I had always thought that once you grew up you could do anything you wanted – stay up all night or eat ice cream straight out of the container. ~ Bill Bryson
Ice Cream: A Global History
Laura B. Weiss, the famed author of Ice Cream: A Global History has teamed up with 365scoops for a very special interview and GIVEAWAY. That’s right, you read this correctly. Not only do you have the chance to learn fun and interesting ice cream facts from the ice cream guru herself, but you also have a chance to win an autographed copy of Laura’s wonderful book.
Laura is an author, journalist and editor whose food, travel and lifestyle stories have appeared in numerous national publications, including The New York Times, FoodNetwork.com, Saveur, Travel + Leisure and more. Formerly a writer and editor for TIME’s school edition, Laura also worked at AOL, where she was responsible for directing and negotiating content partnerships with major news and entertainment brands, such as Teen People, PBS, and Cartoon Network.
How did 365scoops get to team up with Laura? Well, when I wrote the delicious post about Ben’s Bars many moons ago, I was gifted Ice Cream: A Global History as a thank you. I’ve cherished the book ever since and recently Laura reached out asking whether we could potentially work together. Folks – dreams really do come true because now me, little old me, is interviewing her royal ice cream highness, Ms. Laura B. Weiss!
The real ice cream cone
Laura B. Weiss: The mother of the ice cream cone (yes, it was a woman!) was an English cookbook writer named Agnes B. Marshall who in the 1880s created a recipe for a cone that could be filled with water ices or pudding. You ate the dish with a knife and fork! Then we get to the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. That’s where waffle vendors and ice cream vendors got together. They must have said something like “See all these hot, hungry people? We’ll sell them an ice cream treat they can walk around with and we’ll make a bundle!” There were four and possibly more vendors who claimed credit for the Fair’s cone. A New Yorker named Antonia Valvona came up with a cup-like cone the year before the Fair. So I guess if you come from St. Louis, you like the World’s Fair creation story. If you’re a New Yorker, you’ll root for Vavona.
Yummers!
Laura B. Weiss: A lot of people would credit Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s, but I give the nod to Howard Johnson. He came up with the idea of a multitude of flavors–28 to be exact. He tried to wean Americans from those stuffy old standbys–chocolate, strawberry and vanilla and introduce new flavors like Maple Walnut and Caramel fudge.
The ice cream cone was invented in 1896 with a patent being issued in 1903 to Italo Marchiony. The widespread use of ice cream cones occurred after its introduction at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 and many credit this as the birth of the ice cream cone. So just like the birth of ice cream, nobody knows for sure when the cone really was invented.
Q: What is the primary ingredient in ice cream?