Changes

[[File:Marco Polo traveling.jpeg|left|300px|thumbnail|Figure 1. Marco Polo has been credited with bringing ice cream to Europe.]]It is not clear when the idea of ice cream exactly developed. However, already by the 2nd millennium BC, around 1800 BC, records from the ancient Near East state of Mari indicate ice was being collected for refreshment during the hot months. An ice house was built in the city of Terqa, suggesting the ice would be stored there during the winter months, when it may have been brought down from the mountains, and then successfully stored during the warm season. In China, at about the same time or even earlier, a flavored ice was known that resembles modern sherbet, where fruit would be frozen and flavored with honey or other sweet tastes. By the Achaemenid Persian period, around 500 BC, the Persians are depicted as using a type of grape concentrate which they would then mix with ice to create a cold, grape flavored treat. They would also use honey to give it a sweet taste. This seems to have been introduced to the Greeks after the invasion of Alexander, where records indicate the Greeks were doing similar things soon after Alexander's arrived in the region.<ref>For more on early ice cream consumption in the ancient world, see: Weiss, L. B. (2011). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1861897928/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1861897928&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5e4fd0680acd209879f3f29c98e8005f Ice creamCream: a global historyA Global History].</i> London: Reaktion Books, pg. 19.</ref>

Similar ice flavored treats continued in the Roman period. In the mountains of Italy, ice harvesters would be sent to get ice during the colder months and the ice would then be brought to Rome or other cities. Ice houses, which had sometimes underground chambers to keep the cool and were large in places, were used to preserve the ice. The ice, when it was consumed, was flavored with fruits and juices to create something akin to what we would call a slushy (i.e., mostly flavored ice) or a sherbet or sorbet, similar to what was evident in ancient China.<ref>For more on Roman ice houses and ice cream, see: Vear, B., & Cooper, M. (2013). <i>Ice cream Cream and other frozen delightsOther Frozen Delights.</i> Bath: Absolute Press, pg. 12.</ref>

It was only in the 16th century that the texture of what we call ice cream began to appear. By this time or perhaps in the 16th century, flavored ice was mixed with milk and cream. The presence of ice cream likely came via the Silk Road or it has been mentioned from the period of Marco Polo (Figure 1). Eventually, when sugar came from the New World, that was then also mixed with the flavored ice, milk, and cream combination to create the taste and look of ice cream we are more familiar with. The use of cream mixed with ice helped create the name "ice cream" or "iced cream" as it was initially know. This innovation probably came via Italy and France, where from there it spread to the rest of Europe. However, having ice required having ice houses, which were not common. Thus it was mostly a type of treat for royalty or consumed by upper elites of society and not widely available.<ref>For more on Europe's history of ice cream, see: Quinzio, J. (2009). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0520248619/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0520248619&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=84e7dc5199895ae45b5f8f264f1dc432 Of sugar Sugar and snowSnow: a history A History of ice cream makingIce Cream Making]. </i> University of California Press.</i></ref> [[File:Marco Polo traveling.jpeg|thumbnail|Figure 1. Marco Polo has been credited with bringing ice cream to Europe.]]

[[File:5249494834 3b6f6c54c9 b.jpeg|thumbnail|300px |left|Figure 2. Children eating ice cream in the Ottoman Era.]]By the 17th century, beginning first in France, cafe culture began to spread, where these shops offered coffee and tea. However, ice cream began to also appear on menus in some of the well to do cafes that could afford to keep ice. Recipes for ice cream also appeared, which not only spread interest in making ice cream but also it encouraged experimentation. Thickening agents were now introduced to ice cream in the 16th century, such as using seaweed. Eating ice cream with strawberries and milk were considered to be a particular treat, leading to strawberries being a popular flavor associated with ice cream. <ref>For more on ice cream's spread to more common classes, see: Arnold, S. J. (2004). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1B4P38/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00D1B4P38&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=15f9e6cc40c2beffa51485348c65e24a Everybody loves ice creamLoves Ice Cream: the whole scoop The Whole Scoop on America’s favorite treatFavorite Treat].</i> Cincinnati, Ohio: Emmis Books, pg. 14.</ref>

