[Sca-cooks] Re: Period Ices/Sorbets/Cold Treats?

[Elise Fleming]

For any documentation (for or against) I would strongly recommend
reading Elizabeth David's _Harvest of the Cold Months_, Viking
Press.  If I read the material correctly, she negates the contention
that what we know of as sorbets existed within "our period".  She
admits to having spread some stories about the Medicis and ices
(before she knew better). "Since the story (my note: that Catherine
de Medici brought ices and frozen sherbets to France) is so widely
believed in Italy...and is one I was myself once gullible enough to
believe and repeat, it is necessary to say here that although the
source of the story remains unidentified, it is plain that its
origins are in the nineteenth century, the likelihood being that it
arose out of a linguistic confusion such as the one I have described
on p. 61..."

If I read her correctly, you could serve chilled wine, or wine with
crushed ice in it, but not a sweetened milk product, or ice with a
flavoring other than wine poured over it.  However, the best bet, if
one wants to be as "authentic" as possible, would be to request the
book from a library and have an interesting "read".

Alys Katharine