THERE’S NO BUSINESS LIKE SNO-BUSINESS

Sean Loyless, compliments of Wikimedia Commons

The sun is scorching, the air hazy with heat. Sun screens and sun hats appear like extras in a movie where weather is the star.

Sno-cones, sno-balls, shaved ice, and slushies tempt you from every street corner, festival, event, and beach. There’s blue raspberry, watermelon, and cherry in colors that seem plucked from a rainbow. For the brave hearts, try flavors like pickle and crawfish juice or more popular mango madness and ninja turtle.

When it comes to summer, there’s no business like sno-business. It’s all over the world, with different versions, textures, and colors. Whether smooth or crunchy, sipped through a straw or bought from a food truck or street vendor, they all share the same, delicious origin.

Let’s call it shaved ice – the family of deserts made from piling fluffy ice into mounds, shards, or tiny chunks and topping it with syrup and other sweet stuff.

Who made it first?

Head back 2,000-3,000 years ago. Ancient Persians built ice houses they called yakhchāi. They were underground storage cellars with domed-shaped roofs. They kept food and ice cold – in the middle of the dessert.

Bockomet, compliments of Wikimedia Commons

According to Stefan Andrews in The Vintage News, “The word [yakhchāi] stands for “ice pit” . . . and provided both space and conditions to store not only ice but also many types of food that would otherwise quickly spoil at hot temperatures.” They were able to make a frozen ice dessert called faloodeh, with syrup, noodles, rose water, and lime juice.

In ancient China, shaved ice was a delicacy. Blocks of ice from mountaintops were shaved and topped with fruit juices. It was called bào-bing – a luxury served to royalty and the wealthy.

It spread.

In Japan, they soon began serving kakigōri during the colder months – hand-shaved ice with syrups like strawberry, green tea, and melon – usually stored in mountain caves or later, ice houses. Today they even have a national “kakigōri day.”

Like a great film, shaved ice went global – a gourmet treasure. Snowy Joey lists 35 different ways to say “Snow Cone.” In Israel it’s called barad, Philippines halo-halo, Bolivia shikashika, and Thailand nam kang sai’. Each location developed its own flavor, style, and ice.

Legend says the sno-cone arrived in America during the early 1900s. They were sold from carts; vendors added their own special toppings and syrups. They made an official debut in the 1919 Texas State Fair.

Don’t tell that to people from Baltimore. According to Maggie Pelta-Pauls in Preservation Maryland, during the 1800s wagons shipping ice passed through Baltimore. “Kids would chase them asking for shavings. When they brought the shavings back home, their mother would make flavored syrup.”

Business got the idea. They began selling Baltimore Snowballs “as the perfect way to cool down in hot venues that did not have air conditioning.”

During and after the Great Depression, Pelta-Pauls noted that the “easy and cheap treat became known as the hard time sundae or the penny sundae.”

Louisiana – home of the New Orleans Snowball – argued the point. The infamous “snowball pioneers” George Ortolano and Ernest Hansen invented the electric ice shaving machine there in the late 1930s.

If you head out to the Islands, try the Hawaiian Snowball, a close relative to kakigōri. Legend says that it was brought to the islands by Japanese plantation workers. The new version is sweeter, often served with local ingredients like passionfruit and papaya.

Get the picture?

Whether it’s bingsoo (South Korea), piragua (Puerto Rico), raspado (Mexico,), sno-cone, or slushie, they’re all related. There really is no business like sno-business.

So, hunker down and cool off with a delicious global treat.