Ice makers
In the summer of 1809 the poet Byron and his friends visited Venice and ate ice cream in the cafes. How was the ice cream made when there were no refrigerators?
鈥� Ice can be conserved for a long time if kept well insulated in large volumes. If you visit the famous ruins of Pompeii, you will see the remains of ice-cream stands: the inhabitants brought ice down from the slopes of Vesuvius, and presumably kept it in cellars. Venice is less than 100 kilometres from the Dolomite mountains, so even in 1809 it must have been quite easy to bring cartloads of ice down from storage places there.
Ice was made in the Iranian desert thousands of years ago by simply exposing a very shallow reservoir to the cold night air. At night in the desert there are no clouds to reflect back heat rising from the ground, so the temperature plummets rapidly. The reservoir cooled, and the ice that formed on its surface was collected in the morning. These reservoirs were built with a wall to shade them from the morning sunshine.
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Ice has been a major product of Switzerland鈥檚 Lac de Joux, where you can visit the ice harvesters鈥� museum. During winter, this elevated and exposed lake freezes over. The thick layer of ice was then harvested, stored in large volumes insulated by hay, and sold throughout the following year.
Robert Cailliau
Pr茅vessin-Mo毛ns, France
鈥� Before refrigerators were invented, in Europe ice was brought from glaciers during winter and stored in underground 鈥渋ce houses鈥�, with a north-facing entrance and very thick walls for insulation. Every large European estate had its own ice house. The ice would remain frozen through the summer months until the following winter.
Ice cream was made in a piece of equipment that looked like a small double-walled butter churn. Ice was placed in the cavity between the two walls of the churn. The cream, flavoured with vanilla or pur茅ed strawberries, was placed inside the churn. A strong-armed maid would then churn away until the cream became frozen.
Because vigorous churning led to smaller ice crystals, the more powerful the churner, the smoother and more pleasant the ice cream.
Lynda Wallace
Ayr, UK
鈥� An almost contemporaneous account of how ice cream was probably made for Byron and his party in 1809 is contained in a book published in 1807 (A New System of Domestic Cookery by Maria Rundell, p 200).
鈥淕et a few pounds of ice, break it almost to powder, throw a handful and a half of salt among it. The ice and salt being in a bucket put your cream into an ice pot and cover it; immerse it in the ice and draw that round the pot so as to touch every possible part. In a few minutes put a spatula or spoon in and stir well, removing the parts that ice round the edges to the centre. There should be holes in the bucket to let off the ice as it thaws.
鈥淢ix the juice of the fruits with as much sugar as is wanted before you add cream which should be of middling richness.鈥�
Tom Jackson
Wigton, Cumbria, UK
鈥� Before refrigerators, ice cream often relied on ice exported from colder climes. Canada and Norway in particular had a huge trade in ice, exporting it round the world in insulated compartments on ships.
Interestingly, when manufactured ice started to become available, many people still preferred 鈥渞eal鈥� ice because the artificial stuff was the wrong colour and didn鈥檛 have green bits of vegetable or algal matter in it.
Simon Scarle,
Manchester, UK
鈥� Ice cream was certainly being made in Italy around 1600, and was known in England a couple of decades later, when it was served at the court of King James I.
A very high-fat mixture, such as moderately whipped double cream with sugar and a concentrated flavouring, will set to form excellent ice cream without developing large unwanted ice crystals. Less fatty mixtures, and in particular water ices, have to be agitated to break up the crystals as they form. Early ice cream was made in fairly small, tinned copper containers that could be taken out of the freezing mixture and shaken from time to time.
Ralph Hancock
London, UK
This week鈥檚 question
Reds under the tree
I saw the insects below in my yard, apparently warming themselves in the sun. It looks as if many juveniles with undeveloped wings are being tended by a few adults. Is this an example of parental care, or are the small-winged types a different sex? Does anybody know what species they are?
Judy Van Cleeff
University of Illinois, Urbana, US