Snow cone

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A snow cone is a paper cone filled with crushed ice topped with flavored sugar water. Due to the popularity of snowballs, many snow cones are now made like snowballs with shaven ice and a sugar syrup and the terms are often used interchangeably.

Contents 1 History 2 Similar confections 3 Flavors 4 See also 5 References

[edit] History

Ancient Japanese literature from the Heian period (794 to 1185) talks about snow cones made by hand with a ice carving device.^[1]The first mechanical snow cone-making machine in Japan was patented by Mr. Murakami in 1887^[2].

Samuel Bert of Dallas sold snow cones at the State Fair of Texas in 1919, and he designed a snow cone-making machine in 1920. Bert was a fixture at the State Fair, selling his snow cones there (and selling his machines worldwide) until his death in 1984.^[3]

[edit] Similar confections

In Cuba and many Cuban neighborhoods, they are known as "granizados," after the Spanish word granizo for hailstones. In Miami neighborhoods, they are often sold in conjunction with other frozen confections in ice cream trucks and stands throughout the city. A classic Cuban flavoring for granizados is anise, made from extracts of the star anise spice.

In Puerto Rico and many Puerto Rican neighborhoods, they are named "Piragua", because they are made in pyramid shapes and agua means water in Spanish. Most Puerto Rican snow cone vendors use street snow cone carts instead of fixed stands or kiosks. During the summer months in Puerto Rican neighborhoods, especially in New York and Philadelphia, "piragua" carts are often found on the streets and attract many customers.

In Mexico, California, Texas and the Southwestern United States, a finely shaved and syruped ice is called a raspa, or raspado.^[4] Raspar is Spanish for "scrape"; hence raspado means, roughly, "scraped ice." Raspas come in a wide range of fruit flavors and classic Mexican flavors, such as leche (sweetened milk with cinnamon), picocito (lemon and chili powder), chamoy (fruits and chili sauce), cucumber, guanabana, guava, pistachio, tamarind, among others.

In Lebanon, snowcones (المخروط الثلج) are widely known for their religious purposes in Maronite Catholicism. They are served to children entering their teenage years, prior to their confirmation in the Church. This practice dates back to the early 1960s, and was first began by Father Francis Ephrem Boustany, a priest in Bkerke, Lebanon. Today, snow cones are not limited to the Church. They are a popular summertime treat among both Maronites and Muslims.

In Colombia, Panama and Venezuela it is known as raspado or raspao, literally meaning scraped. It is usually made from crushed ice and fruit syrup topped with condensed milk. When these ingredients are combined with fresh fruit it is called cholado.

In the Dominican Republic and many Dominican neighborhoods, snow cones are called "frío frío" or sometimes "yun yun". "Frío" is the Spanish for "cold," and "yun" is an onomatopoeic term for the sound made when scraping a block of ice.

Snow cones are sometimes confused with "Italian ices" or "water ices", but some water ice lovers distinguish between the two: As Eva Chen explained, snow cones are generally flavored after production, at the point of sale, whereas water ices are flavored as the ice is made.

In El Salvador and other countries of the Region, they are known as "Minutas"

In Peru they are known as "cremolada" and in some parts of the country as "raspadilla".

In Venezuela they are called Cepillados and are topped with condensed milk.

In South Asia, snow cones are enjoyed as a low-cost summer treat, often shaved by hand and served on a stick or a cup. In Pakistan it is often referred to as 'Gola ganda' (Urdu: گولا گنڈا) and in India as 'Chuski'.

[edit] Flavors

Popular designs and flavor mixes

• Batman
• Ghostbusters
• Smurf
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
• Rainbow
• Tiger blood (cherry/coconut or strawberry/coconut)
• Almond Joy (chocolate/coconut)
• Fuzzy Navel (peach/orange)

Popular toppings and addons

• Azuki bean
• Condensed milk on top
• Chocolate syrup on top
• Frozen juices mixed in
• Ice Cream in the middle (stuffed snowball)
• Li Hing Mui Powder
• Marshmallow on top
• Mochi

[edit] See also

• Snowball - Ice shaved from a block that is fluffy, not granular
• Italian ice - Water ice
• Snow cream - A cream or snow and dairy based dessert
• Kakigori - Japanese shaved ice dessert
• Patbingsu - Korean shaved ice dessert
• Piragua - Puerto Rican frozen treat.
• Halo halo - Filipino shaved ice dessert
• Slush (beverage) - A shaved ice drink
• Slurpee / Slush Puppie - Brand name slushes
• Snow - Type of precipitation
• slushy - used for slang

[edit] References