The Strange Name Whipped Cream Was Once Called
Have you ever thought about what foods are called around the world?
You may be familiar with French fries being called "chips" in Britain or hot dogs being known as "frankfurters" throughout Europe (via Insider). But, did you know Australians call sprinkles "hundreds and thousands" (via Epicurious), or that cotton candy is called "candy floss" in South Africa and Pakistan and "fairy floss" in Australia and New Zealand (via Grammarist)? When it comes to whipped cream, the product has been referred to by different names for centuries. Today, in the United Kingdom, it is often called "squirty cream (via The Flexible Fridge).
Whipped cream is a sweet ingredient that has been around for an exceptionally long time. In fact, it has been found as an ingredient in European recipes dating all the way back to the 16th century (Food and Wine). With its lengthy history comes a long list of different names, but the old French name may be the strangest name we have heard so far.
Would you want to eat milk snow?
According to Food and Wine, whipped cream has been found in European recipes dating back to 1549 in Italy and 1604 in France. However, it did not go by the name "whipped cream" until 1673. Rather, it was called "milk snow," or "neige de lait" in France and "neve di latte" in Italy.
These recipes, of course, did not require the aerosol or boxed whipped cream we think of today. One old English recipe called "A Dyschefull of Snowe" is a variation on the modern concoction of whipped cream. According to The Past is a Foreign Pantry, the recipe was made by whipping cream and egg white together with added sweetener, such as sugar, and rosewater.
We still enjoy eating whipped cream this way today, whether you lick a fresh batch off a spoon or enjoy shamelessly squirting canned whipped cream into your mouth, not much has changed through the centuries – at least when it comes to whipped cream.