Summer is here!!!!
Let's find out why our favorite summer dessert is the way it is and how it came out being - ICECREAM!!
Why do we call it "ice cream?"
Excellent question! Centuries ago people started making refreshing
summer-time desserts by taking sweet cream (the richest part of milk) or
custard (egg-based puddings) and cooling them down with ice. The chillier the
cream, the more solid the product. In sum: the first "iced creams"
were so named because the appelation described the process. Seasonal fruit
flavors predominated. Different words were used in other languages. Before
modern refrigeration mostly wealthy people had access to ice (and by
association, iced cream) in the summer. This made ice cream a rare treat. It
was not until the late 19th century "ice cream" was consumed by
Americans across all socio-economic levels. According to the Oxford English
Dictionary the first print occurrence of the word "iced cream" as in
1688. The term "ice cream" shows up in 1744. That corresponds approximately
with the time when "modern" ice creams were first manufactured. treat
until mass modern technology punched in.
The Evolution of Ice Cream
Ice
cream's origins are known to reach back as far as the second century B.C.,
although no specific date of origin nor inventor has been undisputably credited
with its discovery. We know that Alexander the Great enjoyed snow and ice
flavored with honey and nectar. Biblical references also show that King Solomon
was fond of iced drinks during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero
Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) frequently sent runners into the mountains for
snow, which was then flavored with fruits and juices.
Over a
thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a
recipe that closely resembled what is now called sherbet. Historians estimate
that this recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England
seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier
than the Italians. "Cream Ice," as it was called, appeared regularly
at the table of Charles I during the 17th century. France was introduced to
similar frozen desserts in 1553 by the Italian Catherine de Medici when she
became the wife of Henry II of France. It wasn't until 1660 that ice cream was
made available to the general public. The Sicilian Procopio introduced a recipe
blending milk, cream, butter and eggs at Café Procope, the first
café in Paris.
Ice Cream for America
The
first official account of ice cream in the New World comes from a letter
written 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." Records kept by a Chatham Street, New
York, merchant show that President George Washington spent approximately $200
for ice cream during the summer of 1790. Inventory records of Mount Vernon
taken after Washington's death revealed "two pewter ice cream pots."
President Thomas Jefferson was said to have a favorite 18-step recipe for an
ice cream delicacy that resembled a modern-day Baked Alaska. Check out President Jefferson's vanilla ice cream recipe here.
In 1813, Dolley Madison served a magnificent strawberry ice cream creation at
President Madison's second inaugural banquet at the White House.
Until
1800, ice cream remained a rare and exotic dessert enjoyed mostly by the elite.
Around 1800, insulated ice houses were invented. Manufacturing ice cream soon
became an industry in America, pioneered in 1851 by a Baltimore milk dealer
named Jacob Fussell. Like other American industries, ice cream production
increased because of technological innovations, including steam power,
mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and motors, packing
machines, and new freezing processes and equipment. In addition, motorized
delivery vehicles dramatically changed the industry. Due to ongoing
technological advances, today's total frozen dairy annual production in the
United States is more than 1.6 billion gallons.
Wide
availability of ice cream in the late 19th century led to new creations. In
1874, the American soda fountain shop and the profession of the "soda
jerk" emerged with the invention of the ice cream soda. In response to
religious criticism for eating "sinfully" rich ice cream sodas on
Sundays, ice cream merchants left out the carbonated water and invented the ice
cream "Sunday" in the late 1890's. The name was eventually changed to
"sundae" to remove any connection with the Sabbath.
Ice
cream became an edible morale symbol during World War II. Each branch of the
military tried to outdo the others in serving ice cream to its troops. In 1945,
the first "floating ice cream parlor" was built for sailors in the
western Pacific. When the war ended, and dairy product rationing was lifted,
America celebrated its victory with ice cream. Americans consumed over 20
quarts of ice cream per person in 1946.
In the
1940s through the ‘70s, ice cream production was relatively constant in the
United States. As more prepackaged ice cream was sold through supermarkets,
traditional ice cream parlors and soda fountains started to disappear. Now,
specialty ice cream stores and unique restaurants that feature ice cream dishes
have surged in popularity. These stores and restaurants are popular with those
who remember the ice cream shops and soda fountains of days past, as well as
with new generations of ice cream fans.
I'm heading to Baskin Robbins - BYYEEE!!
I'm heading to Baskin Robbins - BYYEEE!!
