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Ice cream (originally iced cream) is a frozen dessert made from dairy products such as cream (or substituted ingredients), combined with flavorings and sweeteners such as sugar. This mixture is cooled while stirring to prevent large ice crystals from forming. Although the term "ice cream" is sometimes used to mean frozen desserts and snacks in general, it is usually reserved for frozen desserts and snacks made with a high percentage of milk fat. Frozen custard, ice milk, sorbet and other similar products are often also called ice cream. Governments often regulate the use of these terms based on quantities of ingredients.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month in the United States, and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day.
Composition
Modern industrially-produced ice cream is made from a mixture of ingredients:
- 0-16% milk fat
- 9-12% milk solids-not-fat: this component, also known as the serum solids, contains the proteins (caseins and whey proteins) and carbohydrates (lactose) found in milk
- 12-16% sweeteners: usually a combination of sucrose and/or glucose-based corn syrup sweeteners
- 0.2-0.5% stabilizers and emulsifiers e.g., agar or carrageenan extracted from seaweed
- 55%-64% water which comes from milk solids or other ingredients
These ingredients, along with air incorporated during the stirring process, make up ice cream. Generally, less expensive ice creams contain lower-quality ingredients (for example, when vanilla bean is replaced with artificial vanillin), and more air is incorporated, sometimes as much as 50% of the final volume. Artisan-produced ice creams, such as Berthillon's, often contain very little air, although some is necessary to produce the characteristic creamy texture of the product. Generally speaking, the finest ice creams have between 3% and 15% air. Because ice cream is sold by volume, it is economically advantageous for producers to reduce the density of the product in order to cut costs. Indeed, one of Margaret Thatcher's first jobs was to find ways of increasing the air content of ice cream. The use of stabilizers rather than actual cream and the incorporation of air also decreases the fat and caloric content of less expensive ice creams, making them more appealing to those on diets.
Ice creams come in a wide variety of flavors, often with additives such as chocolate flakes or chips, nuts, fruit, and small candies/sweets. Some of the most popular ice cream flavors are vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and Neapolitan (a combination of the three). Many people also enjoy ice cream sundaes, which often have ice cream, hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream, cherries and other toppings.
Production
Before the development of modern refrigeration, ice cream was a luxury item reserved for special occasions. Making ice cream was originally quite laborious. Ice was cut commercially from lakes and ponds during the winter and stored in large heaps in holes in the ground or in wood-frame ice houses, insulated by straw. Ice cream was made by hand in a large bowl surrounded by packed ice and salt. The temperature of ingredients was reduced by the mixture of crushed ice and salt. The salty water, which is cooled by the ice, is liquid below the freezing point of pure water. Thus the immersed container with can make better contact with the salty water and ice mixture than it could with ice alone.
The hand-cranked churn, which still used ice and salt for cooling, was invented by an American named Nancy Johnson in 1846, making production simpler. The world's first commercial ice cream factory was opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1851, by Jacob Fussell, a dairy farmer. An unstable demand for his milk led him to mass produce ice cream. This allowed the previously expensive concoction to be offered at prices everyone could afford. Fussell opened ice cream parlors as far west as Texas. Many were still around well into the 20th century. Fussell later sold his business to Borden.
The development of industrial refrigeration by German engineer Carl von Linde during the 1870s obviated the cutting and storing of natural ice and then the continuous-process freezer was perfected in 1926, allowing commercial mass production of ice cream and the birth of the modern ice cream industry.
The most common method for producing ice cream at home is to use an ice cream machine, generally an electrical device that churns the ice cream while refrigerated inside a household freezer or using ice and salt for cooling.
Commercial delivery
Thanks to mass production, ice cream is widely available in most parts of the world. Ice cream can be purchased in large tubs and squrounds from supermarkets/grocery stores, in smaller quantities from ice cream shops, convenience stores, and milk bars, and in individual servings from small carts or vans at public events. Some ice cream distributors sell ice cream products door-to-door from traveling refrigerated vans or carts, often equipped with speakers playing a children's music tune. On the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, ice cream is sometimes sold to beachgoers from small powerboats equipped with chest freezers.
Precursors of ice cream
People living in sufficiently cold climates have probably always taken advantage of snow and ice by flavoring them with fruit and honey. The ancients had saved ice for cold foods for thousands of years. Mesopotamia has the earliest icehouses, dated 4,000 years old, in existence beside the Euphrates River, where the wealthy stored their items to keep them cold. The pharaohs of Egypt had ice shipped to them. In the 5th century BC ancient Greeks sold snow cones mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens. Roman emperor Nero (37–68) had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings. Today's ice treats likely originated with these ice delicacies made long ago.
