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The ancient Greeks were familiar with this cooling dish. They refined the snow on Mount Olympus, regarded as the food of the gods, with honey, fruit juices and wine.
In ancient Rome the emperor Nero ordered snow from the Alban Mountains to be collected in earth pits, and enjoyed this snow refined with honey, cinnamon or rosewater. Attempts at storing the glacial ice and snow for the summer in carefully covered holes in the ground failed however.
With the demise of the ancient cultures the methods of producing ice cream were also lost. Until 1292 when Marco Polo (1254-1324) brought back a recipe for ice cream to Europe from one of his countless journeys to Asia. The Italian globetrotter reported that people in China had already been mixing milk, water and fruits with snow to make ice cream for over 3000 years. The Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC) is said to have owned an ice cellar so he could store fruits mixed with ice.
The triumphant march of ice cream through Europe had begun thanks to Marco Polo's discovery, and this dish increased in popularity during the Middle Ages. In the 16th century a Sicilian confectioner then came up with the idea of artificially making ice using saltpetre. If saltpetre salt, or potassium nitrate to be more precise, is placed in water, it dissolves while at the same time falling in temperature. With this method the confectioner had fulfilled the prerequisites for more people being able to enjoy the delights of ice cream. The ability to create low temperatures artificially now meant the production of ice cream was independent of seasons and geographical location. Only the rich had the opportunity to enjoy this culinary delight however. Recipes were closely-guarded secrets. With the opening of the first ice cream café in 1651 in Paris's Rue de l'Ancienne Comédie by the Sicilian Procopio die Coltelli ice cream also became available to the general population.
A milestone in the history of ice cream production was the invention by Carl von Linde of a refrigerator based on ammonia. This also marked the breakthrough for economical ice cream production. Moreover, it made it possible to replace natural ice and saltpetre salt, and produce a much more hygienic form of ice cream.
Nowadays the vast choice available in the retail food trade and the catering industry means that there is something to meet all tastes, and people have the possibility to enjoy ice cream at home as well as when out and about. Ice cream is an independent foodstuff.
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