Italian Ice Creams

Cake degustation:

Monday 3rd September  (18:15)

Thursday 6th  September (18:15)

Department of Chemistry, via P. Giuria 7.

On Monday 3 September and Thursday 6 September, two additional lectures related to an important aspect of Italian Culture will be given. Both concern Ice Cream.

The first of these is for ‘beginners’, and, for all attentive and discerning attendees, will involve a testing (and tasting) of the cakes shown in the Figure. The second is for ‘more advanced connaisseurs’, and, again, a large fraction of the lecture will be devoted to ‘advanced tasting’ of the fine examples of Italian culinary art depicted.

Italian Ice Cream has a long and illustrious history, and from the many anecdotes that have arisen, either by accident or design, two in particular will be discussed.

The first relates to the famous ‘Battle at Bosworth Field’, after which the defeated King Richard III was heard exclaiming, “ My kingdom for a Torino Ice Cream” (William Shakespeare).

The second relates to one of the pivotal moments in Roman history, when Antonio, in an attempt to seduce Cleopatra, brought her a kilo of Torino Ice Cream, and was rewarded with an unforgettable ‘Love Night’. Many years later, it was revealed that the real reason why Cleopatra committed suicide, was that storms prevented boats from bringing Torino Ice Cream to Egypt, and that she could simply not wait any longer.