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Brief history of Sorbet


It was when I discovered several very nice sorbets, such as lemon-basil, that I hastened to write a little post on the history of frozen desserts. This adventure began a long time ago in China and Arabia.

In China, history reveals sources indicating that ice cream, cooled by snow or ice, had been manufactured for several centuries. This Chinese technique was then propagated and adopted by the Arabs. They adapted their desires to produce what were called sharbets, which gave today's sherbet its name.

Sorbet [from Arabic, sharbets]: Oriental preparation based on fruit juice and sugar. This word literally means in Arabic: fruity ice cube. Basically, they were syrups cooled by snow and were appreciated by caliphs of Baghdad, who did not hesitate to travel around the world carrying their artisan ice cream technique.

The sorbet of the princes

Sorbet champagne


Around 300 BC, fruit ice cream appeared at the court of Alexander the Great. First of all composed of fruit macedonia mixed with honey, wine, cooled by contact with snow; three centuries passed and it was the Roman Emperor Nero who had snow brought from the Apennine Mountains to serve refreshments. The basic recipes consisted mainly of honey, rose water, cinnamon and dried fruits.

Often tasted during imperial banquets, these ice creams were a real luxury product. Marco Polo Caravan Also, Marco Polo made ice cream known in Europe. On his return from China, he revealed the manufacturing secret from the 14th century, and it was above all in Italy that this novelty was found on the tables (royal and papal).

Italy is still the kingdom of ice cream today, offering for a very long time a know-how and ingenuity that is well recognized and appreciated. Italian sorbetti are taking over the world. For the anecdotes: from 1668 the Italian Francesco Procopio, owner of Café Procope in Paris, offered more than 80 perfumes to his customers! ; ice cream cones were created in 1904 during the Universal Exhibition in Saint-Louis (United States); sticks were invented by Christian Nelson (still an American) and were marketed in France around the 1930s.

Currently, it is the use of liquid nitrogen which is fashionable and which allows to make ice cream in a very contemporary and playful way. Also, many artisans and ice cream makers innovate and give free rein to their overflowing creativity.
With my acolyte, we had the chance and the opportunity to visit in 2008 the recent and famous Ice Cream City in Japan. This is the Tokyo Ice Museum in the Ikebukuro district, where the most unexpected sherbets and modern utensils transport you to another planet. (Not to be missed if you have the chance to go to Japanese country).
Voilà pour la petite histoire sur les sorbets et glaces, je vous propose maintenant quelques éléments de base pour vos recettes de sorbets à faire chez vous, et à apprécier en famille ou entre amis, voire en solo pour les plus gourmands !

Champagne sorbet recipes

These recipes require a different preparation time, but around 10 to 20 minutes and can be prepared up to 1.5 hours before serving, with or without an ice cream maker. Between rosé and brut champagne, winegrowers' champagne… you will have the choice and also the mission to test your own ideas, in order to vary the pleasures!

Champagne sorbet #1
 
With Rosé Champagne 
Ingredients (for 4 p.)
1 half liter of Rosé Champagne
1 orange (preferably organic)
(You can add a drop or two of Orange Blossom Water)
200 g of sugar for jam
20 cl of good quality water
1 vanilla pod
1 small pinch of cinnamon.

Preparations using an ice cream maker

Split the vanilla in half. Scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife.

In a saucepan, mix the sugar in the water. Add the seeds and the split vanilla pod.

Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Let cool completely.

Remove the vanilla pods.

Squeeze the orange and strain its juice. Pour the Rosé Champagne and the filtered orange juice into the cooled syrup. Mix gently.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn for an hour.

Place the sorbet in a stainless steel container in the freezer for at least three hours.

Make scoops of champagne sorbets in previously cooled ice cream cups.

Sprinkle the sorbet with red fruits, currants, raspberries.

Quickly serve the sorbet cups.

Champagne sorbet #2 

With Brut Champagne
Ingredients (for 6 p.)
¾ liter of Brut Champagne (½ liter for the preparation of your sorbet)
150 gr of cane sugar in semolina
1 teaspoon of lemon juice (green or yellow of your choice, grapefruit is nice too)
15 cl of water (the best possible)

Preparations
Pour the sugar, 15 cl of water and the lemon juice into a saucepan.

Bring the preparation to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. As soon as it boils, remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool.

Stir occasionally. When the syrup is cold, incorporate ½ liter of Champagne in it, stirring constantly.

Pour everything into an ice cream maker and leave to set in sorbet. If you do not have an ice cream maker, ice the preparation in the freezer for 30 to 40 minutes; mix it and let it set again in the freezer for 30 to 40 minutes.


Champagne sorbet # 3


With the Champagne of your choice !

Ingrédients (pour 4-6 p.) 

125 g sugar
15 cl lemon juice
60 cl of glucose
335 cl of water
500 cl of Champagne (from winegrowers, etc.)

Preparations
Bring the water to a boil with the sugar and glucose. Let it boil until the sugar melts and thus forms a syrup.

Add the Champagne, lemon juice and strain.

Cool the mixture and place it in the freezer for at least 1 hour 30 minutes.

Champagne sorbets and presentation

In terms of presentations you can serve your traditional sorbets in small balls, by placing them for example in champagne flutes, champagne glasses, which should be kept in the freezer about three-quarters of an hour before to optimize the freshness of your dessert. I also invite you to do a little reminder with our article on How to choose a Champagne glass.
But that doesn't stop you from imagining serving in the prettiest or most anecdotal containers you have to serve a homemade sorbet !
Of course, do not deprive yourself of your imagination and decorate your sorbets with red fruit coulis, dried berries, or even pour the remaining Champagne directly onto the sorbet before serving it to your guests.

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