Quote:In the 19th century, waves of immigrants from Naples and the south of Italy arrived in the U.S. At the same time that they were introducing pizza to the country, Neapolitan vendors also introduced the idea of selling ice cream as a portable treat to be enjoyed any time of day. Soon, any type of ice cream was referred to in the English-speaking press as “Neapolitan-style.”
So why is the name today reserved for this very specific three-flavor combination? In addition to that Italian immigration, the 19th century saw a great fad for layered foods, from jellies to cakes to, yes, ice creams. Recipes dating from the 1880s into the 1940s called for between three and five flavors of ice cream—popular choices were lemon, vanilla, coffee, almond, and chocolate—to be molded together in a square form, then sliced to show off the colorful pattern. Some would even include an icy fruit sorbet layer for contrast. A popular variation in Naples around this time incorporated bits of candied fruit and nuts into layers of a lighter whipped cream base and called it spumoni, for the foam-like texture. In the U.S., Neapolitan vendors popularized a simple layered ice cream based on the colors of the Italian flag (the same inspiration for the pizza Margherita, invented around this time in 1889) starring pistachio, vanilla, and cherry. Over time, other vendors simplified the formula even more, replacing the green pistachio with ever-popular chocolate and the red cherry with easier-to-source strawberries.
How this turn-of-the-century fad became a supermarket staple that persists nearly 150 years later is harder to trace, but no doubt its longevity is largely thanks to that flavor evolution and the enduring popularity of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.
Giadzy
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
~ Erin Hunter
