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It is thought that the first man to eat Ice Cream was Alexander
the Great, (356 – 323 B.C.) Back then, he had to send
slaves into the mountains to fetch snow in order to make a basic
refrigerator. Then, jars of cream, mixed with honey and fruit
juice were put in it, and emerged the first “ice cream”.
Sometime later, ice cream reached Italy via China. Marco
Polo (1254 – 1324) bought the Chinese recipes back to
Italy. According to Marco Polo, water and milk ices had been
sold in the streets of China since 3,000 B.C. – long
before Alexander the Great.
However, the earliest evidence of anything resembling ice
cream being made was in China in A.D. 618 – 907. Buffalo,
cows and goats milk were heated and allowed to ferment. This
“yoghurt” mix was then mixed with flour for thickening
and flavour added. This was then refrigerated (stored in ice)
before being served.
In England, “iced cream” was served at a banquet
for the Feast of St George at Windsor Castle in 1671. As it
was such an exquisite treat, only very special guests were
allowed to sample some – all the other guests had to
simply watch in amazement.
In 1843 the manufacture of ice cream was made easy with the
introduction of an ice cream machine in England and the USA.
However, back in the 19th Century, ice was the key factor
in manufacturing ice cream and ice was hard to come by! It
had to be imported from Norway, Canada and America.
When mechanical refrigeration using gas and electricity was
invented, the ice cream industry flourished. Massive quantities
of ice were no longer required and it became possible to store
and transport ice cream. Ice Cream quickly became the popular
consumer product it is today.
(Source: Ice Cream from The Beginning, Lyons Maid)
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