China
According to Mageulonne Toussaint-Samat in her History of Food, "the Chinese may be credited with inventing a device to make sorbets and ice cream. They poured a mixture of snow and saltpetre over the exteriors of containers filled with syrup, for, in the same way as salt raises the boiling-point of water, it lowers the freezing-point to below zero." The Chinese put sugar in the ice and sold it as food during the summer. It is believed that the Song Dynasty (宋朝) was the time when people began putting fruit juice in the water used to create the ice; milk began to be used in the Yuan Dynasty (元朝), as the Mongols, who adopted a nomadic culture, introduce milk to Chinese, where milk was not widely used as cuisine at that time.
Persia
The Persians mastered the technique of storing ice inside giant naturally-cooled refrigerators known as yakhchals. These structures kept ice brought in from the winter or from nearby mountains well into the summer. They worked by using tall windcatchers that kept the sub-level storage space at frigid temperatures.
In 400 BCE, Persians invented a special chilled pudding-like dish, made of rosewater and vermicelli, working out as something like a cross between a sorbet and a rice pudding, which was served to the royalty during summers. The ice was mixed in with saffron, fruits, and various other flavors. The treat, widely made today in Iran, is called "faludeh", and is made from starch (usually wheat), spun in a sieve-like machine which produces threads or drops of the batter, which are boiled in water. The mix is then frozen, and mixed with rosewater and lemons, before serving.
Arabia
Ice cream was the favourite dessert for the caliphs of Baghdad. The Arabs were the the first to add sugar to ice cream, and were also the first to make ice cream commercially, having factories in the 10th century. It was sold in the markets of all Arab cities in the past. It was made of a chilled syrup, or of milk, with fruits and sometimes nuts. Gelato was introduced to the west by Arabs, through Sicily.
Arabian ice cream is called "butha". There are many kinds on the market which have advantages of being healthy and fresh, as they are made of fresh milk.
India
As early as the sixteenth century, the Mughal emperors used relays of horsemen to bring ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi where it was used in fruit sorbets.
The West
Popular tradition asserts that Marco Polo saw ice cream being made on his trip to China and took the recipe home to Italy with him on his return. However, Marco Polo in his writings never claimed to introduce ice cream to the west.
When Catherine de Medici married the duc d’Orléans in 1533, she is said to have brought with her Italian chefs who had recipes for flavored ices or sorbets. One hundred years later Charles I of England was supposedly so impressed by the "frozen snow" that he offered his own ice cream maker a lifetime pension in return for keeping the formula secret, so that ice cream could be a royal prerogative. There is, however, no historical evidence to support these legends, which first appeared during the 19th century.
The first recipe for flavored ices in French appears in 1674, in Nicholas Lemery’s Recueil de curiositéz rares et nouvelles de plus admirables effets de la nature.
Recipes for sorbetti saw publication in the 1694 edition of Antonio Latini's Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Steward).
Recipes for flavored ices begin to appear in François Massialot's Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits starting with the 1692 edition. Massialot's recipes result in a coarse, pebbly texture. However, Latini claims that the results of his recipes should have the fine consistence of sugar and snow.
Modern ice cream
It was in the 18th century that cream, milk, and egg yolks began to feature in the recipes of previously dairy-free flavored ices, resulting in ice cream in the modern sense of the word. The 1751 edition of The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy by Hanna Glasse features a recipe for raspberry cream ice. 1768 saw the publication of L'Art de Bien Faire les Glaces d'Office by M. Emy, a cookbook devoted entirely to recipes for flavored ices and ice cream.
Ice cream was introduced to the United States by colonists who brought their ice cream recipes with them. Confectioners, many of whom were Frenchmen, sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial era. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were among the elite who regularly ate and served ice cream. Dolley Madison is also closely associated with the early history of ice cream in the United States.
After the 1830s when ice-making machines became available, ice cream gradually became more widely available. In 1843, Nancy Johnson became the first American to patent a handcranked ice cream freezer. This was followed by the invention of the ice cream soda. It was probably invented by Robert Green in 1874, although there is no conclusive evidence to prove his claim.
