in the 17th century revealed a similar reaction occurs with mixture of ordinary salt, water and ice. Smaller quantities of stored ice could now be used to freeze and chill mixtures to create frozen desserts on demand.
This technology was combined with supplies of sourced from European plantations in the Caribbean. Sugar is an important element of frozen desserts because it keeps mixtures from freezing into impenetrable ice blocks.
France v Italy in the claim for first ice-cream
Two claims for the “first” ice-cream recipes emerge at almost the same time in France and Italy in the 1690s.
Earlier attempts produced granular, slushy confections. Recipes that produced results we would recognise today were introduced by men who managed households for noble patrons.
Alberto Latini, working for Cardinal Barberini (nephew of Pope Urban VIII), had access to expensive and novel ingredients, like chocolate and tomatoes. His recipe for a new “milk sorbet” aligned with the cutting edge cooking methods in the 1694 edition of his , Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Steward).
This recipe used milk, sugar, water and candied fruits, and is considered a precursor to Italian gelato.