Ice cream (derived from earlier iced cream or cream ice

[1]
) is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy
products, such as milk and cream and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most
varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners. In some cases,
artificial flavourings and colourings are used in addition to, or instead of, the natural ingredients. The
mixture of chosen ingredients is stirred slowly while cooling, in order to incorporate air and to prevent
large ice crystals from forming. The result is a smoothly textured semi-solid foam that is malleable and
can be scooped.
The meaning of the phrase "ice cream" varies from one country to another. Phrases such as "frozen
custard", "frozen yogurt", "sorbet", "gelato" and others are used to distinguish different varieties and
styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase "ice cream" applies only to a specific
variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the
relative quantities of the main ingredients.
[2]
Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice
cream are labelled "frozen dairy dessert" instead.
[3]
In other countries, such as Italy and Argentina, one
word is used for all variants. Analogues made from dairy alternatives, such as goat's or sheep's milk,
or milk substitutes, are available for those who are lactose intolerant, allergic to dairy protein, or vegan.
The most popular flavours of ice cream in North America (based on consumer surveys)
are vanilla and chocolate.
[4]

History


A yakhchal, an ancient type of ice house, in Yazd, Iran.
In the Persian Empire, people would pour grape-juice concentrate over snow, in a bowl, and eat this as a
treat. This was done primarily when the weather was hot, using snow saved in the cool-keeping
underground chambers known as "yakhchal", or taken from snowfall that remained at the top of
mountains by the summer capital Ecbatana. In 400 BC, the Persians went further and invented a special
chilled food, made ofrose water and vermicelli, which was served to royalty during summers.
[5]
The ice
was mixed with saffron, fruits, and various other flavours.
Ancient civilizations have served ice for cold foods for thousands of years. The BBC reports that a frozen
mixture of milk and rice was used in China around 200 BC.
[6]
The Roman Emperor Nero (3768) had ice
brought from the mountains and combined it with fruit toppings. These were some early chilled
delicacies.
[7]

Arabs used milk as a major ingredient in the production of ice cream
[citation needed]
and sweetened it with
sugar rather than fruit juices. It was flavoured with rosewater, dried fruits and nuts.
Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat asserts, in her History of Food, that "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."
[8][9]
Some distorted accounts claim that in the age of Emperor
Yingzong, Song Dynasty (9601279) of China, a poem named Ode to the ice cheese() was written
by the poet Yang Wanli. Actually, this poem was named Ode to the pastry (; is a kind of food
much like pastry in the Western world) and has nothing to do with ice cream.
[10]
It has also been claimed
that, in the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan enjoyed ice cream and kept it a royal secret until Marco
Polo visited China and took the technique of making ice cream to Italy.
In 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.
[11]

Spread to Europe


Italian duchess Catherine de' Medici, credited with introducing ice cream into Europe in the 16th
century.
When Italian duchess Catherine de' Medici married the Duke of Orlans (Henry II of France) in 1533, she
is said to have brought with her to France some Italian chefs who had recipes for flavoured ices or
sorbets.
[12]
One hundred years later, Charles I of England was, it was reported, 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.
[13]
There is no historical evidence to
support these legends, which first appeared during the 19th century.
The first recipe in French for flavoured ices appears in 1674, in Nicholas Lemerys Recueil de curiositz
rares et nouvelles de plus admirables effets de la nature.
[12]
Recipes for sorbetti saw publication in the
1694 edition of Antonio Latini's Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Steward).
[12]
Recipes for flavoured
ices begin to appear in Franois 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. Latini claims
that the results of his recipes should have the fine consistency of sugar and snow.
[12]

Ice cream recipes first appeared in 18th-century England. The recipe for ice cream was published in Mrs.
Mary Eales's Receipts in London in 1718.
[14][15]

