The origins of frozen desserts are obscure, although several accounts exist about their history. Some sources describe frozen desserts as originating in Persia as far back as 550 BC.
A Roman cookbook dating back to the 1st-century includes recipes for sweet desserts that are sprinkled with snow, and there are Persian records from the second century for sweetened drinks chilled with ice.
Kakigōri is a Japanese dessert made with ice and flavoured syrup. The origins of kakigōri date back to the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ice saved during the colder months would be shaved and served with sweet syrup to the 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 Syrian historian Ibn Abu Usaybia 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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