ALL ABOUT ICE CREAM

 

Evolution of Ice - Cream

Did you know the history of ice cream begins with flavoured ices? You might be wondering now of the Gola (flavoured ice) that we used to have during our childhood. Well from then till now the ice cream has evolved and is still evolving let’s have a look at the leaps and bounces that ice cream has gone through. 

Ice cream has been a popular dairy food for hundreds of years. History has many stories about its invention, and many countries claim to be the birthplace of ice cream. It is, however, more likely that ice cream wasn't actually invented neither by any one person nor in any single country, but evolved over the years. This evolution continues as product designers create new formulas with the seemingly divergent trends toward both higher-fat levels and low- and no-fat ice cream.

Reducing the fat level of ice cream is actually taking a trip back in time. Frozen desserts date as far back as the Roman Empire when the elite would send slaves to the mountains to gather snow and ice. Upon their return, a chef would combine what hadn't melted with fruit juices and honey to make a cool, non-fat dessert with a texture resembling a modern snow cone.

During the Renaissance (13th to 16th centuries) water ices remained popular, albeit primarily with nobility and other members of the privileged upper classes. This period also saw the recipe change to include milk or cream. This made the product taste richer and sweeter and helped smooth the texture into something resembling contemporary sherbets.

Regardless of how it happened, historical documents show that modern ice cream already was established as a dairy product by colonial times. With the invention of the hand-cranked freezer in 1846, ice cream ceased to be hand-made in a large bowl. Soon after, the first commercial ice cream production began in 1851. It took until around 1926 before the original batch process gave way to the continuous freezer.

Which came first: Chocolate or Vanilla?

Ever wondered which flavour was invented first: chocolate or vanilla? You’d be more inclined to think that the vanilla flavour was invented first as vanilla serves as the base flavour for many ice creams. However, the chocolate flavour first came into the picture.

Chocolate was one of the first ice cream flavours, created before vanilla, as common drinks such as hot chocolate, coffee, and tea were the first food items to be turned into frozen desserts. It wasn’t until the discovery of the Americas that chocolate and vanilla crept onto the scene, and indeed chocolate was the first. When the Spaniards took over Central America, they adopted the Mayan drink of chocolate. Drinking chocolate was as elite as eating ice cream; cacao beans were used in Mayan culture as money, so drinking it meant you were rich enough to literally drink your wealth. Chocolate drinking in Europe was an elaborate affair with lots of gilded, intricate tools to create and consume it, so putting it in your ice cream was the next logical step.

Vanilla was brought into the fold alongside chocolate, but, as mentioned above, was initially used to bring more complexity to the chocolate drink. Vanilla beans come from an orchid that creates edible fruit. While French colonists managed to source some of the orchids to plant them in their own colonies, they could not get them to blossom until a slave named Edmond found a solution. Edmond's owner at the time took a liking to him and trained him in botany; at age 12, Edmond surprised him by creating a hand pollination technique that allowed the flowers to fruit, a technique that is still used today. 

Which is the best: Cone or Stick?

Thinking about a cone or a stick ice cream takes me back in time. As kids, a cone ice cream felt a luxury and a stick ice cream was that of an ordinary one. A cone ice cream was that which was got in a supermarket or a store, whereas, a stick ice cream was brought to us by the ice cream seller on a bicycle and was cheap too. Well, keeping stories aside did you know how the concept of a cone ice cream and a stick ice cream came to existence? Let’s find out.

The Ice cream Cone was an Accident: The ice cream cone was the happy accident ever! In 1904, an ice cream vendor at The Saint Louis Word’s Fair was selling ice cream. Ice cream was getting popular then and lots of people enjoyed it. The ice cream seller sold so much ice cream that he ran out of cups. Luckily, a kind waffle pastry seller came to the rescue by rolling his waffle pastries into a conical shape for serving the ice cream and voila! The Ice cream cone was born.

 

Ice cream on a stick concept was an accident: It was invented by an 11-year-old little boy in 1905. Fran Epperson left his cup filled with powdered soda, water and a stirring stick out on the porch. The low temperatures that night, caused the mixture to freeze, creating what is popularly known as the ice cream sticks today. 

Etiquette: A Must

Ice cream comes in all kinds of delicious flavours, from chocolate to caramel and even mint. There are a number of ways you can enjoy an ice cream. In a cup, cone or even on a stick! However, there are a number of unsaid rules that come with the basics of enjoying this sweet treat.

1.      The Serviette Situation

We all have been in situations when we’ve had ice cream spilled all over our favourite shirt or dress & have a social engagement right after. Use a paper napkin to wrap your cone or cup in to avoid such sticky situations! 

2.      Licking Someone Else’s Ice Cream

The unsolicited lick is the biggest no-no in the rulebook of ice cream eating. It is extremely rude and inconsiderate to simply take a lick of someone else’s ice cream without their permission. 

3.      Sharing Is Caring

It is super mean to not share your ice cream with the person you are with before indulging. After all, it tastes even better when shared with near and dear ones. 

4.      Don’t Be The Noisy Eater

Slurp. Chomp. Smack. Many of us find it extremely gross when people make loud noises while eating. The same rule applies to ice cream.

Ice cream Today

In spite of its long history, the formulation and manufacture of ice cream continues to evolve. Product designers creating premium and reduced-fat ice creams have contributed much to this evolution. Advances in the understanding of ice cream structure, ingredients and processing also have helped refine ice cream formulation.

Today we have many a choice of different and various flavours of Ice – cream. But nothing best as the Laban, Shifa Milk Creation Ice – Cream which satisfies your sweet tooth. Its products ranges from REAL (Exquisite fruit flavoured ice cream made with real fruit pulp for the health conscious), EXOTICAS (Exotic and unique flavour developed for the premium loving customers) and RIPPLE TREAT (Creamy vanilla ice cream with sweet and tangy syrups to make lip smacking combos) which comes to around 45 different flavours and blends of ice creams we all got your back and I bet you won’t be disappointed.