The origins of frozen desserts are obscure, although several accounts exist about their history. Some sources describe ice cream-like foods as originating in Persia as far back as 550 BC. Using Ice houses and ice pools, Persians were able to serve and produce faloodeh and sorbets all year round. And in fact, there is still a form of it in Iran called "traditional ice cream" a combination of salep , saffron and a distinct form of cream.
Yakchal, a cone-shaped structure in the Iran is believed to be the inspiration for the design of ice cream . The underground space of the building was used for storing ice cream around 400 BC as the heat-resistant material of the structure helped preserve it.
A Roman cookbook dating back to the 1st-century includes recipes for sweet desserts that are sprinkled with snow.
There are Persian records from the 2nd-century for sweetened drinks chilled with ice.
There are Tang dynasty records of a chilled dessert made with flour, camphor and water buffalo milk.
Kakigori was a Japanese dessert using ice and flavored syrup. The origins of kakigōri date back the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ice saved during the colder months would be shaved and served with sweet syrup to Japanese aristocracy during the summer. Kakigōri's origin is referred to in The Pillow Book, a book of observations written by Sei Shōnagon, who served the Imperial Court during the Heian period.
The earliest known written process to artificially make ice is known not from culinary texts, but the 13th-century writings of Arab historian Ibn Abi Usaybi'a in his book Kitab Uyun al-anba fi tabaqat-al-atibba (Book of Sources of Information on the Classes of Physicians) concerning medicine in which Ibn Abu Usaybi’a attributes the process to an even older author, Ibn Bakhtawayhi, of whom nothing is known.
Ice cream production became easier with the discovery of the endothermic effect. Prior to this, cream could be chilled easily but not frozen. It was the addition of salt, that lowered the melting point of ice, which had the effect of drawing heat from the cream and allowing it to freeze.
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