The History of Ice Cream

However, historical research has found little evidence to support any of these stories. The only mention of ice in connection with Nero comes from Pliny the Elder in the first century AD, who records the discovery that water that has been boiled freezes faster and is healthier. There is no mention of ice cream in any of the manuscripts describing Marco Polo s travels. Indeed, modern historians doubt that he even reached China. It is unlikely that Catherine s chefs knew how to make ice cream since, at that time, the method of refrigeration by mixing ice and salt was known in Europe only to a handful of scientists. Nor is there any documentary evidence for Charles chef. 

We cannot be absolutely sure of exactly who invented ice cream, or where and when. In reality, the history of ice cream is closely associated with the development of refrigeration techniques and can be traced in several stages related to this. 

Cooling food and drink by mixing it with snow or ice. 

The discovery that dissolving salts in water produces cooling. 

The discovery (and spread of knowledge) that mixing salts and snow or ice cools even further. 

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The history of ice cream is subject to an erroneous legend that Dolly Madison introduced it to America at a White House reception during her husband s administration but in fact it was already popular in cities such as Philadelphia and New York. 

The Science of Ice Cream begins with an introductory chapter on the history of ice cream. Subsequent chapters outline the physical chemistry underlying its manufacture, describe the ingredients and industrial production of ice cream and ice cream products respectively, detail the wide range of different physical and sensory techniques used to measure and assess ice cream, describe its microstructure (i.e. ice crystals, air bubbles, fat droplets and sugar solution), and how this relates to the physical properties and ultimately the texture that you experience when you eat it. Finally, some suggestions are provided for experiments relating to ice cream and ways to make ice cream at home or in a school laboratory. 

By A.E. Hargreaves Life, Death and Nitric Oxide By Antony Butler and Rosslyn Nicholson A History of Beer and Brewing By Ian S. Hornsey The Science of Ice Cream By C. Clarke... 

Concurrent with these a vast range of recipes have been developed, spanning the spectrum from chilled fruit juices to what we understand as ice cream today. The evolution of ice cream has been described in detail in the two excellent histories listed in the Further Reading and the following summary owes much to them. 

Crystallization of edible fats and oils in oil-in-water (OAV) emulsions is an important process in many industrial fields such as foods [1-4], cosmetics [5], and pharmaceuticals [6]. In the food industry, crystallization in the 0/W emulsion phase contributes to the de-emulsifying process in whipped creams, the freezing of ice creams, and coagulation of the 0/W emulsions at chilled states. Therefore, the production, quality, and stability of fat products in the emulsion state are highly influenced by crystallization of the oil phase [7], so much recent research has been aimed at the exploration of fat crystallization in O/W emulsions [8-13], Fat crystallization results in complex phenomena in O/W emulsions and affects such parameters as the rate and extent of crystallization, influences of emulsion droplet sizes, effects of emulsifiers, droplet-droplet interactions, polymorphism, and effects of cooling rate and subsequent temperature history. 

Ivan Applebod is a 56-year-old morbidly obese accountant (see Chapters 1-3). He decided to see his dentist because he felt excruciating pain in his teeth when he ate ice cream. He really likes sweets and keeps hard candy in his pocket. The dentist noted from Mr. Applebod s history that he had numerous cavities as a child in his baby teeth. At this visit, the dentist found cavities in two of Mr.Applebod s teeth. 

Salt. Because of its dietary importance and usefulness for food preservation, salt has been valued by humans throughout history. It is also widely used in the chemical industry as a water softener, for snow and ice removal, and by anyone who makes homemade ice cream. However, only 86 percent of the dissolved material in the ocean is table salt. The remainder includes bromine, which is used in medicines, chemistry, and antiknock gasoline magnesium, an important light-weight metal used in fireworks and flares because it is flammable potassium, which is used in fertilizers and calcium sulfate (gypsum), an important component of wallboard. 

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