For the better part of the past several days,
I’ve been mired in cream, sugar, fruit, and
sometimes eggs. It’s a new sweet ‘n heavy
dairy diet! Well, no, not really. So what have
I been doing with all those ingredients? Why,
I’ve been making ice cream, of course!
It all started when the Culinary Historians
of New York (CHNY) announced there’d be
a program on May 19. Yes, as in today. The
speaker is to be Jeri Quinzio, and her topic
will be the history and evolution of everyone’s
favorite treat, ice cream. Based on her past
work, including numerous articles, multiple
entries in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food
and Drink in America (QEFDA), and not one,
but two, books on the subject, Quinzio is
surely THE Expert on the fascinating history
of ice cream. The title of her most recent
work is Of Sugar and Snow, A History of Ice
Cream Making, which won IACP’s* 2010 award
for Best Book on Culinary History. I’ve read
it, and it’s jam-packed with well-documented
information. I’ve also heard Quinzio speak (see
9/2/2009 ), and she is quite knowledgeable.
In any event, in the interest of honing my ice
cream making skills, I offered to make some
to be served during the refreshment portion
of tonight’s program. And so the fun began.
My Big Plan was to make one or two flavors
in advance and then another during the event.
Of course, I would be doing them all in my trusty
sorbetiere (sarbotiere), with the new bucket**
that I recently custom ordered. Next was making
the decision as far as what flavors to make, so
I began searching for ice cream receipts (recipes)
in various historic cookbooks. I knew I wanted
to make one with fruit and one with something
odd and unexpected, say barley or ginger. Finally,
I settled on the following three:
1.) The receipt written by Thomas
Jefferson in his own hand; it’s a basic,
vanilla-tinged custard-based ice cream.
I figured it’s ideal for a program focusing
on ice cream’s history
2.) Parmasan [sic] ice cream (yes, as
in cheese), courtesy of The Complete
Confectioner (1789) by Britisher
Frederick Nutt
3.) And one for strawberry from Lettice
Bryan’s The Kentucky Housewife (1839).
I’ve lots to do to finalize my preparations for tonight,
so I’ll have to write more later. I’ll post the three
receipts, along with details of my ice cream making
experience. Maybe report on tonight’s CHNY program,
as well.
_________________________
*International Association of Culinary Professionals
**Made by cooper Norm Pederson; see “Carolina’s
Cupboard” for additional information; my sorbetiere was
crafted by Peter Goebel.
