Ice ice

June 19, 2008 - 9:44 PM by

There were no ice cubes available at my local Aroma today. I had been anticipating my iced cappucino, only to find that they were, simply, out of ice cubes, and hence, unable to make the various iced and slushy drinks for which Aroma is famous. No Ice Aromas, Ice Chocolates, icepressos…you get the idea. And what is a hot summer day in Israel without a fresh coffee brew over ice?

ice aroma1.jpg

The thing is, it wasn’t so long ago that you couldn’t get ice in Israel. If asking for ice with a drink, you were met with a blank stare. People conjecture that it was the British influence during the Mandate period; given that the Brits tended toward warm drinks, even during the height of the summer, they certainly weren’t about to introduce ice cubes to the local culture.

Food critic Daniel Rogov tells the story of British officers dining on oxtail soup, Irish stew and chicken curry during a heat wave in August 1947. Following the meal, Captain David Smythe-Brown wrote to his wife in London that “we ate so much and so badly that not a single member of the general staff would have been capable of going to war that day.”

But the American influence has had an effect, particularly on the ice situation. Now you can get ice at a restaurant, buy bags of ice at gas stations, even find industrial blenders for making slushy drinks at home. Danny Zisman, a marketing manager for a company that sells kitchen appliances, calls it the Anglo-Saxon influence. Demand for the professional home blenders “started with the Anglo-Saxon community…and spread to the rest of the population.”

I’m not saying we couldn’t survive without ice. It just makes things much…cooler.

Tags: , , , • Category: Food 

Comments

3 Comments on Ice ice

  1. Sol on Fri, Jun 20th 2008 8:43 AM

    2. Jessica,

    Debbie is coming to Israel in a few weeks, please let us know if you want her to bring you some ice blocks.

    da’ash to your husband

  2. carol on Sat, Jun 21st 2008 9:31 AM

    3. This enty about ice is as boring as watching water drip. With all that is happening in Israel, this is all you find to write about???

  3. jessica on Sun, Jun 22nd 2008 9:10 AM

    4. @sol — daniel keeps us well-stocked on ice at home….but hey, if you wouldn’t mind…

    @carol — sorry you’re bored, but given that israelity is about the daily realities of life in israel, ice on a 40-degree day is one of those realities!

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