How did ancient civilizations make ice cream? - Vivian Jiang

翻译人员: Sammi Wang 校对人员: Sue Lu

On a hot spring afternoon in 1963,

1963 年一个炎热的春天下午，

two men, sent by the American CIA,

美国中央情报局派出的两名男子

snuck into the cafeteria of the Havana Libre Hotel.

潜入了哈瓦那自由酒店的自助餐厅。

Their directive was to retrieve a poison pill from the freezer

他们的任务是从冰箱里取出一颗毒丸，

and slip it into the chocolate milkshake of Fidel Castro,

然后放进菲德尔·卡斯特罗的 巧克力奶昔里。

the Cuban leader who was known to devour up to 18 scoops of ice cream after lunch.

众所周知，这位古巴领导人 午餐后能吃掉多达 18 勺冰淇淋。

While exact details of the story are contested, it's rumored that the pill,

尽管该报道的细节存在争议，

however, froze to the freezer coils and broke,

传言称，这毒丸冻在冰箱线圈上破裂了，

foiling the CIA’s plan and granting Castro many more days to satiate his sweet tooth.

挫败了中情局计划，给了卡斯特罗 更多时日继续大快朵颐他的甜食。

Ice cream has held a unique role in our world’s history, culture, and cravings—

冰淇淋在我们世界的历史、 文化和渴望中起着独特的作用——

but where did it come from?

但它来自哪里？

The first accounts of cold desserts and iced drinks date back

关于冷甜点和冰饮的最早记载

as early as the first century.

可以追溯到一世纪。

In civilizations including ancient Rome, Mughal India, and Tang dynasty China,

在古罗马、印度 莫卧儿和中国唐朝等文明中，

these icy treats were mainly enjoyed by the royal elites.

这些冰镇食品主要由皇室精英们享用。

And finding the means to freeze these delicacies wasn’t always easy.

找到冷冻这些美味佳肴的方法并非易事。

Wealthy Mediterranean nobility sent laborers to trek up high mountains

富裕的地中海贵族派遣劳工登上高山，

to harvest glacial ice and snow.

采集冰川冰雪。

Meanwhile, ancient Persians built shallow insulated pools of water

同时，古代波斯人建造了浅层隔热水池，

and utilized a technique known as sky cooling.

并使用一种称为“天空冷却”的技术。

At night, the shallow pools would naturally radiate heat

到了晚上，这些浅水池自然会

into the dry desert skies,

向干燥的沙漠天空辐射热量，

causing them to dip below the ambient temperature and freeze.

导致其水温低于环境温度并冻结。

Yet the cream-based treat we know today made a much later debut.

但我们所知的奶油甜点后来才出现。

It was originally inspired by sherbet, or sharbat in Arabic,

它最初的灵感来自果子露， 即阿拉伯语中的沙巴特，

an icy drink believed to have originated in Persia,

一种据信起源于波斯的冰镇饮料，

and subsequently gained popularity in the Middle Ages.

后来在中世纪逐渐流行起来。

European travelers brought sharbat recipes home,

欧洲旅行者将沙巴特食谱带回家，

and began creating their own chocolate, pinecone,

并开始自己制作巧克力、松果

and even eggplant flavored takes on the refreshment.

甚至茄子口味的茶点。

In 1692, Antonio Latini, a Neapolitan chef,

1692 年，那不勒斯厨师 安东尼奥·拉蒂尼

recorded a recipe for a unique milk-based version,

记录了一种独特的牛奶配方，

which some historians dub the first ice cream.

一些历史学家称其为第一款冰淇淋。

In the 18th century, ice cream expanded its reach

在 18 世纪，冰淇淋影响扩大，

as these recipes set sail alongside European settlers to North America.

因为其配方与欧洲定居者 一起航行到了北美。

Yet it was still mainly enjoyed by the upper classes

然而，它仍然主要是供上层阶级享用，

as the process to make it was quite laborious,

因为它的制作过程相当费力，

and its main ingredients— sugar, salt, and cream— were expensive.

而且其主要成分—— 糖、盐和奶油——也很昂贵。

George Washington is said to have spent the equivalent of $6,600

据说乔治·华盛顿当年 花了相当于今天的 6,600 美元

in today’s dollars on ice cream in one summer alone.

仅用于购买一个夏天的冰淇淋。

It was on American soil that the frozen dessert entered its golden age,

正是在美国本土上， 冷冻甜点进入了黄金时代，

as inventors and entrepreneurs began to engineer ways to bring it to the masses.

发明家和企业家开始 设计将其带给大众的方法。

In Philadelphia in 1843, Nancy Johnson patented

1843 年，南希·约翰逊在费城申请了

a revolutionary ice cream-making machine featuring a crank and beater,

一台革命性的冰淇淋制作机专利， 该机器具有曲柄和搅拌器，

which made the process easier for any home cook.

令任何家庭厨师都能更轻松地制作。

And storing ice cream was no longer an obstacle, as by the mid-1830s,

储存冰淇淋不再是障碍， 因为到 19 世纪 30 年代中期，

New England businessman “Ice King” Frederic Tudor

新英格兰商人 “冰王” 弗雷德里克·都铎

had greatly improved the ice trade,

极大地改善了冰贸易，

shipping thousands of tons of ice to households across the globe.

向全球各地的家庭运送了数千吨冰。

Soon, ice cream was on every street corner.

很快，每个街角都遍布冰淇淋。

In the late 1880s, political turmoil brought Italian immigrants to cities

在 19 世纪80 年代后期， 政治动荡令意大利移民涌入

like London, Glasgow, and New York,

伦敦、格拉斯哥和纽约等城市，

where many took up jobs as street vendors selling licks of ice cream

他们中许多人当起街头小贩卖冰淇淋，

for roughly a penny each.

售价大约一分钱一个。

Meanwhile, American druggists discovered the appeal of combining soda,

同时，美国药剂师发现了将苏打水，

a drink thought to have therapeutic properties at the time,

一种当时被认为具有治疗功效的饮料，

with ice cream,

与冰淇淋混合的吸引力,

and a new social spot was born: the soda fountain.

一个新的社交场所诞生了：冷饮柜。

When the sale of alcohol was banned in 1920,

当 1920 年禁止售酒时，

many American saloons reinvented themselves as soda fountains,

许多美国沙龙将自己重塑为冷饮店，

and breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Yuengling

安海斯-布希和扬格林等啤酒厂

pivoted to producing ice cream.

转向生产冰淇淋。

At the same time, refrigeration technology was improving rapidly.

同时，制冷技术正在迅速改进。

By the end of World War II,

到第二次世界大战结束时，

the average American home had a freezer that could house a quart of ice cream.

普通美国家庭都有 可以容纳一夸脱冰淇淋的冰箱，

Even trucks could be equipped with freezers full of frozen treats.

甚至卡车也可配备装满冷冻零食的冰柜。

Today, ice cream continues to take on new forms.

今天，冰淇淋继续以新的形式出现。

And while some of its mysteries may never be solved,

尽管它的某些奥秘可能永远无法解开，

one thing is certain: our love for ice cream will never thaw.

但有一点是肯定的： 我们对冰淇淋的热爱永远不会融化。