History of Ice Cream in Persian

History of Ice cream - In the ancient times in the Persian Empire people would pour grape juice concentrate over snow - in a bowl - and eat this as a treat similar to Ice cream. In particular this was consumed when the whether was hot. Either snow would be saved in the cool-keeping underground chambers known as "yakhchal" or taken from fresh snow that may still have remained at the top of the mountains by the summer capital - Hagmatana, [Ecbatana] or [Hamedan] of today.

In 400 BC, Persians or Iranians went further and invented a special chilled pudding-like dish, made of rose water and vermicelli which was served to royalty during summers. The ice was mixed with saffron, fruits, and various other flavours. The treat, widely made in Iran today, is called "faloodeh" or "paloodeh", and is made from starch (usually wheat), spun in a sieve-like machine which produces threads or drops of the batter, which are boiled in water. The mix is then frozen, and mixed with rose water and lemons, before serving.

Ancient Persians mastered the technique of storing ice inside giant naturally-cooled refrigerators known as yakhchals. These structures kept ice brought in from the winter, or from nearby mountains, well into the summer. They worked by using tall windcatchers that kept the sub-level storage space at frigid temperatures.

Ancient civilizations have served ice for cold foods for thousands of years. The BBC reports that a frozen mixture of milk and rice was used in China around 200 BC. The Roman Emperor Nero (37–68) had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings. These were some early chilled delicacies. (wikipedia)




See also : Soto, Burger King