Food - Drink
The Bizarre Tool Once Used To Make Whipped Cream
By CYRENA GOURDEAU
Some kitchen tools are truly timeless, such as the mortar and pestle, which has been around for over thirty-five thousand years and still gets plenty of use in modern kitchens. In contrast, the whisk originated in the 19th century, and prior to this invention, the task of whipping cream was done using a very odd tool.
Whipped cream dates back to the 16th century, and early recipes hail from Italy and France. Back then, cooks used tree branches to whip cream into a fluffy, cloud-like texture, and while branches were a very economical tool, they were not convenient, and it could take over an hour to make one batch of whipped cream.
Willow and rush branches were the most common branches used to whip cream. If you ever want homemade whipped cream, but don’t have a whisk, you could scour for branches and try this old-fashioned, nature-based approach, but you may be better off with modern tricks, such as using a cocktail shaker to "whip" cream.