Which Country Invented Ice Cream?

Ice cream takes many forms around the world, from Italian gelato to Turkish dondurma, and each style is beloved in its own right. There is something about the sweet taste and luscious mouthfeel of frozen cream and sugar that speaks to all of us, but which nation can lay claim to this global favorite and reap the world's gratitude? As with many of history's great inventions, the most likely answer is China.

People in China were making ice cream from snow as early as 200 B.C. It wasn't like the ice cream we know today, but rather a mixture of frozen milk and rice. During the Tang Dynasty, which lasted from A.D. 618-907, a dessert similar to frozen yogurt emerged, using fermented milk thickened with flour and flavored with camphor. It was said to be a favorite of King Tang of Shang, whose staff of servants reportedly included 94 ice men tasked with bringing ice to the palace.

There is a popular tale that Marco Polo encountered ice cream in China and introduced it to Italy, mirroring the legendary origin of Italian pasta, but just like the pasta myth, there is little historical evidence to support this claim. Marco Polo did describe encountering a dessert similar to sorbet in his writings, but the earliest evidence of ice cream being made in Europe didn't appear until the 17th century, 300 years after he died. In reality, much of the evolution of ice cream occurred in Persia.

Although the earliest forms of frozen dessert appear to have come from China, it could easily be argued that the Persians played the most prominent role in this dessert's evolution. For starters, they invented a type of pyramid-shaped ice hut called a yakhchāl, which is perhaps the earliest predecessor of the freezer. By 400 B.C. two centuries before the earliest evidence of ice cream in China, Persians were making what may be the first frozen dessert in history. Known as fāloodeh, it closely resembled a slushie or granita and was typically flavored with rosewater and topped with frozen vermicelli. By the 11th century A.D., Persians were making a similar, but more solid treat known as "sharbat," which, as you can probably guess, is where the words sherbet and sorbet come from.

One could certainly make a case for Persia as the birthplace of ice cream, with fāloodeh being its earliest predecessor, but it wasn't dairy-based like the dessert enjoyed by Tang of Shang, so China still has a strong case of its own. Other countries that played a major role in the evolution of ice cream were the Mughal Empire of the Indian Subcontinent, which saw the invention of kulfi, an ice cream-like treat made from condensed milk; Italy, where frozen desserts first took hold in Europe through gelatos and sorbets; and the United States, where ice cream sundaes, ice cream sodas, ice cream cones, and milkshakes were first popularized.

The evolution of ice cream will never end. At least, not as long as we keep coming up with new flavors. If we consider the frozen desserts of the Tang Dynasty to be the earliest form of ice cream, it means the first ice cream flavor was camphor. Enjoying ice cream that tastes like Vicks VapoRub sounds unthinkable today, but what about the origins of some of the more familiar ice cream flavors?

Chocolate was likely the first of the modern ice cream flavors. Cacao trees, and therefore chocolate, are native to the Amazon rainforest, but it appears that chocolate ice cream first emerged in Italy. The first recipe for such a dessert comes from a Neapolitan cookbook published in 1692. Many of the earliest Italian ice cream recipes used popular drinks such as coffee, tea, and hot chocolate as the base of the flavoring, which makes sense since ice cream begins as a liquid.

Vanilla ice cream seems to have originated in France, where recipes for it were published as early as 1750. A few decades after that, Thomas Jefferson encountered vanilla ice cream while staying in Paris as the U.S. ambassador to France and enjoyed it enough to seek out a recipe. Jefferson's vanilla ice cream recipe is considered the first in America and is now preserved at the Library of Congress.

Some legends attribute the invention of ice cream to an American named Augustus Jackson, known as the "Father of Ice Cream". Of course, he couldn't have invented ice cream, as multiple varieties were already being prepared in Asia and Europe well before the United States was founded, but Jackson may have invented the modern American style of ice cream. He did away with the French tradition of using eggs in ice cream — the French style is richer but Jackson's is lighter — and he added salt to the ice to further lower its temperature, helping the ice cream stay solid for longer. He also pioneered the packaging and mass distribution of ice cream.

Jackson's life is shrouded in mystery. He was Black, born in Philadelphia the same year that the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in 1808. He reportedly worked at the White House for a time before starting a confectionary shop in his hometown. Jackson is referenced in a few papers from his day, at which time it seems he was already known as the father or inventor of ice cream within his community. However, little else is known of him, including whether he really worked at the White House. Jackson never patented his methods, but if the stories are true, then Americans have him to thank for the ice cream they love today.