To ice cream.
Take Tin Ice-Pots, fill them with any Sort of Cream you like, either plain or sweetend, or Fruit in it; shut
your Pots very close; to six Pots you must allow eighteen or twenty Pound of Ice, breaking the Ice very
small; there will be some great Pieces, which lay at the Bottom and Top: You must have a Pail, and lay
some Straw at the Bottom; then lay in your Ice, and put in amongst it a Pound of Bay-Salt; set in your
Pots of Cream, and 93 lay Ice and Salt between every Pot, that they may not touch; but the Ice must lie
round them on every Side; lay a good deal of Ice on the Top, cover the Pail with Straw, set it in a Cellar
where no Sun or Light comes, it will be froze in four Hours, but it may stand longer; then take it out just
as you use it; hold it in your Hand and it will slip out. When you woud freeze any Sort of Fruit, either
Cherries, Rasberries, Currants, or Strawberries, fill your Tin-Pots with the Fruit, but as hollow as you can;
put to them Lemmonade, made with Spring-Water and Lemmon-Juice sweetend; put enough in the
Pots to make the Fruit hang together, and put them in Ice as you do Cream.


Title page to The Art of Cookery byHannah Glasse.
However, the earliest reference to ice cream given by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1744,
reprinted in a magazine in 1877.1744 in Pennsylvania Mag. Hist. & Biogr. (1877) I. 126 Among the
rarities..was some fine ice cream, which, with the strawberries and milk, eat most deliciously.
[16]

The 1751 edition of The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse features a recipe for ice
cream. OED gives her recipe: H. GLASSE Art of Cookery (ed. 4) 333 (heading) To make Ice Cream..set it
[sc. the cream] into the larger Bason. Fill it with Ice, and a Handful of Salt.
[16]
The year 1768 saw the
publication of L'Art de Bien Faire les Glaces d'Office by M. Emy, a cookbook devoted entirely to recipes
for flavoured ices and ice cream.
[12]

Ice cream was introduced to the United States by Quaker colonists who brought their ice cream recipes
with them. Confectioners sold ice cream at their shops in New York and other cities during the colonial
era. Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were known to have regularly eaten and
served ice cream. First Lady Dolley Madison is also closely associated with the early history of ice cream
in the United States. One respected history of ice cream
[which?]
states that, as the wife of U.S.
PresidentJames Madison, she served ice cream at her husband's Inaugural Ball in 1813.
[17]

Small-scale handcranked ice cream freezer were invented in England by Agnes Marshall and in America
by Nancy Johnson in the 1840s.
[18]

Expansion in popularity


Carlo Gatti, Swiss emigre who popularised ice cream in mid-19th century London.
In the Mediterranean, ice cream appears to have been accessible to ordinary people by the mid-
eighteenth century.
[19]
Ice cream became popular and inexpensive in England in the mid-nineteenth
century, due to the efforts of a Swiss emigre Carlo Gatti. He set up the first stall outside Charing
Cross station in 1851, selling scoops of ice cream in shells for one penny to the public; previously, ice
cream was an expensive treat confined to rich people with access to an ice house.
[20]
He built a large 'ice
well' for storage of the ice that he took from Regent's Canal under a contract with the Regent's Canal
Company. By 1860, with a rapidly expanding business, he began importing ice on a large scale
from Norway.
Agnes Marshall, regarded as the 'queen of ices' in England did much to popularize ice cream recipes and
make its consumption into a fashionable middle-class pursuit. She wrote four books: Ices Plain and
Fancy: The Book of Ices (1885), Mrs. A.B. Marshall's Book of Cookery (1888), Mrs. A.B. Marshall's Larger
Cookery Book of Extra Recipes (1891) and Fancy Ices (1894) and gave public lectures on cooking. She
even suggested using liquid nitrogen to make ice cream.
Ice cream soda was invented in the 1870s, adding to ice cream's popularity. The invention of this cold
treat is attributed to American 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 conclusive evidence to support any of their stories. Some sources say
that the sundae was invented to circumvent blue laws, which forbade serving sodas on Sunday. Towns
claiming to be the birthplace of the sundae include Buffalo,Two Rivers, Ithaca, and Evanston. Both
the ice cream cone and banana split became popular in the early 20th century.


