Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Ice Cream History : France

As far back as 1665, the Catalogue des Marchandises rares edited in Montpellier by Jean Fargeon, listed a type of frozen sorbet. While the composition of this sorbet is not provided, Fargeon specified that it was consumed frozen using a container that was plunged into a mixture of ice and saltpetre. These sorbets were transported in pots made of clay and sold for three livres per pound.

According to L’Isle des Hermaphrodites, the practice of cooling beverages with ice and snow had already emerged in Paris, particularly in the court, during the 16th century. The narrator notes that his hosts stored ice and snow which they later added to their wine. This practice slowly progressed during the reign of Louis XIII and was likely a necessary step towards the creation of ice cream. In fact, as early as 1682, Le Nouveau confiturier françois provided a recipe for a specific type of ice cream, called "neige de fleur d'orange".

In 1686, Italian Francesco dei Coltelli opened an ice cream café in Paris, and the product became so popular that during the next 50 years another 250 cafés opened in Paris.

The first recipe in French for flavoured ices appears in 1674, in Nicholas Lemery's Recueil de curiositéz rares et nouvelles de plus admirables effets de la nature. Recipes for sorbetti saw publication in the 1694 edition of Antonio Latini's Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Steward). Recipes for flavoured ices begin to appear in François Massialot's Nouvelle Instruction pour les Confitures, les Liqueurs, et les Fruits, starting with the 1692 edition. Massialot's recipes result in a coarse, pebbly texture. Latini claims that the results of his recipes should have the fine consistency of sugar and snow.

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