ICE CREAM

The making of ‘‘ice cream’’ originated in Italy about 1600 A.D.— perhaps earlier—and spread thence to France, and through France to England. From. England the knowledge of the new delicacy cro ed to her American colonies early in the eighteenth century.. It is popularly thought that the present wide diversity of ‘‘ices’’ and ‘‘ice ereains’’ is a modern development. On the contrary, a much greater variety of ingredients distinguished their first manufacture. The novelty was in the proce of freezing, not in the composition of the mixtures so treated—freezing being merely applied to scores of already popular beverages and de ert dishes—the latter being multifarious blends of cream, ground nuts, fruits, chocolate, spices, wine, etc. As many of these de erts had previously been chilled by contact with ice or snow, the transition to ice cream was an easy step. The theory that ice cream should consist only of flavored, sweetened, iced cream of milk is of modern origin. The earlier significance of the word ‘‘cream’’ as thus employed had rather the meaning of our ‘‘custard’’ — custards and similar de erts being then better known as ‘‘creams,’’ the usage surviving in such titles as ‘‘ Bavarian cream,’’ ‘‘prune cream,”’ and ‘‘tapioca cream.’’ To-day the United States is the greatest consumer of ice cream in the world, the kinds enjoyed ranging from simple cream or thickened milk, sweetened and flavored, to those varied with eggs and mixed with fresh and preserved fruits, nuts, etc., and others in which egg whites are used to the exclusion of both milk or cream: some entirely raw; others, as ‘‘ French ice cream’’ with a ‘‘cooked,’’ or ‘‘custard,’’ base: for the tastes, pocketbooks, and demands of the public vary widely. The use of cornstarch as a filler for simple or cheap kinds, though still common in the household, has become obsolete in commercial manufacture, condensed or dried milk taking its place. The commercial manufacture of ice cream has become a great industry, the annual output of wholesale establishments alone exceeding 250,000,000 gallons. In these big plants, the former type of machine freezer (similar to the household freezer) has been v superseded by self-charging and self-emptying freezing-apparatus in which mechanically refrigerated brine in sealed coils or chambers does the work of the open tub of ice and salt; mechanical mixers have taken the place of the open vats and kettles; and mechanically refrigerated dry cold-storage rooms have succeeded the old ice and salt pack for hardening the ice cream after it leaves the freezer. For honsehold purposes, Junxet (which see) prepared from pure milk, mixed with whatever cream can be spared, is an excellent material for making into ice cream, giving a smooth, delicate product at minimum expense. The junket proce renders the milk and cream more easily digestible while at the same time thickening and improving its body.