavored with honey, fruit, or fruit juice.
Sources attest that the emperors of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) were the first to eat a milk-based frozen dessert.
This version was made from cow, goat or buffalo milk, heated and thickened with flour. Camphor, an aromatic substance harvested from evergreen trees, was added to enrich the flavor. The mixture was then placed in metal tubes and lowered into an ice bath until frozen. This process is similar to how Indians used to make kulfi before the advent of refrigeration.
During the medieval period, the Arabs enjoyed a refreshing drink ice cream named sherbetor "sharbat" in Arabic. Soft drinks were often flavored with cherry, pomegranate or cranberry.
European artistocracy introduces the frozen dessert to the feasts of the season
Over time, these drinks became popular among the European aristocracy. It is said that the Italians were the first to master this technique of preparing drinks, and the French followed shortly after.
In the XNUMXth century, iced drinks were transformed into frozen desserts. By adding sugar, it was created "sorbet". Antonio Latini (1642 – 1692), who worked for a Spanish viceroy in Naples, is credited with being the first person to write a recipe for sorbetto. He is also responsible for creating a milk-based sorbet, which most culinary historians consider the first official ice cream.
In 1686, a Sicilian named Francesco Procopio of the Knives opens the first cafe in Paris, "Il Procope". The bar became a meeting place for many famous intellectuals, including Benjamin Franklin, Victor Hugo and Napoleon. The cafe introduced "gelato", the Italian version of sorbet, among the French public. It was served in small porcelain bowls similar to cups. Procopio became known as the father of Italian gelato.
England seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier, than the Italians. "Ice Cream", as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles II in the XNUMXth century.
The first ice cream recipes appear
Around the same time, the French began experimenting with a frozen dessert called "cheese". The French confectioner Nicolas Audiger, in his book "La maison reglée", describes several recipes of "cheese" made from ice cream flavored with fruit.
One of the first recipes includes cream, sugar and orange blossom water. Audiger also suggests stirring the ice cream during the freezing process to introduce air and create a fluffier texture.
Despite the name of the dessert, "cheese" it wasn't made of cheese. It is not entirely clear what he was told "cheese". Cuvantul it may refer to the cheese molds that were used to freeze the product, or it may simply be a colloquial French term for any compressed or shaped food. Whatever the reason, in the XNUMXth century, cheeseThe frozen became very popular throughout France.
The one who first wrote about a revolutionary technology to achieve the freezing effect in his book "Natural Magic" was the Neapolitan chemist and philosopher, Giambattista Della Porta.
The freezing effect is documented by Giambattista Della Porta
At the time, it must have seemed like an alchemical discovery. The discovery consisted in the fact that a liquid could be frozen by immersing it in a mixture of snow and saltpeter, the explosive ingredient in gunpowder and fireworks (although it was later found that common salt worked just as well).
As the snow or ice melted, the saltpeter caused it to absorb all the heat from any adjacent liquid. Thus, a water balloon suspended in a pool of snow and saltpeter will turn to ice.
The freezing process was faster if the flask was rotated, and the resulting product became lighter and airier if stirred from time to time before complete congealing. If any flavorings and sugar, eggs and cream were added to the water in the flask, the result was similar to today's ice cream.
In the New World, the first official account of ice cream comes from a letter sent in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first advertisement for ice cream in this country appeared in the New York Gazette on May 12, 1777, when confectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available "almost every day".
Ice cream also penetrates the New World
records kept by a merchant on Chatham Street, New York, show that President George Washington spent about $200 on ice cream in the summer of 1790, and inventory records at Mount Vernon, made after Washington's death, also "two tin ice cream pans".
President Thomas Jefferson is said to have had a favorite 18-step recipe for a frozen dessert that resembled modern-day Alaskan ice cream. In 1813, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House.
President Thomas Jefferson's recipe preserved in the Library of Congress
Until 1800, ice cream remained a rare and exotic dessert, enjoyed mostly by the elite. Around 1800, insulated cold rooms were invented and ice cream manufacturing soon became an industry in America, with the first representative in 1851 being a Baltimore milk merchant, Jacob Fussell.
In 1843, the world's first mechanized ice cream maker was developed by two people from both sides of the Atlantic.
Innovations on both sides of the Atlantic
In London, England, Thomas Masters created his patented ice cream maker. While Nancy Maria Johnson of Philadelphia, America, created her freezer. Masters received his patent on July 6, and Johnson received hers on September 9, both in 1843.
The two pieces of equipment used a hand crank to rotate a paddle inside the container that homogenized and scraped the mixture as it froze. This technology was an evolution rather than an invention. They still used ice and salt to do the freezing, the method described by Giambattista Della Porta.
Like other American industries, ice cream production took off in the United States due to technological innovations, including steam power, mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and motors, packaging machinery, and new processes and equipment. freezing. In addition, motorized delivery vehicles have dramatically changed the industry.
Ice cream symbol of lifting morale
The ice cream became a delicious symbol of boosting the morale of American troops during World War II. Each branch of the military tried to outdo the others in serving ice cream to its soldiers, until in 1945, the first "floating ice cream shop" was built for sailors in the Western Pacific.
When the war ended and dairy rationing was lifted, America celebrated its victory with ice cream. Statistics show that in 1946, Americans consumed over 20 quarts of ice cream per person.
Today, ice cream remains one of the most sought-after desserts, being enjoyed regardless of the season, all over the world. Manufacturers are continuously expanding their range of gelato products using new ingredients, flavors and colors, designed to satisfy the most demanding tastes.
Photo sources: www.dreamscoops.com; www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures; www.historytoday.com; www.worldhistory.org.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
Read on White Art and: Ice cream market – a global overview
