Nearly all of my old Maryland cook-books contain a few pages of ice cream recipes. It was an integral ‘domestic receipt’ by the time Elizabeth Ellicott Lea published the first Maryland cookbook in 1845. Her book contains a characteristically austere four recipes- less than half as many as later authors M.L. Tyson of “Queen of the Kitchen” and Mrs. B. C. Howard in “Fifty Years in a Maryland Kitchen.”
Although it’s been around since colonial times, ice cream experienced a surge in popularity in the 1800′s with the advent of ice-houses and the increased transport of ice.
This popularity continued to grow despite the rather disturbing frequency with which people died from eating it.
Newspapers regularly reported incidents of people – even large groups of people – getting sick or dying from ice cream tainted with “Ptomaines” – essentially a catch-all theory behind food poisoning.
“The average man wants to know whether his food has these things in it, and what antidote he can take if he finds himself poisoned. On these subjects science has little to say. It is established that the poisonous portion of any particular sample of food cannot be distinguished either chemically or microscopically.” – Baltimore Sun, “IN AWE OF PTOMAINES: Scientists Baffled By The Insidious Poison Which Killed Anton Seidl And Others” 1898
The frequency of food poisoning may explain why there were various crackpot beliefs about foods that should not be consumed with ice cream. Later press releases would occasionally assure readers that, as it turns out, it actually was safe to eat ice cream after eating things such as lobster and oysters.
1934
110 years before this exciting news, Mary Randolph had included, amongst her dozen-plus ice-cream recipes in “The Virginia Housewife,” a most revolting-sounding oyster flavor. (I suppose I should mention, if you’ve come across the misinformation that Randolph’s relative Thomas Jefferson introduced ice cream to America, that is incorrect. Read about it here.)
I’ve made custard-based ice creams so many times (my go-to is Ina Garten’s Creme Anglaise) that I kind of forgot there was an alternative. Imagine my surprise when this recipe, taken from the 1874 book “The Queen of the Kitchen: A Collection of ‘old Maryland’ Family Receipts,” was just a matter of combining four ingredients and freezing. Laziest OLP post ever.
1899, Baltimore Sun
One might be inclined to hand-wring over the raw egg-whites. They could maybe be left out. I took my chances, especially since I had some farmers-market eggs.
When we feel compelled to romanticize the past, it is worth remembering that the degree of food safety we now enjoy could not always be taken for granted. We also have the luxury of knowing that it is safe to eat oysters and ice cream together, and the wisdom not to.
Recipe:
2 quarts of rich cream, 1 pound of white sugar, whites of 4 eggs well beaten, and added. Flavor to taste, and freeze. If preferred, leave out the eggs.
Recipe from “The Queen of the Kitchen: A Collection of “old Maryland” Family Receipts for Cooking : Containing 1007 Practical and Useful Receipts, All of which Have Been Tried and Approved, and Been in Use for Many Years”