The ice cream sundae originated in the late 19th century. Several men claimed to have created the first sundae, but there is no solid evidence to back up any of their stories. Some versions say that the sundae was invented to circumvent blue laws, which forbade serving sodas on Sunday. Both the ice cream cone and banana split were popularized in the first years of the 20th century.
20th century
The history of ice cream in the 20th century is one of great change and increase in availability and popularity. In the early 20th century, the ice cream soda was a popular treat at the soda shop, the soda fountain, and the ice cream parlor. During Prohibition, the soda fountain was promoted as an alternative to the saloon.
Ice cream became extremely popular throughout the world in the second half of the 20th century after cheap refrigeration became common and wages became high enough to indulge in such minor luxuries. Soon there was an explosion of ice cream stores and of flavors and types. Vendors often competed on the basis of variety. Howard Johnson's restaurants advertised "a world of 28 flavors." Baskin-Robbins made its 31 flavors ("one for every day of the month") the cornerstone of its marketing strategy; the company now boasts that it has developed over 1000 varieties.
One important development in the 20th century was the introduction of softer ice cream. A chemical research team in Britain (of which a young Margaret Thatcher was a member) discovered a method of doubling the amount of air in ice cream, which allowed manufacturers to use less of the actual ingredients, thereby saving money. This ice cream was also very popular amongst consumers who preferred the lighter texture, and most major ice cream brands now use this manufacturing process.
The 1990s saw a return of the older, thicker, ice creams being sold as "premium" varieties. Ben and Jerry's, Beechdean, and Häagen-Dazs fall into this category.
Other frozen treats
Snow cones, made from balls of crushed ice topped with sweet syrup served in a paper cone, are consumed in many parts of the world. The most common places to find snow cones are at amusement parks.
A popular springtime treat in maple-growing areas is maple toffee, where boiled maple syrup is poured over fresh snow congealing in a toffee-like mass, and then eaten from a wooden stick used to pick it up from the snow.
Ice creams and sorbets are frozen while being stirred or agitated, resulting in a light texture. Popsicles are quiescently frozen — frozen at rest without stirring.
Ice cream throughout the world
Globalization has made available ice cream styles from around the world.
Turkey
Since ancient times the people of Anatolia kept the winter snow from melting by storing it in mountain crevices which they covered with twigs. In the summer, they brought it up from its storage place, put it in bowls used for stewed fruit and, drizzling it with molasses, ate it. Some regard this sweet, which was called ‘karsambac’, as the ancestor of today’s ice cream. With the entry of sugar into everyday life, fruit juices and syrups were also made and stored for consumption in winter. And they too were poured over ice cream and eaten with gusto. Fresh snow with molasses is still consumed in some parts of Anatolia today. Many fruit flavored ice creams do not in fact contain cream or milk but are fruit sherbets. Then there are ice creams made from yogurt. But the variety associated most with Turkey is the beaten ice cream of Kahramanmaras. Not easily melted and with a consistency like taffy, it is unique to Turkey. Kahramanmaras ice cream, which is hung on a butcher’s hook and cut with a knife, is believed to have been made since the 18th century. And its most outstanding ingredient, which enhances its flavor and distinguishes it from all other ice creams, is the 'salep' obtained from the knobby root of the wild orchid and ground in a mill. The ice cream made in Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep does not cause the usual 'burning' sensation on the palate, but instead a soothing one peculiar to the region. They are served in cups, cones, or waffle sandwiches. Traditionally, one could only find ice cream at shops that specialized in uniquely winter treats like pickles or the fermented drink 'boza', and whose trade in ice cream was therefore limited to summer. Now, ice cream is consumed all year round.
The 300-year old ice cream of Kahramanmaraş has a taste based from the flavour of the Turkish Anatolian soil and thus is thought to be unique this city. The surrounding Ahir Mountain's setting contributes to the taste, with its unique flora and fauna; the goats provide the unique milk with its taste and consistency based on their nutrition from this mountain of thymian, hyacinth, colchicum and roots of the wild orchid flowers that occupy the soil there.
The properties this Turkish orchid ice cream carries is also based on the developed method of its preparation. This ice cream is the world's most dense, hard, and flexible ice cream. Daily polls are conducted throughout Turkey, in order to prove how hard this ice cream is by asking passersby to cut it with a saw, in a "Test of Might". It is necessary to prepare and eat the Maraş ice cream which is the miracle of the Ahir mountain and its people, at Kahramanmaraş.
