The icy treat can be traced back to 1200BC and Mesopotamia, with early versions invented all over the world – Alexander the Great was a fan – but what we know as ice cream today emerged in the 1500s to 1600s, according to the head of Italy’s Gelato Museum. Photo: Gelato Museum
The icy treat can be traced back to 1200BC and Mesopotamia, with early versions invented all over the world – Alexander the Great was a fan – but what we know as ice cream today emerged in the 1500s to 1600s, according to the head of Italy’s Gelato Museum. Photo: Gelato Museum
Food and Drinks
Lifestyle /  Food & Drink

Was ice cream invented by China or Italy? Its history can be traced back to 1200BC

  • The first ice cream was more of a slush than a paste-like flavoured cream, says the head of Italy’s Gelato Museum in Bologna
  • The turning point came during the Renaissance, when such frozen drinks became the modern, paste-like gelato we are familiar with today

Silvia Marchetti
Silvia Marchetti

Updated: 10:03am, 22 Mar, 2021

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The icy treat can be traced back to 1200BC and Mesopotamia, with early versions invented all over the world – Alexander the Great was a fan – but what we know as ice cream today emerged in the 1500s to 1600s, according to the head of Italy’s Gelato Museum. Photo: Gelato Museum
The icy treat can be traced back to 1200BC and Mesopotamia, with early versions invented all over the world – Alexander the Great was a fan – but what we know as ice cream today emerged in the 1500s to 1600s, according to the head of Italy’s Gelato Museum. Photo: Gelato Museum
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