Ice cream is a sweetened, frozen product that is usually eaten as a snack or dessert. The question of who came up with ice cream is not an easy one. The technology of its production has undergone a significant evolution. Nowadays, it is usually made from dairy products - cream or milk - in combination with fruits or other dessert ingredients. Typically, modern ice cream is sweetened with sucrose, corn syrup, sugarcane, beet sugar, or other similar sweeteners. Today, various flavors and dyes are used as an addition to stabilizers.
The mixture is stirred to add air spaces to it and cooled below the freezing temperature of water to prevent the formation of ice crystals. This is a classic definition, but has it always been that way?
What it is?
The understanding of the term “ice cream” may vary from country to country. Such phrases as “frozen yogurt”, “gelato”, “sorbet”, “frozen custard” and others are used to denote different varieties and tastes. In some countries, the definition of “ice cream” refers only to a certain type of product, as well as the amount of basic ingredients. Dishes that do not meet the established criteria are called a “frozen dessert”, etc.
Today, in almost all countries you can find a treat made from alternatives to cow's milk. So, they make it from sheep or goat milk, or add its vegetable substitutes (for example, soy or tofu).
Ice cream can be served in a bowl for eating with a spoon or in cups and horns for licking. It can be served with other desserts, such as apple pie. It is also used to prepare other dishes, including milkshakes.
History of Goodies
Who came up with ice cream for the first time? As early as the 5th century BC, the ancient Greeks ate snow mixed with honey and fruits. This delicacy was sold in the markets of Athens. The well-known Hippocrates recommended that his patients eat ice, considering it a means of revitalizing vitality.
In the 4th century BC, the favorite delicacy of Alexander the Great was snow mixed with honey and nectar.
A frozen mixture of milk and rice was used around 200 BC. e. in China. The Chinese poured a mixture of snow and saltpeter over the vessels filled with syrup. This technology lowers the freezing point below zero. Therefore, it is difficult to say in what century ice cream was invented.
Other countries also had similar dishes. In 400 BC e. the Persians also invented special chilled food made from rose water and noodles, which was served on ice during the summer. The ice was mixed with saffron, fruit, and various other flavors were added.
The Roman emperor Nero (37-68 A.D.) personally delivered ice from the mountains and mixed it with fruit fillings to create a chilled delicacy. Of course, one cannot say that he was the first to invent ice cream, but such a recipe is the closest prototype of modern sorbet.
Middle Ages
In the sixteenth century, Mongol emperors used fast riders to deliver ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi to use it in fruit desserts. Thus, it is rather difficult to answer the question in which country ice cream was invented. But this delicacy was quickly appreciated and continued to develop.
Italian Duchess Catherine de Medici is credited with introducing ice cream to Europe in the 16th century. According to historical legend, when the Medici married the Duke of Orleans in 1533, she brought with her to France several Italian cooks who used recipes for flavored ice or sorbet. The question of where the ice cream was invented according to this recipe was never solved. But the dessert was met very well.
A century later, Charles I (king of England) was so impressed by the ice dessert that he offered the cook a lifelong pension as a service for keeping the ice cream recipe a secret, so that this dessert remained only a royal prerogative. However, there is no historical evidence to support these legends that first appeared in the 19th century.
Who invented ice cream for mass recipes?
The first recipe for flavored ice in French appeared in 1674 in a large collection. Tips for cooking sorbets were also published in 1694 in several English sources, and then repeatedly reprinted. Initially, according to these recommendations, it was possible to make only a dish with a rough taste, with large pieces of ice. Subsequently, the cooks began to argue that real ice cream should have a thin consistency of sugar and finely crushed ice.
Popularity Decomposition
In Mediterranean countries, ice cream became available to the general population by the 2nd half of the eighteenth century. The treat became inexpensive and widespread in the middle of the nineteenth century in England, when in 1851 an emigrant from Switzerland Carlo Gatti opened the first store in Charing Cross, equipped with a refrigerated display case invented by the owner. This technology began to be successful, and soon portable glaciers began to appear everywhere.
Speaking about who invented ice cream, one should not forget about such a figure as Agness Marshall, who is considered the “queen of desserts” in England. She actively popularized the recipes of goodies and made its consumption fashionable among middle-class people. She has written four books about ice cream, and she has regularly read public lectures on cooking. Marshall even suggested using liquid nitrogen to make a very chilled dessert.
New species
Uniform consistency of ice cream was invented in the 1870s and immediately became popular. It is believed that his American culinary specialist, Robert Green, invented it in 1874, but in fact there is no strong evidence of this. Saying when and where the ice cream sundae was invented is also impossible. It is believed that he first appeared at the end of the 19th century in one of the English-speaking countries. Around the same time period, several culinary experts stated that for the first time in the world they created ice cream, but not a single original recipe was preserved. According to legend, fruit varieties began to be invented for use as a lean product.
Popularity growth
Despite the fact that no one could answer the question in which century ice cream was invented (ice cream, sorbet, gelato), unequivocal popularity in the world with delicacies arose in the second half of the 20th century, after cheap refrigeration equipment became commonplace. It was in those years that there was a real “boom” in the production of ice cream of various tastes and types. Vendors often competed on the basis of diversity. Then there were retail facilities specializing in this particular delicacy. The most famous brand to date is Baskin Robbins, which entered the market with 31 fragrances and does not change its traditions. The main slogan of the company is one taste for every day of the month. Currently, the company boasts that it has created more than 1000 varieties.
Soft ice cream
A significant event was the invention in the 20th century of soft ice cream, which has more air in its composition. In addition, its production technology is such that costs are reduced very significantly. Further development of the production of soft ice cream led to the appearance of special machines that squeeze the mass into a waffle cone. Today, such a delicacy is offered both in independent retail facilities and in fast food chains.