Icecream Journal

We’re a day late with this announcement, but we wanted to wish a very happy third birthday to the Ice Cream Journal. That’s right, three years ago the Journal burst onto the scene as one of the only all-ice cream blogs in existence and it’s stronger than ever today thanks to thousands of ice cream loving readers! And with that, here’s a another edition of Ask Ernie:

JANICE K. OF SCRANTON, PA ASKS: What was the first ice cream flavor ever?

Good question, Janice. We’d all like to think it was chocolate chip cookie dough or Moose Tracks, but that’s not the case.

We know in the 4th century B.C. that Roman emperor Nero sent servants into the mountains to retrieve snow, which was then flavored with honey, nuts and other fruit toppings, but that’s not really ice cream because it contains no milk or cream. Some of the earliest frozen treats to use milk and cream originated in the Middle East around the 10th century A.D. These desserts (I’m assuming they were eaten for dessert) were also flavored with fruit and nuts.

But if you’re looking for the first modern ice cream recipes — the stuff that most closely resembles the ice cream we know and love today — you’ll have to go back in time to 18th century England and America. It was then that one of the earliest ice cream recipes was printed in a book called Mrs. Mary Eale’s Receipts. Mrs. Eale describes making ice cream with “Cherries, Rasberries, Currants, or Strawberries.”

It was around this time, or maybe a little earlier, that Europeans were working hard on perfecting the art of freezing flavored cream. They, too, added fruits to their recipes, but they also added grated cheese and candied orange flower. According to the article “Asparagus Ice Cream, Anyone?“, not all of their creations were successes, as in the case of the aforementioned pureed asparagus ice cream and foie gras ice cream (yes, duck livers).

So, it’s likely that the first ever ice cream flavor was some sort of fruit flavor. You’d be inclined to think the first flavor was vanilla, because vanilla is the base for so many other flavors, but that would require early ice cream makers to add vanilla bean or vanilla extract to their iced cream concoction and there’s no evidence of that in the earliest days. Still, vanilla was one of the first widely produced and enjoyed flavors of the modern era (19th century to the present). Even today, vanilla is the number one selling flavor in the world, which is quite an achievement considering all the other great flavors in existence!

Turkey Hill’s official ice cream taster, Ernie, oversees all ice cream making operations throughout the Dairy. We call him the “Einstein of Ice Cream” and you can ask him a question using the “Ask Ernie” link in the right hand sidebar. All questions will receive a personal answer and some — like this one — will be featured here on the Ice Cream Journal.

Michelle S. of Long Island, NY asks: “You’ve been tasting ice cream for a living for a long time (lucky!). Of all the flavors you’ve sampled, what’s your all time favorite?

That’s a tough one (sort of). I could go the safe route and say “I like them all equally,” but we all know that’s not true. I love ice cream, even if you think I wouldn’t because I work around it all day, but some flavors do rise to the top in terms of personal preference.

Truthfully, I get the most enjoyment out of eating vanilla ice cream flavored with pure vanilla. This allows me to taste all the rich dairy ingredients which makes up the base for so many flavors.

If I must pick a flavor other than vanilla, it is a toss up between butter pecan and black raspberry.  Hmm, I think I’ll stroll down to our Research & Development Center and scoop an “Ernie sized” bowl of all three.  That’s my version of Neapolitan!

Although he’s not one to make a big fuss about these sorts of things, we wanted to let everyone know that today is Ernie’s birthday. You may know Ernie as the ice cream know-it-all who answers your questions via the “Ask Ernie” link on the right. To us, he’s sort of an institution around here. He’s been with Turkey Hill for what seems like forever and he makes sure all the ice cream and iced tea operations are running smoothly. He’s loved by everyone and we all wish him a very happy birthday!

And just to embarrass him a little bit more, below is a picture of Ernie hard at work on the family farm when he was just a toddler. According to Ernie, this picture was taken sometime in 1940. Apparently if you want to grow up to be an official ice cream tester, you’ve got to get your foot in door at an early age!

KATHLEEN FROM DAMASCUS, MD ASKS:  My name is Kathleen and I am in the 4th grade.  I have chosen the topic of ice cream for a class research assignment.  My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate. I have some questions that I hope you can help me with.

1. How do you decide on new flavors?
2. Do you make ice cream even on weekends and holidays?
3. How much ice cream do you make a day and how many people does it take?

Great choice for a research assignment, Kathleen! That’s the kind of homework you can really sink your teeth into. To answer your questions:

1. We choose our new flavors by taking consumer suggestions and by following new flavor trends. That’s how we came up with our recent flavors that use pomegranate and mango…two very popular fruit flavors currently in use throughout the food industry. We also just like to give our customers something new to try with our Limited Edition flavors. Sometimes these flavors become regular flavors based on customer feedback and sales.

2. Turkey Hill produces ice cream 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends and most holidays.

3. We produce roughly 100,000 gallons of ice cream per day! There are about 650 employees total at Turkey Hill Dairy. Approximately 70 of those employees work in ice cream production, which means there is about 23 people working each shift to make ice cream here at the Dairy.

I hope this answers your questions, Kathleen. Let me know if you need more information for your assignment. Good luck!

Ernie