We all scream for ice cream

We may think of ice cream as a modern creation because it’s frozen, but ancient flavored ice cream dates back to the inventive Chinese, who began eating their version as far back as 3000 B.C.

Originally it was snow or ice mixed with honey and maybe some berries. And once again, that adventurous explorer, Marco Polo, can be credited for bringing the idea of ​​China to his native Italy, where the royal court of the Medici family embraced it. These ice creams were the forerunners of our modern Italian ice creams, sorbets and sorbets. In 1553, Catherine de Medici married the French King Henry II and presented him with the frozen treat. It was a great success at court, but like so many other specialities, ice cream was only available to the elite and the masses were left out.

In the mid-17th century, chefs used dairy mixed with ice and called it “cream ice cream.” Lacking freezers, some Italian cooks had “runners” who were sent into the mountains in search of snow and ran back with their precious cargo before it melted. The frozen concoction was reported to be a favorite of Julius Caesar and his friends. A commoner had no chance to taste the royal treat until the first known ice cream parlor, Café Procope, was opened in Paris in the year 1660 by a Sicilian named Procopius. He added eggs and cream to his recipe, and began the world’s love affair with this frozen treat. The Italians eventually created their own version and called it gelato.

The first official account of ice cream in the US appears in a letter written in 1744 by a guest of Maryland Governor William Bladen. The first known advertisement for ice cream appeared in a New York newspaper on May 12, 1777, when confectioner Philip Lenzi announced that ice cream was available in his store “almost every day.” Presidents Washington, Jefferson, and Madison served the frozen treat at state dinners.

With the invention of insulated ice houses around 1800, ice cream making spread on a large scale. An industrious Baltimore milk merchant named Jacob Fussell introduced the residents of his town to this delicious product in 1851, and as mechanical inventions and technology increased, new ways of freezing and homogenizing milk and cream became possible.

As ice cream spread across the country, drug stores began introducing the popular dessert by installing soda fountains. With the invention of the ice cold soda, the familiar title “jerk soda” became a household word. When churches condemned drinking as sinful, especially on Saturday, clever fountain owners eliminated sparkling water on Sundays to appease the clergy and served simple ice cream instead. One might assume that Sunday was probably the most popular day of the week to enjoy.

Growing up in the 50s, who didn’t stash a few quarters in mom’s purse to ride their bikes to the nearest local store for a popsicle, fudge sundae, or drumstick cone? There was nothing to stop us, since we were injured.

Not content with simple flavors, the emergence of gourmet ice cream in the 1970s took its place in the form of high-butterfat (and high-priced) premium brands, introduced by Haagen Dazs, Ben and Jerry’s, and many local dairies. Dove Bars became all the rage, after humble beginnings in a local candy store on Chicago’s Northwest Side, and had been a neighborhood favorite for three decades before the recipe was purchased by the Mars Candy Company in 1985. All of which it showed that Americans willingly paid higher prices for premium brands and inventive flavors.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Whether it’s a sundae, a chocolate ice cream sundae, a soft serve, a gelato, a pint of rico premium, or the many novelty ice cream creations in your local grocery store freezer, we don’t have to scream about it anymore. It’s everywhere.