A SHORT HISTORY OF ICED DESSERTS
Frozen desserts have enchanted people for centuries. From Alexander the Great enjoying snow with honey and fruit, to frozen treats sold in ancient Athens, to Persian and Chinese variations—legends abound. While we can’t be sure of the exact origins, one thing is clear: humans have always loved frozen delights.
By the 16th and 17th centuries, these desserts were reserved for royalty, made by private pastry chefs. The first real milestone came in 1686 with the opening of the world’s first ice cream shop in Paris—long before the first restaurant.
Early recipes used milk, eggs, and sugar, churned by hand with wooden and steel machines. A timeless pleasure, ice cream has always been more than dessert
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In 1927, the first gelato machine was invented in Italy, transforming the texture of frozen desserts and introducing the world to “Italian gelato.” By then, additives had already found their way into recipes. As their use grew, especially by the 1950s, the traditional art of gelato-making was lost. Forever? Keep reading.
What was once a craft reserved for skilled masters became accessible to all.
In the 1980s, Italy’s slow food movement brought a new variation:
gelato artigianale naturale
—a more natural alternative to the artificial versions, though not quite the original as it includes some industrial ingredients.
THE RISE OF ITALIAN GELATO
A GREEK SCOOP OF HISTORY
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1835 – At King Otto’s palace, a pastry chef named Calvos caused mass food poisoning using chemical dyes in a frozen dessert—the first recorded mention of ice cream in Greece.
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1840 – French traveler Buchon attended a theater play in Syros and was served ice creams and sorbets during intermission, marveling at their unexpected generosity.
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1852 – Théophile Gautier tasted a lemon ice cream in Syros, praising it as better than those in France.
It seems the winds of gelato have long been blowing through Syros—ever since Hermoupolis became a town in 1825.