Starting with vanilla may disappoint. Vanilla ice cream is vanilla! We swear this flavor's history isn't boring. Vanilla, the second most expensive spice, comes from the vanilla bean orchid, the most extensively grown orchid.
As with vanilla, chocolate originated in Mesoamerica. Like vanilla, Spanish conquistadors brought cacao or cocoa to Europe in the 1400s. Chocolate ice cream predates vanilla, even though they arrived in Europe together.
Shirley Seas, a 1970s South Dakota State University campus dairy manager, may have invented cookies 'n cream ice cream after being inspired by a nearby ice cream restaurant that topped scoops with crumbled cookies.
As a summer crop, strawberries go well with ice cream, a refreshing pleasure. Fruit has been added to cold sweets and drinks since before ice cream. Sharbat, produced by the Persians, became sherbet and sorbet.
Chocolate is versatile, therefore we use it in ice cream in many ways. Do you like vanilla and chocolate? Then you may be one of those who prefer chocolate chip ice cream.
Chocolate with mint has been popular since Europeans discovered hot chocolate. Cocoa is bitter, therefore some added sugar and mint to sweeten it.
Unfortunately, unlike cookies 'n cream and mint chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream's creator will likely remain unidentified. In 1984, a customer suggested the combination on the bulletin board at the first Ben & Jerry's in Burlington, Vermont.