By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE— It’s the sweetest story ever told.
An exhibit detailing the history of ice cream kicked off with an ice-cream social Wednesday featuring ice-cream flavors ranging from Parmesan to Cabernet Sauvignon.
The exhibit is at the Mount Vernon Museum, but Wednesday's event, which included a tour and a lecture, took place at the Culinary Historians of New York, next door to the museum on 61st Street.
“Ice cream is just always in the food memory bank,” exhibit organizer Linda Pelaccio said before the lecture. “You know the first time you licked that dripping sweet cone, or ate a mountainful of whipped cream, with that maraschino cherry on top.”
Carolina M. Capehart, a chef who specialized in historic meals, offered tastes of unusual recipes like Thomas Jefferson’s original vanilla and old-fashioned Parmesan, straight from an old-fashioned ice cream maker.
Unique flavors were in abundance at the social, and tasters had trouble deciding which flavor was best.
“I was totally surprised by the Parmesan ice cream,” real estate agent Rheda Brandt said. “But the strawberry was…so authentic.”
The ice cream snacks were paired with little spoonfuls of history. Jeri Quinzo, author of several articles and books about ice-cream, offered fun facts about the dessert’s icy beginnings.
Quinzo’s latest book, called “Of Sugar and Snow,” won the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) prize for culinary history in April.
“There are lots of myths and misconceptions about ice cream,” Quinzo said. “Many people think that flavors didn’t come around until Baskin Robbins. But in the 18th Century, the French had any flavor you could think of.”
Back then, saffron, truffles, rosewater and violet ice cream were common.
Other savory ice cream tidbits will be offered through June 20th, as part of the Mount Vernon Museum’s overall historical tour.
“We focus on the fact that making ice cream was so labor-intensive,” program manager Amanda Wheeler said. “And that there were no chocolate flavors.”