Dondurma is the Turkish word for ice cream and most important ingredient of orchid ice cream is salep, a whitish flour milled from the dried tubers of certain wild terrestrial orchids. It is creamy and has a smoothness and elasticity that is chewy and usually new to the beginning Maraş eater. The basic recipe is based on orchid roots, milk and sugar. The frozen mixture is beaten with metal rods and the ice cream is eaten with a knife and fork.
Australia and New Zealand
Per capita, Australians and New Zealanders are among the leading ice cream consumers in the world, eating 18 litres and 20 litres each per year respectively, behind the United States of America where people eat 23 litres each per year.
Germany
Italian ice-cream parlours (Eisdielen) are common and popular since the 1920's in Germany where many Italians have immigrated and set up business. Like in Italy itself, ice cream is considered a traditional Italian dessert and the ice-cream at an Eisdiele is still mostly hand-made.
Italy
Ice cream today is a traditional dessert in Italy, where it is still mostly hand-made, though one of the most known ice cream machine makers is the Carpigiani.
Before the cone became popular for serving ice cream, Italian street vendors would serve the ice cream in a small glass dish referred to as a 'penny lick' or wrapped in waxed paper and known as a hokey-pokey (possibly a corruption of the Italian "ecco un poco" - "here is a little").
Italy also has its own take on the American favorite that originated at the same time. The most common and popular dessert there is gelato, Italian "ice cream". Gelato is similar but different, being made from whole milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring.
United Kingdom
The first English recipe for ice cream was published in London, by Mrs. Mary Eales Receipts in her English cookery book, in 1718. The recipe did not include a process for making the ice smooth and it must have been coarse with ice crystals.
But in the United Kingdom today, much of the lower-priced ice cream sold, including that from some ice cream vans, has no milk or milk solids content at all. Instead, it is made with vegetable oil, usually hydrogenated palm kernel oil. However, ice cream sold as dairy ice cream must contain milk fat, and many companies make sure that dairy is prominently displayed on their packaging or businesses.
In apparent contradiction to the above paragraph, the Ice Cream Alliance Ltd, a trade association for the UK ice-cream industry, says that: "It is necessary for a manufacturer to be aware of the compositional requirements of the country in which he intends to sell his ice cream. In the UK this is a minimum of 5% fat and a minimum of 2.5% milk protein (Schedule 8, the Food Labelling Regulations 1996) (pdf).
In the United Kingdon, per capita consumption of ice cream is only 6 litres per year, which is quite low when compared with countries such as the USA and Australia.
United States
Mochi ice cream (yukimi daifuku in Japan) is a popular Californian fusion food, combining Japanese mochi with an ice cream filling.
Greece
Although ice cream in its modern form is a relatively new invention, its use as ice treats in ancient times has a long history. During the 5th century BC ancient Greeks ate snow treats mixed with honey and fruit in the markets of Athens and the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, encouraged his ancient Greek patients to eat ice "as it livens the lifejuices and increases the well-being." In the 4th century BC it was well known that a favorite treat of Alexander the Great was eating snow ice mixed with honey and nectar. In modern times Greek ice cream recipes have some unique flavors such as Pagoto Kaimaki, (Greek: Παγωτό Καϊμάκι), made from mastic-resin which gives it an almost chewy texture, and salepi, used as thickening toughing agent resistance to melting, both give the ice cream a unique taste; Olive Oil Ice Cream with figs; Pagoto Loukoumi, (Greek: Παγωτό Λουκούμι), made with deep fried dough; Pagoto Kataifi Chocolate, (Greek: Παγωτό Καταΐφι-κακάο), made from the shredded fillo dough pastry that resembles angel's hair pasta or vermicelli; and Mavrodaphne Ice Cream, (Greek: Μαυροδάφνη Παγωτό), made from a Greek dessert wine. Fruity Greek Sweets of the Spoon are usually served as toppings with Greek-inspired ice cream flavors.
Ice cream cone
Mrs Marshall's Cookery Book, published in 1888, endorsed serving ice cream in cones, but the idea probably predated that cookbook. Agnes Marshall was a celebrated cookery writer of her day and helped to popularise ice cream. She patented and manufactured an ice cream maker and was the first person to suggest using liquid gases to freeze ice cream after seeing a demonstration at the Royal Institution.
