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Food History Historic Recipes

200-Year-Old Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream Recipe

I stumbled upon this fantastic Parmesan Cheese Ice Cream recipe, while I was researching the history of ice cream. This recipe comes from the The Complete Confectioner cookbook written by Frederick Nutt. It was first published in 1789. Nutt was a professional confectioner in London. He was an apprentice to a well-known Italian confectioner Domenico Negri, owner of “Pot& Pineapple” at London’s Berkley-Square, one of the first shops to popularize ice cream in England. 

An illustrated advertisement for D. Negri's confectionery shop at the Pineapple in Berkeley Square of London.
An illustrated advertisement for D. Negri’s confectionery shop at the Pineapple in Berkeley Square of London.
Categories
Food History Medicine

Spanish Flu and Black Death – Historic Folk Remedies for Pandemics

The 1918 influenza was the most severe pandemic in recent history. Caused by H1N1 influenza virus, it swept across the world starting in the Spring of 1918 and persisting until early 1920. Although it is known as the “Spanish Flu,” it did not originate in Spain. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus and at least 50 million people died. 

Unlike the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19) that has been much deadlier for the elderly, the 1918 flu affected the 20-40 age group more than any other section of the population. As attempts to make effective vaccines to protect against the 1918 flu infection failed, many Americans who subscribed to the basic beliefs in a scientific approach to health and disease turned to home and folk remedies.

Here are some of the intriguing remedies people used during the 1918 flu pandemic. 

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Food History Videos

The History of Ice Cream – Episode 1 | Video

Watch our first episode and let us know what you found interesting about the origins of ice cream in the comments below. Thank you!