Chill And Tasty Ice-creams

The origins of ice cream can be traced back to the 4th century B.C. The Roman emperor Nero ordered ice to be brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings. In the 13th century, Marco Polo learned of the Chinese method of creating ice and milk concoctions and brought it back to Europe. Over time, recipes for ices, sherbets, and milk ices evolved and were served in the fashionable Italian and French royal courts. After the dessert was imported to the United States, it was served by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Dolley Madison.

The use of ice mixed with salt to lower and control the temperature of the mix of ingredients proved a major breakthrough in the creation of ice cream as we know it. The invention of the wooden bucket freezer with rotary paddles facilitated its manufacture.

A Baltimore company first produced and marketed wholesale ice cream in 1851. The treat became both distributable and profitable with the introduction of mechanical refrigeration. The ice cream shop or soda fountain has since become an icon of American culture.

During the 20th century many brands of ice cream were marketed on a large scale in supermarket and branded francised palors. Many new, exotic flavors were developed during this era. In 1997 the idea of "microbatch" ice cream was developed. Borrowing from the success of microbrew beer, this ice cream is painstakingly produced in small batches and sold in limited quantities. The pioneering company in microbatch ice cream was Jeremy's Microbatch Ice Cream.

The company was one of the first to sell ice cream on the Internet. Unfortunately, they have apparently met the same fate as many early online businesses and have closed shop. Now, many people enjoy making their own ice cream at home.

Source : www.lofti.dsu.edu/Ice%20Cream/Pages/ice_cream_history.htm

Story Of Chocolates

The treat that now lies quietly in its wrapper carries a story of exotic places, long journeys and small families that raise delicate tropical fruit trees.As you peel back the wrapper, you’re uncovering the cacao tree’s seed—and joining people the world over who have turned to this mysterious food for ritual, medicine and sheer pleasure for the past 4,000 years. How do the beans in chocolate farmers' hands become decadent sweets in yours? Let’s explore how chocolate is made...the story of chocolate.

The treat so loved worldwide has very humble beginnings. The cacao bean begins life inside a fruit, called a pod, on a tree in the tropics, primarily in remote areas of West Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America. These delicate, flower-covered trees need much tending and, when farmed using sustainable methods, grow in harmony in tropical forests beneath other cash crops such as bananas, rubber or hardwood trees. Grown on small family farms, the beans leave cocoa farms by hand, in carts, on donkeys or rugged trucks to be sold to a local buyer and then to processors abroad.Once in the factory, they are ground, pressed, heated and stirred to create luxurious chocolate.

Chocolate grows on trees.

The cocoa "beans" that form the basis of chocolate are actually seeds from the fruit of the cacao tree, which grows near the Equator. The seeds grow inside a pod-like fruit and are covered with white pulp.How is chocolate made? To make chocolate, cocoa farmers crack open the pods, scoop out the seeds, ferment them and dry them.

The beans are shipped to factories, where manufacturers inspect and clean them, then roast and grind them into a paste called chocolate liquor. More pressing, rolling, mixing with sugar and other ingredients, and heating and cooling yields delicious chocolate.In fact, the making of chocolate has evolved into an industry so large that 40 to 50 million people depend on cocoa for their livelihoods—and chocolate farmers produce 3.8 million tons of cocoa beans per year.

Source : www.thestoryofchocolate.com