The popularity of selling ice cream in cones increased greatly during the St. Louis World's fair in 1904. According to legend, at the World's Fair an ice cream seller had run out of clean dishes, so he couldn't sell any more ice cream. Next door to the ice cream booth was the waffle booth, unsuccessful due to intense heat; the waffle maker offered to make cones by rolling up his waffles; the new product became extremely popular at the fair, and was widely copied by other vendors.
Using liquid nitrogen
Adding liquid nitrogen with the rest of the ingredients and stirring vigorously produces a very smooth ice cream. The preparation is spectacular, since it results in a column of white condensed vapor, reminiscent of movie depictions of witches' cauldrons. However, the ice cream is dangerous to eat while it is still "steaming." Pockets of extremely cold liquid nitrogen can become occluded in the ice-cream, which will severely burn anyone ingesting them. The result, due to the extreme rapid cooling of the mixture, is a very smooth ice cream containing only small ice crystals. After the liquid nitrogen has completely vaporized, the remaining nitrogen bubbles are perfectly harmless and the ice cream is safe to eat.
Ice cream alternatives
The following is a partial list of ice-cream-like frozen desserts and snacks:
- Ice milk: less than 10% milk fat and lower sweetening content, sold as low-fat ice cream in the United States.
- Frozen custard: at least 10% milk fat and at least 1.4% egg yolk and much less air beaten into it, similar to Gelato, fairly rare.
- Frozen yogurt
- Mellorine: non-dairy, with vegetable fat substituted for milk fat
- Gelato: an Italian frozen dessert. Also, simply the Italian word for "ice cream".
- Sherbet: 1-2% milk fat and sweeter than ice cream.
- Sorbet: fruit puree and no milk products
- Lollipop (or popsicle or lolly): frozen fruit puree, fruit juice, or flavored sugar water on a stick or in a flexible plastic sleeve.
- Kulfi: Believed to have been introduced to South Asia by the Mughal conquest in the 16th century; its origins trace back to the cold snacks and desserts in the Arab and Mediterranean cultures.
- Dondurma: Turkish ice cream, made of salep and mastic resin
Some ice creams are made without milk. Soy ice cream and rice ice cream are made with soy milk or rice milk instead. A minority of non-dairy ice creams are based on nut butter. Another popular variation is ice cream made with coconut milk.
See also
- List of ice cream brands
- Arctic roll, Baked Alaska
- Astronaut ice cream
- Brain freeze
- Fried ice cream
- Ice cream sandwich
- Snow cream
- Soft serve
- Ice-structuring protein
Notes
- "July is ice-cream month", International Dairy Foods Association, retrieved July 30, 2006.
- Tamra Andrews: Nectar and Ambrosia:An Encyclopedia of Food in World Mythology, ABC-CLIO:Santa Barbara, 2000 (p. 121)
- Olver, Lynne (2005). "The Food Timeline- history notes: ice cream & ice". /www.foodtimeline.org. Retrieved 2006-04-07. quoting History of Food, Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated by Anthea Bell 1992 (p. 749-50)
- Tannahill, Reay (1995). Food in History (revised edition ed.). Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0517884046.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - For example see: "Cadbury Ice Cream". Cadbury Trebor Bassett. 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-07.
- de Rachewiltz, Igor (2000). "F. Wood's Did Marco Polo Go To China? A Critical Appraisal". Australian National University: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Retrieved 2006-04-07.
- Goff, Professor H. Douglas. "Ice Cream History and Folklore". Dairy Science and Technology. University of Guelph. Retrieved 2006-04-07.
- "Business Outlook: ice cream manufacturing (based on a report to be found through www.ibisworld.com.au)". Reed Business Information. 2005. Retrieved 2006-03-03.
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External links
- The Complete Guide To Ice Cream
- Ice cream history and "who really invented the ice cream cone?"
- History of ice cream
- Ice Cream: A Short History - It all began in China and Arabia
- Cooking with Chemistry, Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream
- Frozen Custard the Milwaukee Secret.
- HowStuffWorks's How Ice-Cream Works.
- The words for Ice Cream, the famous novelty song by Johnson, Moll and King, sung by Walter Williams (with Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians), which is the source of the refrain "I scream, you scream, we all scream, for ice cream!". A recording of their performance is available on Jasmine Music, ASIN: B0000659OZ, the title of the compilation is We All Scream for Ice Cream.
- Zippy Freeze Soft Serve Ice cream, Frozen Drinks & Margaritas in as little as 10 minutes!