The Ancient Origins of Ice Cream

Everyone thinks ice cream was born in Italy… but its story begins almost 4,000 years

earlier — in ancient China. Long before cones and gelato shops, the Chinese were

mixing milk, rice, and packed snow to make an early frozen treat.

They stored ice in deep, insulated pits, preserving winter through scorching

summers. By the Tang Dynasty, emperors were eating a chilled blend of fermented milk,

camphor, and ice — smooth, cold, and surprisingly close to what we’d

call ice cream today. So where does Italy fit in? When Marco Polo traveled across

Asia in the 1200s, he didn’t discover ice cream… he carried the idea home.