In 1984, President Reagan created National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in July to commemorate a treat enjoyed by over 90% of the US population. Americans still lead the world in ice cream consumption: 23 gallons a year.
There’s no known inventor of ice cream. But it’s history is as rich as gelato. Alexander the Great, in 4th century BCE, adored ice and snow flavored with nectar and honey. And the Bible indicates that King Solomon enjoyed iced drinks during the harvest season. During the Roman Empire, the great Caesar (of veni, vidi, vici fame) would send people to gather mountain snow (of veni eat, vici fame), just to cover it in fruit and juices. Or was it Marco Polo, who returned from the Far East with a recipe for what we now know as sherbet? That recipe developed into what we now know as ice cream, once called ‘‘Cream Ice.” Three hundred years later, in 1660, the Italian Francesco Procopio Dei Coltelli perfected his grandfather’s machine that produced top-quality gelato, and presented the general public with ice cream in his Paris cafe. The recipe blended milk, butter, eggs, and cream.
A guest of Governor William Bladen, provides the first mention of ice cream in the US in a letter written in Maryland in 1744. The New York Gazette, on May 12, 1777, printed the first advertisement for ice cream. Following the American Revolution, ice cream became super popular in the new USA. Since then there has been the steady progress: introduction of ice cream parlors, home machines, ice cream vans, ice cream floats, sundaes, and well-known brands such as ‘‘Ben and Jerry’s’’ and ‘‘Haagen-Dazs.” The effect of ice cream on society is so great that the brain of an ice cream lover has been likened to that of an addict. When the brain wants ice cream, it reacts like a passionate fanatic. Think lunch and dinner time at Kendal.