Agnes Marshall, 'queen of ices', instrumental in making ice-cream fashionable.
The first mention of the cone being used as an edible receptacle for the ice cream is in Mrs.
A.B. Marshall's Book of Cookery of 1888. Her recipe for "Cornet with Cream" said that "the cornets were
made with almonds and baked in the oven, not pressed between irons".
[21][22][23][24]
The ice cream cone
was popularized in the USA at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO.
[25]

The history of ice cream in the 20th century is one of great change and increases in availability and
popularity. In the United States 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 American Prohibition, the soda
fountain to some extent replaced the outlawed alcohol establishments such as bars and saloons.
Ice cream became popular throughout the world in the second half of the 20th century after
cheap refrigeration became common. There was an explosion of ice cream stores and of flavours 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 flavours ("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 soft ice cream, which has more
air mixed in thereby reducing costs. It made possible the soft ice cream machine in which a cone is filled
beneath a spigot on order. In the United States, Dairy Queen, Carvel, and Tastee-Freezpioneered in
establishing chains of soft-serve ice cream outlets.
Technological innovations such as these have introduced various food additives into ice cream, the
notable one being the stabilizing agent gluten,
[26]
to which some people have an intolerance. Recent
awareness of this issue has prompted a number of manufacturers to start producing gluten-free ice
cream.
[27]

The 1980s saw thicker ice creams being sold as "premium" and "super-premium" varieties under brands
such as Ben & Jerry's, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Company andHagen-Dazs.
Toasting methods


A classic two-slot electric toaster
In a modern kitchen, the usual method of toasting bread is by the use of a toaster, an electrical
appliance made for that purpose. To use a modern toaster, sliced bread is placed into the narrow slots
on the top of the toaster, the toaster is tuned to the correct setting (some may have more elaborate
settings than others) and a lever on the front is pushed down. The toast is ready when the lever pops up
along with the toast. If the bread is insufficiently toasted, the lever can be pressed down again.
It can also be toasted by a new modern toaster which are often used in hotels and meetings. These work
by having one heating element on the top and one on the bottom with a metal conveyor belt in the
middle which carries the toast slowly between the two heating elements. This allows toast to be made
consistently as more slice can be added at any time without waiting for previous ones to pop up.
Bread can also be toasted under a grill (or broiler), in an open oven, or lying on an oven rack. Toaster
ovens are special small appliances made for toasting bread or for heating small amounts of other foods.
Bread can also be toasted by holding it near but not directly over an open flame, such as
a campfire or fireplace; special toasting utensils (e.g. toasting forks) are made for this purpose. Before
the invention of modern cooking appliances such as toasters and grills, this was the only available
method of producing toast.
Toast is made using slices of bread. Many brands of ready sliced bread are available, some specifically
marketing their suitability for toasting.
Consumption


A plain dry slice of toast on a plate
Toast is most commonly eaten with butter or margarine spread over it, and may be served
with preserves, spreads, or other toppings in addition to or instead of butter. Toast
with jam or marmalade is popular. A few other condiments that can be enjoyed with toast are chocolate
spread, cream cheese, and peanut butter. Yeast extracts such as Marmite in the UK, New Zealand and
South Africa, andVegemite in Australia are national traditions. Some sandwiches, such as the BLT, call
for toast to be used rather than bread.
Toast is an important component of many breakfasts, and is also important in some traditional bland
specialty diets for people withgastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea.
In the United Kingdom, a dish popular with children is a soft-boiled egg eaten with toast soldiers at
breakfast. Strips of toast (the soldiers) are dipped into the runny yolk of a boiled egg through a hole
made in the top of the eggshell, and eaten.
[1]

In southern Sri Lanka it is common for toast to be paired with a curry soup and mint tea.
By 2013 "artisanal toast" had become a significant food trend in upscale American cities like San
Francisco, where some commentators decried the increasing number of restaurants and bakeries selling
freshly made toast at what was perceived to be an unreasonably high price.
[2][3]

Health concerns
Toasted bread slices may contain high levels of acrylamide, a carcinogen generated during the browning
process.
[4]
High acrylamide levels can also be found in other heated carbohydrate-rich foods.
[5]
The
darker the surface colour of the toast, the higher its concentration of acrylamide.
[4]
That is why
according to the recommendations made by the British Food Standards Agency, bread should be toasted
to the lightest colour acceptable.
[6]