According to popular legend, ice cream was invented by the ancient Chinese, brought to Italy by Marco Polo, to France by Catherine de Medici, and thence to America by Thomas Jefferson. The truth, however, about summer’s favorite chilled dairy treat is a bit more difficult to pin down.
Iced drinks and desserts have been around since at least 4000 B.C., when nobles along the Euphrates River built icehouses to take the edge off the Mesopotamian summer heat. Snow, likely used to cool wine, was sold in the streets of Athens in the fifth century B.C., while the Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37–67) enjoyed iced refreshments laced with honey. Sources from the Tang dynasty in China describe a sweet drink made from iced, camphor-laced water buffalo milk.
The Ice Cream Cone Came Via a Chance Encounter
Turkish Sherbert
Chilled refreshments were also popular in the Islamic world. The English word sherbet comes from the Turkish term for a broad category of sweetened drinks, often cooled with snow from storehouses. Faloodeh, a Persian treat of vermicelli noodles in chilled syrup, dates back centuries. In India, Mughal emperors savored kulfi, a quasi-ice cream made from condensed milk frozen in molds.
Indeed, the first verified records of kulfi are nearly contemporary with the earliest evidence of frozen sherbets and ice creams in Europe. In both cases what made this breakthrough possible was the knowledge (familiar to many in the Arab world since the 13th century) that ice mixed with salt set in motion an exothermic chemical reaction, which created a heat-sucking slurry with a far lower freezing point than typical water. Immersed in a bath of exothermic brine, ice crystals easily formed in various liquid concoctions. Stirred regularly to prevent large ice crystals from forming, a scoop-able frozen foam resulted.
Italian Ices
The first European ice creams and water ices (sherbets) were likely made in Italy during the early 1600s (a century after a teenaged Catherine de Medici departed Florence to become queen of France). Descriptions of water ice desserts date to the 1620s, and by midcentury they were a feature of banquets in Paris, Florence, Naples and Spain. In 1672 Englishman Elias Ashmole recorded that “one plate of ice cream” had been served to King Charles II at a banquet the previous year. In 1694 Antonio Latini, a Neapolitan steward, published a recipe for a milk sorbet laced with candied pumpkin.
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George Washington Served Ice Cream
Ice cream crossed the Atlantic with the European colonists, and was served by first lady of colonial Maryland as early as 1744. George Washington bought a mechanical ice cream maker for his estate at Mount Vernon in 1784, the same year Thomas Jefferson likely acquired a taste for French ice cream while serving as a diplomat in Paris. While president, Jefferson served ice cream in the executive mansion at least six times. In a lifetime of copious notes and writings, Jefferson only wrote out ten recipes, one of which was for French-style vanilla ice cream, fortified with egg yolks.
By the late-19th century, America was a hotbed of ice cream innovation. A Philadelphia pharmacist mixed the first ice cream soda in 1874. The ice cream sundae dates to 1881 (with several Midwestern towns claiming to be the site of its invention)—its name likely coming from “blue laws” that banned sale of soda drinks on Sundays. The first edible ice cream cups were patented in the 1880s, around the time that milkshakes—originally promoted as a health drink—became popular.
The waffle cone rocketed to fame when introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and the Popsicle was patented in 1923. Both Dairy Queen and the Carvel company claim to have developed the first soft-serve ice cream in the mid-1930s, while frozen yogurt was a latecomer, introduced in the 1970s.
Today ice cream and its frigid cousins are known and loved worldwide, even imported to Antarctica, where a Frosty Boy soft-serve machine is a famous focal point for the scientists who work at McMurdo Station.
FAQs
The earliest evidence of anything approaching ice cream being made was in China in the Tang period (A.D. 618-907). Buffalo, cows' and goats' milk was heated and allowed to ferment. This 'yoghurt' was then mixed with flour for thickening, camphor (yes camphor!) for flavour and 'refrigerated' before being served.
Who first discovered ice cream? ›
The origins of ice cream, sorbet and other chilled dairy treats are difficult to pin down—but span back to antiquity. According to popular legend, ice cream was invented by the ancient Chinese, brought to Italy by Marco Polo, to France by Catherine de Medici, and thence to America by Thomas Jefferson.
