Hot Enough For You? Cool Off With A Brief History Of Frozen Treats

"In the 1500s, an Italian scientist named Giambattista della Porta made a discovery near and dear to many a frozen dessert lover's heart: By mixing salt and snow, you could lower the melting point of ice."

"Della Porta used this discovery to freeze wine in a glass of salt and ice. Specifically, he took a vial of wine, added a dash of water and immersed it in a wooden bucket full of snow mixed with saltpeter, then turned the vial round and round. The saltpeter made the snow colder than it would have been otherwise, allowing the wine inside the vial to freeze."

"Others soon heard of this phenomenon and figured out common salt would work as well, and they began using the technique to whip up not just wine slushies but other iced treats. "Cooks dipped fresh fruits in water, froze them until their icy exteriors sparkled, and then displayed them. They set marzipan boats afloat on seas of ice. They created tall pyramids of ice with fruits and flowers frozen within them," Geraldine Quinzio recounts in Of Sugar And Snow: A History of Ice Cream Making."