Water Ices

water ices seem to have come into being, in Europe, at about the same time in the second half of the 17th century as ice cream. The same technique is used for both products; see ice.

It has been suggested that ices (whether water ices or ice cream) were made much earlier in China. This seems not impossible, and would be difficult to disprove. However, the further idea that they were introduced to Europe by Marco Polo, returning to Venice from China in the 13th century, is unsupported and is best counted as a piece of culinary mythology.