OPINIONFood

How we all came to scream for ice cream

Restaurant Rewind: 'Tis the season to break out the sprinkles and split a few bananas. Join us as we look at the origins of ice cream and how it evolved to the sales-driver it is today.

With summer just a few heatwaves away, the restaurant business is within a Maraschino cherry toss of prime ice cream season. Is there any better time to retrace how a treat that began as honeyed snow has morphed into an all-American restaurant staple?

This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind is betting “no.” The installment looks back at the origins of the frozen treat and its twisty evolution over the centuries that followed. In what other account might Nero, Thomas Jefferson and Howard Johnson all play memorable roles?  

So scoop yourself a bowl of rum raisin, bury it in whipped cream and press Play.

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