Which President is famous for his ice cream recipe?
Sunday, January 7, 2024
Make every day more interesting. Each day a surprising fact opens a world of fascinating information for you to explore. Did you know that….? 
| | Original photo by Zamurovic Brothers/ Shutterstock |
| Thomas Jefferson was the first known American to write down a recipe for ice cream. | Though the common claim that Thomas Jefferson introduced the beloved frozen treat to America has been debunked, it is true that the third President was the first known American to write down a recipe for ice cream. A well-known foodie and wine enthusiast, Jefferson is thought to have first tasted ice cream during his time as minister to France between 1784 and 1789, starting a love affair that would last the rest of his life. That includes his time in the White House, where it was offered to guests on at least six different occasions during his presidency. According to accounts from those visitors, Jefferson was fond of serving the delicacy inside of a crust or pastry.
The actual recipe, which may have come from Jefferson's French butler and has been preserved in the Library of Congress, calls for "2 bottles of good cream and 6 yolks of eggs" in addition to half a pound of sugar. It also instructs anyone following the recipe to "take it off and strain [the results] thro' a towel," among other sage advice. Ice cream isn't the only food Jefferson helped make famous in America: He's also credited with helping to popularize french fries, tomatoes, and macaroni and cheese — achievements that some food-lovers may consider as momentous as his time in the White House.
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 | | Thomas Jefferson was the first secretary of state. | | |
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| Thomas Jefferson was the first Secretary of State. |  |  |
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| Thomas Jefferson was obsessed with __, which he believed still roamed the American West. |  |
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 | Numbers Don't Lie |
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 | | Weight (in pounds) of the largest ice cream sundae ever made | | 54,914 |
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| | | U.S. states when Jefferson became President in 1801 | | 16 |
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| | Books Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress after it was ransacked in 1814 | | 6,500 |
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| | | Liters of ice cream eaten annually per capita in the U.S. | | 20.8 |
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 | Vanilla was considered rare for centuries — and is still extremely hard to grow. |
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| Though the country's most popular ice cream flavor is now synonymous with plainness, for centuries, vanilla was considered anything but. It was so hard to come by, in fact, that it was thought of as a New World indulgence and associated primarily with Europe's elite. That would still be the case were it not for an enslaved 12-year-old on Réunion Island named Edmond Albius, who in 1841 figured out how to efficiently hand-pollinate vanilla orchids, allowing the seedpods to be produced in much larger quantities than ever before. (Previously, vanilla had only been cultivated in the areas of southeastern Mexico that are home to its natural pollinator, the Melipona bee.) However, by the late 19th century, demand had outpaced supply anyway. Vanilla would still be exceedingly rare had it not been synthesized in 1874, and today, less than 1% of vanilla flavoring comes from actual orchids. That's good news for consumers, since the plant is so difficult to grow that it doesn't start producing vanilla beans for three years, and the flowers only stay open for one day after finally blooming. | | |
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posted by June Lesley at 5:33 AM
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