The clothing being worn in the accompanying historic photo suggests it’s not yet summertime in Vernon. Or maybe it’s the fall. The caption for the undated photo courtesy of the Museum and Archives of Vernon says the picture as taken after school.
Whatever, whenever the photo was snapped, Bert (Herberta) Ward and Gwen Davies are enjoying vanilla ice cream cones.
We bring this fact up because today, July 23, is National Vanilla Ice Cream Day.
And, with temperatures expected to reach 38C today, a cone would be a great treat to help beat the heat.
Provided it doesn’t melt first. Or gets eaten quickly, resulting in the dreaded ice cream headache.
Ice cream, according to daysoftheyear.com, can be traced back to the 14th century. There is evidence that ice cream was served in China during the Yuan period in the Mogul Court.
The idea of using a mix of salt and ice for the refrigerating effect began in Asia.
The method then spread when the Moors and Arabs traveled to Spain, between 711 and 1492.
The Italians became involved in making ice cream once this method had spread to Europe, and by the early 18th century, there were recipes for ice cream in France as well.
It was the French who added egg yolks or egg to the recipe to create a richer and smoother food.
Vanilla was first used amongst people from Mexico.
By the 1500s, Spanish conquistadors exploring present-day Mexico had come across Meso-American individuals who were consuming vanilla in their foods and drinks. Because of this, the conquistadors brought vanilla back to Spain.
In Spain, they started using vanilla to flavour a chocolate drink that consisted of honey, water, corn, vanilla, and cacao beans.
The drink eventually spread to England and France, and then the rest of Europe by the early 1600s.
The French really started to use vanilla in drinks and foods without cacao, and they started to flavour ice cream with it. When Thomas Jefferson discovered vanilla ice cream in France, he brought the recipe back to the United States with him, where the natural colour of the ice cream was brown.
Whatever the flavour, it’s a great day to enjoy some ice cream.
Spoons up!