One day in History we used an online source
and saw what the daily life in London was like. One of the categories was food
but, it was mostly focused on portion sizes and dinner. So, being the huge
advocate for food that I am, I decided to take it upon myself to research what
other delectable treats there were in the 1600’s.
I did some research and found this fantastic timeline of roughly when foods were discovered. I quickly realized that food we
all love today (Especially desserts) were discovered during the 1600’s. Even ice cream! It must have been a great time
to be alive. To add to this list of goodies there’s coffee cake and maple sugar.
Coffee cake was the first thing, being
invented in the early 1600’s. The coffee cake evolved from other things like ancient
honey cakes. Also, they were more bread like than cake. They were made up of
things like flour, eggs, nuts, dried fruits, yeast and sweet spices. They also
had toppings like crumbs or streusel.
Next on the list is ice cream, the most
exciting thing. I don’t know how I’d be successfully lazy without it. I’d like
to thank the people of the 1600’s for this. The first ice cream was thought to
be literally flavored frozen cream first made in China. Then brought over to
Italy where they perfected the recipe we love today and then introduced it to
Europeans in the late 1600’s. There’s a story that Catherine De Medici first brought
the making of ice cream (flavored frozen cream at the time) to France when she
learned on a trip to Italy.
Maple sugar is another sweet discovered
well, “discovered” in the age of Absolutism. I say “discovered” since the Europeans
learned how to make it from the Native Americans. The natives taught them how
to harvest the sap and boil it. It was a great tool since it is an all-purpose sweetener
it could be added to anything and a great alternative to molasses. They also
used it for flavoring instead of salt. They sent a lot of it back to England as
well so everyone could enjoy it.
As you can see, the 17th century
was an important time for the desserts we now all know and love. Who knows what
we could have ended up with instead for delectable treats, it’s a scary thought.
Who hasn't at one point wondered the
origins of ice cream or another dessert? Well, know you know and you can stop
wondering and start living, a great idea is that you start by enjoying some ice
cream seems appropriate now doesn't it?
Bibliography:
Sex, Lice and Chamber Pots in Pepy's London, By Liza Picard, BBC, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/pepys_gallery_06.shtml
The Food Timeline http://www.foodtimeline.org/index.html
Pictography:
Coffee Cake Picture: http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1039993/thumbs/o-COFFEE-CAKE-RECIPES-facebook.jpg
Ice Cream picture: http://gvshp.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/ice-cream-cones.jpg
Maple Sugar Picture: http://www.northernlakeswildrice.net/nancys_sugar__2_.jpg
Wow, after reading that I'm in the mood for some ice cream! I loved reading your blog post, you had amazing details and I can tell that you really took your time to research this topic. I would have never thought that in the 1600's they had ice cream. I loved reading this and now I think I will get some ice cream myself, good job!
ReplyDeleteRight when I saw the pictures of ice cream and coffee cake, I knew I had to read your post! After reading and learning all about how things like ice cream, coffee cake, and maple sugar came to be in Europe during the 1600s, I'm left wondering what they tasted like. Was ice cream really as good as it is now?? Was there even sugar in it?? Also, I really liked your title. It was intriguing and funny. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post was amazing! I really liked it because it discussed a topic that was really important for me. I really liked the pictures you used and how you added funny commentary into your post to keep it interesting. I thought it was really cool that the Chinese invented icecream because I thought that it was invented in Italy (I was half right). Amazing job!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very unique, since despite not being about pop culture, everyone can relate to it. I like that you included a link to the food timeline, so we could look at it ourselves. I also like that your post is very humorous. One thing I'd like to know is if they had different flavors of ice cream back then, and which flavors they were. Cool post!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! I think this was a very fun and well-written blog! I find it interesting that some of the famous and historical people that we are learning about in class have enjoyed some of the same delicious treats that we love today! However, they seem to have been quite different back then, and don’t even really sound like desserts. Also, ice cream was made exactly the way its name implies; they are different flavors frozen cream. Good job!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! I thought this blog was really interesting, and funny too! Your title really drew me in, and I knew I had to read on. I think it's really cool that people of the 1600s enjoyed desserts that we still eat today like ice cream and coffee cake. Overall, really nice job!
ReplyDeleteGood job! I really liked how you made this post connect back to the 1600's the whole time. I liked how you made this funny and informative at the same time. The pictures look delicious, and now I really want some ice cream! I think you could have connected it back to our history class a little bit more, but other than that I really liked your post!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I was immediately drawn to your post when I saw the great colorful pictures and interesting title. I have always wondered when desserts like ice cream were invented so i really enjoyed your blog! overall great job.
ReplyDeleteNice blog post! I really enjoyed reading this blogpost because it was interesting and a lot of fun! I found it so cool that ice cream began in the 1600's and the Chinese basically invented it! I loved the pictures you added (made me hungry) and the way you wrote the response was both engaging and enjoyable to read! I htink you picked a great topic and something really cool to write about! Nice job!!!
ReplyDeleteYour blog post is really interesting! The title made me curious, and it made me want to read t. I had no idea that they had ice cream and coffee cake during the Renaissance. Good job on your blog post!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, what really drew me into reading this post were the pictures! Like you, I am also a huge fan of desserts so when I saw all those pictures how could I not read it?! And your post certainly did not disappoint! I found all the information so interesting, especially about the maple sugar because I didn't know that the Native Americans were the first to discover it. There were a lot of grammatical and wording issues that made the post difficult to follow at times, but other than that I really really loved this post. It's so interesting to learn about that the origins of some of our most beloved desserts today, came from such a long time ago! Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat Job! It never occured to me what people in the 1600s were eating dessert. I never knew that they actually had ice cream and coffee cake, 2 of my favorite things. You did a really good job explaining how it all started and it was very detailed. Also the picture also drew me in like Julia said that and just because your title had the words "Ice Cream" in it. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your blog! I thought that it was really cool that some of our favorite desserts were also favorites hundreds of years ago. I never even thought about what people back then might have eaten for dessert, so i found this really interesting. I also thought that you did a good job explaining about it and it was very detailed. Great job!
ReplyDeleteIt is strange to think that some thing like ice cream was around so long ago. One question I have is how did they keep it cold? I can't believe you made that connection to class because I never would've thought to look up ice cream in the 1600's. Good pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe colorful and, not to mention, yummy pictures caught my eye to your interesting blog post. I never thought about what colonials had for dessert, and the connection to class was really good! Your blog post was unique and detailed. Great job!
ReplyDeleteYour title was very eye catching and i thought your blog post was really cool. It's cool to think that desserts we eat today were also eaten hundreds of years ago by important History figures we've learned about in class. Your pictures went great with what your were saying and i liked how you included many pictures. Good job!
ReplyDeleteI was interested right as I saw the picture of the coffee cake. I love food and it made me happy to see a blog post about it. It's crazy that we still eat all these foods that were discovered so long ago. Your post was definitely very interesting to me and really detailed. Good job!
ReplyDeleteWow thanks you made me hungry. But seriously I loved you post because it was interesting and informative but still connected back to what we've learned in class. I wish we had gotten the chance to learn more about the food discoveries of this time rather than the math and science ones, this is much more important. I don't know if I could be successfully lazy without ice cream either. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog! I thought it was so funny and you made a great connection to our history class. I thought you included some great pictures that actually made me want to go and eat some ice cream. I found it really surprising that they loved ice cream back then to. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteNice job connecting these foods to the 1600's. From coffee cake to ice cream. I did not even think they would have those back then. This was a surprising connection, some fun facts that may be nice to remember. Good job writing, it was very interactive and humorous.
ReplyDelete