Who invented ice cream China or Italy? ›
The ancient Chinese planted the first seeds of modern-day ice cream, but it was the Italians who nurtured it into what we know today. It took more than 3,000 years for Chinese milk ice to reach Italian shores, and once it did, Italian nobles kept the recipe for milk ice a closely guarded secret.
What is the oldest ice cream in the world? ›
Booza origins dates back to at least 1500 AD in Greater Syria and is sometimes referred to as the "first ice cream in the world".
Did ancient Egypt have ice cream? ›
What could call itself the first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb from the Second Dynasty (2700 BC). This was a kind of mould, consisting of two silver cups, one of which contained snow (or crushed ice) and the other cooked fruit.
Did Vikings have ice cream? ›
Eventually, they began incorporating sweet juices and sweetened condensed milk. The Vikings put their own twist on things by adding fresh cheese to the mix, which made their version of ice cream more like a yogurt. European countries discovered that combining salt and ice helps freeze the cream faster.
Who is the father of ice cream? ›
Augustus Jackson was dubbed the Father of Ice Cream because he revolutionized the ice cream making process. He was the first one who used salt to make the ice melt slower. His ice cream making process and recipes revolutionized ice cream in Philadelphia.
What race invented ice cream? ›
Some sources describe ice cream-like foods as originating in Persia as far back as 550 BC. Using ice houses and ice pools, Persians were able to serve and produce faloodeh and sorbets all year round.
What ice cream brands come from China? ›
Chicecream was founded in Shanghai on 14 March 2018. The founder and CEO Lin Sheng (Chinese: 林盛; pinyin: Lín Shèng) is an entrepreneur who previously worked in advertising. The company's first six products were introduced on 20 May 2018. The company is a pioneer in the domestic premium ice cream industry in China: in ...
Who carried recipe of ice cream from China to Italy? ›
Some accounts credit the Italian merchant Marco Polo (1254 – 1324) for bringing ice cream recipes from his travels in China.
A fifth-generation family business in Philadelphia, Bassetts Ice Cream is proudly known as America's oldest ice cream company.
What ages eat the most ice cream? ›
The average American eats ice cream at home 41 times per year, but the over-55-year-olds eat it an average of 56 times annually. This age group even tops children aged 6 to 12, who average only 43 times a year at home, and teen-agers, who average 41 times.
What is the most popular ice cream flavor? ›
Vanilla, the most popular ice cream flavor in the world, is often considered as America's favorite flavor due to its simplicity and compatibility with a wide range of desserts and toppings. Originating from the French in the 18th century, it has become a global favorite.
Did the Aztecs have ice cream? ›
Apart from being a means of payment, he also used these beans to prepare liquid chocolate, popularly called Montezuma's ice cream. Montezuma himself is the inventor of this chocolate delicacy, which was most often found on his morning menu.
Who founded ice cream? ›
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.
Did Romans eat ice cream? ›
Some sources say the ancient Romans invented ice cream, others that Marco Polo brought the discovery back to Italy from China. All agree that Catherine de Medici introduced the French to ice cream when she married the future King Henri II.
Did Thomas Jefferson invent ice cream? ›
While the claim that Thomas Jefferson introduced ice cream to the United States is demonstrably false, he can be credited with the first known recipe recorded by an American. Jefferson also likely helped to popularize ice cream in this country when he served it at the President's House in Washington.
Who created ice cream man? ›
-can change the course of your life forever. Written by W. MAXWELL PRINCE (ONE WEEK IN THE LIBRARY), with art by MART%C3%8DN MORAZZO (GREAT PACIFIC) and CHRIS O'HALLORAN (GENERATION GONE).
Who invented the first ice cream cone and in what year? ›
Marchiony, who emigrated from Italy in the late 1800s, invented his ice cream cone in New York City. He was granted a patent in December 1903. Although Marchiony is credited with the invention of the cone, a similar creation was independently introduced at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair by Ernest A.
Who was the first person to make ice? ›
Around 500 BC, the Egyptian and Indian cultures had discovered rapid evaporation as a means to cool water placed in clay pots, on straw beds. Evaporation, combined with the decrease in night temperatures, froze the water.
