The ice cream is Italian, and it is without a doubt an Italian invention! It dates back to ancient Romans, the tradition of the patricians, of bringing the snow from the mountains with carts, which was then kept in the cellars, the famous "snowfields". The snow, despite the heat wave, kept very well in summer, and the wealthy classes did not give up on what were delicious sorbets.
At the time of the ancient Romans
The ice cream is Italian and starts from antiquity. The wealthy classes, put the INFO in the cups flavoring it with fresh fruit, spices, nuts, pine nuts, or honey. Later on, sugar cane was also used.
The very consolidated Roman tradition is also found in Sardinia with la carapigna; in which snow or ice, they were flavored with sheep's milk, and always dried fruit, like almonds and walnuts. However, it was only during the Middle Ages that the first fruit juices were frozen; however the great leap took place in 1686. Francesco Procopio of the Knives, a Sicilian cook, invented the perfect recipe for making real ice cream!
Francesco Procopio he also developed an ice cream machine. The rather enterprising Sicilian chef emigrated to Paris, where he opened a restaurant, the Procope Café. At the legendary Cafè Procope you could taste the famous "frozen waters", or granitas; fruit ice creams and sorbets.
Francesco Procopio inventor of ice cream
However, probably was in Paris that the Italian chef added milk as an ingredient to the recipe. The success of the ice cream that was enjoyed at Cafè Procope, it was sensational, to the point of attracting famous intellectuals of the time; Voltaire, George Sand, Balzac, Victor Hugo, Diderot, D'Alembert, De Musset, Doctor Guillotin it seems they were crazy about Italian ice cream.
It seems that even the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in person, one evening he left his bicorn as a pledge in the Italian ice cream parlor; his famous headdress. That evening the emperor of Italian origins did not have enough money to pay for the ice creams offered to his friends! Cafè Procope quickly became the most famous place in the city. In a short time Francesco Procopio had taught Parisians to taste flavors like pistachio, almonds, lemons, oranges, but also chocolate and coffee.
The rise of Francesco Procopio reached its peak with an official recognition from the hands of King Louis XIV.
The ice cream cone and the waffles
Procopius went to Versailles to even withdraw the exclusive concession on the production of "Frozen waters", or the granita, of "fruit ice creams"; and "anise and cinnamon flowers", a dessert prepared with cream, eggnog and fruit!
According to other scholars, however, it seems that it was another Italian who invented ice cream. Taking a big leap forward, we know that the first ice cream shop in New York opened thanks to the Genoese, John Bosio. Bosio seems to have actually invented the cone, that is the wafer in which to put the "walking ice cream". While according to other historians, the idea of putting ice cream between two wafers of wafer paste was born in Milan in 1906.
Giovanni Torre of Bussana it is the custodian of the innovative idea. We owe then to the Bolognese Otello Cattabriga the invention of the first in 1927 ice cream maker automatic. The innovation changed everything, making the job a lot easier.
Industrial ice cream is also Italian!
The era had begun of industrial ice cream, and packaged ice creams, which have had great success. However, Italian artisanal ice cream, as well as sorbets or granitas, every summer they enliven the Italian beaches and beyond. In two thousand years, from the ancient Romans, from the snowfields, a lot has come a long way. But one thing is certain, the freshness, the goodness of Italian artisan ice cream is unbeatable. Think, for example, of the mulberry ice cream that can be found in Capri, the island of love. In short, ice cream is now part of the habits of Italians!
