Many people think they know the history and origin of what they eat, but with a little research, you can find out things you would have never guessed.

We all like our ice cream, whether it is plain vanilla or some crazy flavor that someone came up that turned out to be delicious. Ice cream used to be very simple, but has turned into something almost anyone can eat. If you are on a particular diet, they have an ice cream for that. If you cannot eat dairy products, they have ice cream for that. But do you know how it all started?

Ice cream started with the Persians as just grape-juice concentrate over snow. Later in 400 B.C., they went further and created a yummy dish for royalty during the summer time. This dish contained rose water and vermicelli. It also contained other ingredients. But, that was not the beginning of our beloved dessert.

Around 200 B.C., China had started mixing milk and rice and froze it to make it a treat to enjoy. While other countries around the world had their forms of ice cream, it still was not exactly what we see ice cream as. Between 618 and 97 A.D., King Tang, who belonged to Shang in China, created a new recipe for ice cream. This ice cream had camphor, flour, and buffalo milk and then was frozen. It was this recipe that was the setting stone to our ice cream.

When visiting China, Marco Polo found the secrets to making this dessert and took it back to Italy and it spread like wildfire. The recipe was altered to include cream instead of milk to give it a richer flavor. From there, it finally made it to America and we’ve done crazy things to it that make it even better.

So, next time you eat ice cream, remember that we did not invent it. China made the ice cream that is the basis of our scrumptious treat.

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