Thursday 5 August 2010

Churn Churn

When I was growing up fridges were rare in middle class families and we only got ours when I was in High School. We stored water in earthen or clay water pots . I remember the cool, earth scented clean water which was so refreshing. On our train journeys we carried a small earthen water jar in a special wooden frame.

We only ate freshly cooked food. Left overs were given away to servants or poor people.Fresh purchases were made everyday to make sure nothing perished or spoiled.Winter time was no problem but in the summer fruit and vegetables were kept outside in the garden to keep cool and fresh in the softly falling dew.

I think we had a closer walk with nature than we have now. In this modern age we are slaves of technology to a great extent.

One happy childhood memory was making ice cream at home. It was an event we looked forward to eagerly. We could have huge bowls full of delicious ice cream with mango or musk melon.

We either borrowed or hired an ice cream maker. It was a wooden pail with steel container fitted with a churn and a handle. Lots of milk was bought and boiled before hand. (In India milk has to be thoroughly boiled to kill bacteria). It was mixed with ice cream powder and sugar. We bought lots of ice from the baraf wala- or ice man, who came around with slabs of ice wrapped in gunny sacks on a trolley.


The ice was carefully broken into small pieces and wrapped in burlap to prevent it from melting. That night we had a light meal. Close family and friends were invited for the ice cream party.The steel container was filled with the prepared ice cream mixture and place in the pail.Then it was packed with ice and a special salt called shora (I don 't know the English name maybe sea salt) The churning of turning of the handle came next. My Dad and uncles exerted themselves, while us kids waited in joyful anticipation for the delicious outcome of their labour. Oh I tell the taste of that home made ice cream cannot be compared with the store bought desserts we get today. It was flavored with love and togetherness, that 's what made the difference.
Sometimes churning produces good results doesn 't it- philosophically speaking.

What sweet childhood memory do you have - something old fashioned you did as a family.
_____________________
You know friends. I clicked on a wrong button somewhere and lost a whole lot of photos and graphics I was hoping to use in my on coming posts. Punishing technology.

14 Fertilize my soul:

So, I Begin this Journey...... said...

Italian Ice was part of growing up {Italian family of course} and along with ices, I couldn't wait for my "nan'na" to finish her homemade pizzelle's!

My husband's father was second generation to Kohr's Custard started in Coney Island & New Jersey beaches...... talk about growing up with sweets!

Your photo of the churning is making my mouth water!
I'm on a plane now....be there soon for homemade ice cream! : )

carolyn said...

Oh, that sounds so good!

We made snow ice cream when I was a child. you put milk outside to almost freeze, in our case it was canned milk, then put it in a bowl with vanilla and stir in snow until it is stiff.

Anonymous said...

Dear Amrita, I really enjoyed your ice cream pics and description. I can almost taste that goodness. I too grew up pasturizing milk from our cows here in Illinois USA.
I just finished "de-bugging" my computer. Thank goodness for system recovery and Norton antivirus. Computer are so helpful but sometimes a big headache. Smiles, Sally

David C Brown said...

Sounds delicious!

Donetta said...

Oh girl that sounds wonderful. I love frozen fruit purees also.

Holly, the Old Western Gal said...

Amrita, use your Search option in your drop-down menu, if you are running any version of Microsoft on your computer. Then do a search for Pictures or Images. It will look through EVERYTHING and display all results. If they are on the computer, they will be found. If not, then you can begin to rebuild your collection.

We had ice cream for the Fourth each year, peach ice cream. I agree that no store-made ice cream, no matter how expensive, can compare with homemade.

In Mexico they have a lot of those earthen jars still. The water is so tasty out of them.

Brad the Dad said...

Here we love to do the freshly blended fruit drinks and ice smoothies. They are so refreshing on a hot summer evening. Thanks for all these wonderful views of your life and culture.

John Cowart said...

Hi Amrita,

Yes, you can "steal" the Diana tale.

I like your peanut butter receipt; it sounds so much richer than the store-bought kind.

John

Nadwrażliwiec said...

We don't think that some technologies (for example fridges) aren't so old. Last time I asked my grandmother how people in her times were used to keep their food during the hot summer. She told me, that in every house was special cellar, where temperature was really low.
From my childhood I remember my discussions with my grandmother about everything, when she was cooking dinner in the kitchen and walking with dog in the park. I liked also play with my animal figures as the little theater - I was making up stories and figures where actors :)
Have a nice day.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

There are advantages and disadvantages in the onset of modern technology. I understand the musing you have about the old way of making ice cream. That is also the way ice cream is being made for the peddled ice cream in the streets in our country. Of course the big companies have their big ice cream maker machines that churned out creamy ice cream sold in supermarkets. I prefer the modern ones as well as the imported ones. Thanks for the post. God bless you always.

Amrita said...

Dear thank you for your sweet responses. Its so interesting to hear from friends from different parts of the world.

Amrita said...

Hi Zimb, I also love dto hear my Grandma telling stories and incidents from here childhood . I was very close to my grandma, she was a wonderful person, full of life and homely wisdom.

She nurtured me.

Amrita said...

Dear John thank you for giving me permission to use your article. Now it s easier to visit you, earlier I was having problems opening you r web site.You are the first blogger I ever came in contact with

Nikki (Sarah) said...

wow...my kids would love to make ice cream like that. Loved this post. I learn so much when I come here. You bring me into another world....that fascinates me. Have a great weekend