The history of Ice Cream
You scream! I scream! We all scream for ice cream! For most Americans,
the phrase ice cream conjures up memories of summer, like slurping
melted cones, banana splits, hot fudge sundaes, root beer floats, and
buying a scoop from the drug store when it only cost a dime. Ice cream
is the ultimate old fashioned treat. This dessert has a very worldly
history that stretches all around the globe. In India, theres kulfi. In
Italy, gelato. In Japan, mochi. It seems every country has its own spin
on the delicious frozen confection we Americans call ice cream. This
sweet stuff gets around! So where exactly did it come from? There are
several myths about the origin of ice cream. Some say Marco Polo brought
it back from his travels to the Far East. Others say that Catherine de
Medici introduced it to France when she relocated to marry King Henry
II. Neither tale is likely to be true, though both are romantic. In
fact, ice cream has a much more ancient history. Its earliest form holds
very little resemblance to the ice cream we eat today. Biblical passages
refer to King Solomon enjoying cooling iced drinks during harvest
season. Alexander the Great of ancient Greece loved to indulge in icy
drinks flavored with honey or wine. During Neros reign of Rome from 54
68 BC, ice was harvested from nearby mountains and held in ice houses
deep pits covered with straw. This practice of keeping ice in lieu of
refrigeration would be common for centuries to come."
👉 Link to my source PBS