Ice cream, especially when summer arrives, is a favorite snack for children and adults. Going out to eat an ice cream can tempt even the most suffering in the heat. In Florence it is said that ice cream was born here, will it be true? Let’s find out together!

Ice cream, a long tradition

Culinary research is not the exclusive prerogative of Italians but all over the world we have always tried to satisfy our gustatory pupils with new flavors and create dishes that could surprise our guests.

In distant China as early as 500 BC it had been discovered how to preserve ice in the summer and later, Etruscans, Greeks and Romans also discovered how to preserve frozen fruit juices.

The spread of this new culture, and many others, was interrupted with the fall of the Roman Empire and then the Middle Ages. In the East, ice cream does not disappear, on the contrary, people specialized in the preparation of frozen drinks.

With the conquest of southern Italy by the Arabs, cultures return to confront and influence each other and ice cream is called “sorbet”, from the Arab nine “sherbet” or sweet snow.

From the South of Italy these new ice cream recipes, with the addition of sugar and new fruit juices, begin to spread in Italy and then in Europe, determining their international success.

The ice cream of Florence

Florence in the Renaissance time is a place of international attraction as a place of artistic and cultural centralization. Medici, the lords of Florence, are a new dynasty, not as established as the kings of France or Germany but determined to find their place (and keep it very tight) in the European political chessboard.

The banquets and parties that are held in Florence have important echoes and each time we try to amaze the guests more and more and the dishes proposed, such as Florentine ice cream, immediately become trendy food throughout Europe!

There are two Florentine characters to celebrate when it comes to ice cream: Ruggeri and Buontalenti.

Ruggeri, a poulterer and expert cook

At a competition at the Medici court for the most unusual dish, Ruggeri presents himself with a reworking of the ancient sorbet. It was such a success that Caterina de ‘Medici (if you want to find out more about her don’t miss this article: Catherine de’ Medici queen of France, Florentine by birth, great innovator), decides to bring the cook of humble origins with herself at the court of France.

At the royal court the cook gives space to all his inventiveness by creating hostility and envy among his peers in the kitchen. And so one day Ruggeri decides to return to his beloved Florence and in a farewell letter to Queen Catherine leaves the recipe for “sugared and scented water ice”.

Buontalenti, the Renaissance artist par excellence

When you think of the artists who made the Renaissance and Florence so famous all over the world, one of the qualities that is always attributed to him is that of the universal, multifaceted artist.

Buontalenti is no exception. Architect, sculptor and also cook Buontalenti was commissioned by the Medici family to direct sumptuous banquets that could amaze Italian and foreign guests with incredible frozen desserts of the same beauty as his architectural works.

But not only that, Buontalenti also invents an ice cream recipe that is still found in the best ice cream shops in Florence and which takes its name from the artist. The buontalenti taste is based on cream and whipped cream and if you are in Florence do not miss the opportunity to taste it.

We are waiting for you at Villa Campestri

In our beautiful Villa in the heart of Mugello we are waiting for you to advise you during your stay on the best local dishes to taste and certainly on our favorite ice cream parlors!

See you soon!