What Was The First Ice Cream Flavor Ever Invented?
It seems everyone wants to claim creative credit for ice cream. And why not? It's universally beloved, and some of its earliest versions have existed since 200 B.C. Many believe the Chinese were the first to make something ice cream-like with frozen milk and rice and sometimes a little flour mixed in. Vague historical references tell us that the Greeks and the Turkish enjoyed various combinations of snow/ice, goat milk, fruit, and honey, which sounds a lot like ice cream. By the 11th century, Persians were making the first sorbet, called sharbat, and Arabs eventually brought it with them to Sicily.
With all this history establishing ice cream's popularity and cultural pre-eminence, you might wonder which flavor was the very first invented. Since Americans' favorite flavor is vanilla and the word "vanilla" has a modern-day significance related to "basic," you might think it was the very first. After all, it's often the cornerstone for all of the other flavors. But you would be wrong. The first ice cream flavor invented was actually... chocolate!
The Italian origins of chocolate ice cream
Of course, there are debates around what is considered "the first flavored ice cream." A few flavors are named as the original, from the menthol-tasting camphor to Alexander the Great's ice/honey/nectar concoction, to chocolate. It's a subjective question based on which version we can call ice cream. If you consider the Chinese version that resembled frozen rice pudding to be ice cream, then the first flavor was likely camphor. If Persia's sharbat was close enough for you, then the first flavor was likely rose water. If you need that unmistakable creamy consistency to call it ice cream, then Italy's chocolate version developed in Naples claims the title, which seems to be the general consensus.
First documented in a Neapolitan cookbook dated to 1692, the chocolate ice cream flavor was likely inspired by hot chocolate drinks that were taking Europe by storm. Indeed, turning coffee, tea, and cocoa drinks into ice cream flavors was a popular trick at the time. Even if this isn't the first ice cream flavor ever invented, this is certainly the earliest recorded recipe for flavored ice cream that we have.
There are a lot of weird flavors out there, like Parmesan, oyster, and ambergris — the indigestible remains of squid found in whales' stomachs (how was this ever a thing?). Conversely, some little-known flavor options sound pretty delicious, like saffron and cucumber. Today, the U.S. ranks second as the country that consumes the most ice cream, beaten only by China. Either way, the United States has made its mark in ice cream history, developing classics like the ice cream float, chocolate sundae, and banana split.