Everyday Italian: Ice, Ice Bambino

 

It's finally Summer, here in the part of Florence that's so-far-North-it's-actually-England, and that means lounging around in our chemises with our feet in a pool, eating ice cream and sno-cones, and enjoying iced drinks in the shade.

Yes, you read that right. It turns out, these things that feel so decidedly modern actually have a long and glorious history. Ice cream (as with many things we know and love) is purported to have been invented in China, then perfected by the Arabs who brought it to Sicily, where it gained gustatorial traction. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans also devised ways to collect and keep snow (often in straw-lined pits, much to the chagrin of Hippocrates who felt that 'drinking out of ice' wasn't a good life choice) which they mixed with fruit juice and honey for a refreshing ancient shave ice - the precursor to sorbet. 

A few hundred years later, Florentines continued finding ways to serve cold things on hot days. Cellars, of course, were the original refrigerator and Florentines, much like today, would set bottles of wine to cool to 'cellar temperature' before serving. The wealthy were also in the habit of collecting ice and snow over the Winter and storing it in deep pits, like their ancient forebears, so they could liberate it in the Summer to, as French essayist Michael de Montaigne described it, "[put] snow in their glasses of wine." Naturally, the Medicis had among their connections a true Renaissance Man - Bernardo Buontalenti - who devised a structure built into a hillside that supported long-term ice storage, which they used for wine chilling to good effect: either ice was packed around the bottles, or the wine was decanted into large vessels with an internal pocket to hold the ice.

These inventions weren't just for bottles, though. It's reported that double-cavity glasses were created that allowed snow to be packed in the outer layer with the drink in the inner layer, as well as other crazy solutions in a similar vein (none of these survive, more's the pity). And it wasn't just wine, people were drinking; flavour-infused water was also quite popular and refreshing (but not carbonated, so put your La Croix down, please). 

Frozen desserts - both sorbetto and gelato - also became popular in this period. The Medici were in the habit of entertainments meant to surprise, delight and amaze, and the same Signore Buontalenti who invented the ice house was working for them on rather an extravagant display for some important Spanish guests. He devised elaborate performances and fireworks, but also a frozen, flavoured cream-based concoction that, with the addition of egg, evolved into Florentine Cream. 

Other stories have a contemporary of Buontalenti named Cosimo Ruggieri behind the frozen treats. An erstwhile chicken farmer, he'd entered a Medici-sponsored competition to cook 'the most unusual dish you've ever seen', and his frozen dessert won him a place in wealthy kitchens. Catherine de Medici is said to be so impressed with his skills that she hauled him up to Paris when she married the Dauphin, Henri d'Orleans, but the other cooks hated him and he hated the job, so he left Catherine with his gelato recipe on his way out the door to return to his previous life. From that point, though, ice cream cemented it's place in our hearts.

While the actual history may be a bit dodgy and the real origins lost to the mists of time, our impulse to reach for frozen things is well-supported. It is therefore a relief that ,in the unbearable heat of Summer, reaching for ice cold drinks and snacks is the period thing to do. Enjoy!

Leading photo: The ice house in Boboli - Credit: Sailko