Ice Cream
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Contents |
Definition
Ice Cream is a frozen dessert.
History
Many myths surround the invention of ice cream. The first and most likely theory is that the Roman Emperor Nero (A.D. 37-68) ordered servants to bring ice from the mountains and it was combined with fruit toppings, honey and nuts. It is also known that in China, King Tang(A.D. 618-97)used to create ice and milk concoctions. Ice cream was most likely bought back from China to Europe and soon became very popular in Parisian and Italian ice cream parlours. However, the UK still likes to think that it was invented here during the reign of King Charles I. The King held a banquet and his French chef, DeMirco, invented a bizarre but pleasing dessert of ice and cream to ‘wow’ the crowd. It worked and Charles paid the chef to keep the recipe a secret. Unfortunately the chef did not remain faithful to the King’s request and when Charles was beheaded in 1649, DiMirco let the secret out [1].
Ice cream, as we know it today, was created in the 18th Century. Its ingredients are cream, egg yolks, sugar and milk. Recipes before this were all dairy free, more like a sorbet with ice and fruit. The first recorded recipe originates from Italy and the country continued to be the leader in ice cream sales throughout Europe right into the 19th Century. In 1846, Nancy Johnson invented the first hand cranked freezer, a method which is still used to make ice cream today. In 1848, the freezer was patented by William Young as the ‘Johnson Patent Ice Cream Freezer’. In 1851, Jacob Fussell opened up the first large scale ice cream plant with great success. It took 75 years before the continuous process freezer was invented by Clarence Vogt making ice cream accessible to everyone [2]. In 1894 Mrs Agnes Marshall invented the edible ice cream cone in her book Fancy Ices. Up until this time customers were served ice cream in a glass that could be re-used. This way of serving ice cream was still popular in the UK until 1926 when a law was passed to ban the glasses due to health reasons.
The most famous make of ice cream in the UK, is Wall’s [3]. During the 1920's, the company used bicycles to sell their produce. Each bicycle had a board with the slogan ‘Stop Me and Buy One’. Over the next 20 years Wall’s purchased many tricycles for selling their ice creams, but during World War Two they were given for use by the army. After the war, Wall’s sold most of their tricycles to buy freezers for their shops [4]. By the end of the 1950’s, Wall’s sales of ice cream had soared and they opened up a new factory in Gloucester. This made their products accessible to everyone as increased production allowed their ice cream to be sold in supermarkets, general stores and corner shops.
Ice cream has become a very popular dessert and treat. It is not only consumed throughout the summer months anymore and people indulge in this treat all year round. Luxury Ice Creams are now available in supermarkets from comapnies such as Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s as well as other variations of ice cream such as sorbets, sherbets, ice pops, kulfis and frozen yoghurts.
Famous ice cream brands include:
Baskin Robbins
Ben & Jerry’s
Blue Bunny
Eldorado
Haagen Dazs
Maryland
Nestle
Wall’s
Yeo Valley
Links
1. http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/ichist.html
2. http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/ice_cream.htm
3. http://www.walls.co.uk/home/default.aspx
4. http://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/ice/icecream.htm
Stella’s Take on Ice Cream
My father would tell me of ice cream when he was a boy in 1920’s Birmingham. The sellers, almost invariably Italian, would advertise themselves by calling ‘Okey-Pokey-Penny-a-lick’. The ‘licks’ were small glass saucers from which ice cream was removed in tongue full’s. This proved hugely unhygienic. The price of a penny was not in fact cheap either. It must be remembered that you could visit the cinema for the same cost. Ice cream remained a special treat until I was a young adult. As children, my brother and I would be given a small dish of vanilla cut from what was termed a ‘family brick’ which could be acquired from the ice cream man who sensibly appeared on a Sunday afternoon just prior to tea time. Other than this we would get an ice cream when on holiday, but only on a hot day. This made the consumption of ice cream a fast and furious against-the-clock pursuit. You fought the sun for its possession. Today people eat ice cream in copious quantities and at dubious times. American situation comedies, like The Golden Girls or Roseanne seem to have females clutching large containers of ‘Rocky Road’ or something equally exotic in response to any emotional turmoil. Little wonder obesity plagues the nation. I always prefer an ice lolly myself, especially the cider ones.
