From THE HISTORY OF ICE CREAM translated and published by Elise Pascoe in The Incredible Australian Ice Cream Book 1979.

 

History dating back to the days of the Roman Empire, relates that Nero Claudius Caesar dined on a mixture of snow, honey and spices. Swift runners were employed to bring snow from the mountains to the palace where they were flavoured with fruit juices. They were limited to winter when snow was on the ground. These were the first water ices in Rome. They were served halfway through a banquet to prepare diners for the numerous and heavy courses which followed.

 

In the thirteenth century Marco Polo discovered recipes for frozen milk desserts among the treasure he brought back from the court of the great Khan. A few centuries later in France, ices became really fashionable. Francesco Procope, (now with a French accented name) opened the first Parisienne ice cream parlour. Within a short time, there were some two hundred and fifty such parlours. From France, ice cream making spread to the English court.

 

The successful development of flavoured ices on a commercial basis is partly due to the invention of the edible cone. In New Jersey an Italian name Marchionni wrapped a piece of pasta into a cone as a vehicle for ice cream. The Americans claim the invention as their own. It made its first public appearance at the St Louis World’s Fair in 1904.
© Elise Pascoe