The 18th century saw the expansion of ice cream, where many shops and ice cream makers now operated. It was during the colonial period that ice cream was introduced to the United States, perhaps via Quakers who brought their recipe books with them as they came to the colonies. Ice cream soon caught on in popularity, as many of the founding fathers in the United States widely consumed ice cream. In the summer of 1790, George Washington spent $200 on ice cream. Thomas Jefferson had a well known 18-step recipe for creating ice cream. In the inauguration of James Madison, ice cream was served to guests.<ref>For more on the early history of ice cream in the United States, see: DeWitt, D. (2010). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1402217862/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1402217862&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6b9288a331b7873bafa0ece890e4603e The founding foodiesFounding Foodies: how How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin revolutionized Revolutionized American cuisineCuisine].</i> Naperville, Ill: Sourcebooks.</ref>

It was at around Around 1800 that , ice house insulation improved, allowing the ice houses dramatically which allowed them to be even colder and . The improved technology expanded the presence number of ice houses increased widely. The wider presence of ice houses allowed ice cream to be more common throughout different regions spread across the United States, Europe, and Middle East in the early part of the 19th century (Figure 2). In the rest of the century, several technologies began to facilitate the production of ice cream. These included steam power, mechanical refrigeration, the homogenizer, electric power and motors, packing machines, and improvements in the freezing process. The hand-cranked churn was an important innovation in the 1840s that gave ice cream a smoother look. Jacob Fussell, a Quaker from Baltimore, created an ice cream business by selling ice cream at a larger scale, introducing wider commercial processing and selling of ice cream. He was able to streamline the procurement of milk from dairy farmers and he often had a surplus of cream that he would then begin to use for ice cream. Popularity of his brand caught on and spread as he was able to widely distribute his product. <ref>For more on 19th century developments in ice cream, see: Clarke, C. (2012). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1849731276/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1849731276&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=fdf3c92b3e20404d677eaceab18d6a02 The science Science of ice cream Ice Cream] (2nd ed).</i> Cambridge: RSC Publ.</ref>

It was during the 1870s that the sundae developed. At that time, ice cream had now become prevalent. Experimentation on new types of ice creams were common and one of these added soda with ice cream along with fruits and other sweet toppings. However, there was a backlash on eating such foods on a Sunday, a religious day, so the innovators simply took out the soda water and the mixture of ice creams and toppings was eventually called the sundae, although it was spelled sunday initially (changed to avoid criticism from religiously minded people). The use of soda water with ice cream, however, did catch on. The ice cream cone was popularized in 1888 by Agnes Marshall in her recipe book, where she called these cones cornets. It is likely ice cream cones were already known, but her book did make the idea of ice cream cones more known, mostly because of her influence at the time in things related to cooking and food.<ref>For more on how flavors and types of ice creams developed, see: Funderburg, A. C. (1995). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087972692X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=087972692X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=2f5f9d5997d7c3a5ce30d3a44ab2b7e9 Chocolate, strawberryStrawberry, and vanillaVanilla: a history A History of American ice creamIce Cream].</i> Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press.</ref> [[File:5249494834 3b6f6c54c9 b.jpeg|thumbnail|Figure 2. Children eating ice cream in the Ottoman Era.]]

 The key change to ice cream was improvement in electrified refrigeration, or specifically freezing, that spread after World War II globally. The need for having to obtain ice became unneeded after the 1870s. This was because of the development of the electrified freezing process. However, the technology was not perfected until the 1920s, what became the continuous-process freezer, that enabled ice cream to be more easily made and become globally prevalent. Electrification in many regions became only widespread after World War II, which meant that for many regions ice cream only became common after the war. Throughout the 20th century, new developments in various flavors and types, such as the banana split (introduced in 1904), emerged. Another important innovation was the use of more air in the cream and ice mixture, that created a "softer" looking ice cream or what we call soft ice cream that is popular today. The ice cream company Dairy Queen seems to have brought this innovation. Seaweed and other agents are still used for thickening; agar is now more commonly used as an emulsifier to help give ice cream a greater consistency.<ref>For more on 20th century developments, see: Goldstein, D. (Ed.). (2015). <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199313393/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199313393&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=aa8a1908b1f1f8f9a6595e88190db70a The Oxford companion Companion to sugar Sugar and sweetsSweets].</i> Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, pg. 348.</ref>