Some there are who date the use of ice at table from the time of Alexander the Great; who, it is said, had caves in India for the preservation of ice; but it is certain that in Alexander’s time the Greeks cooled their wine with ice, and that the Romans were also acquainted with this luxury. A French traveller in Turkey, writing in 1553, tells us that the Turks had their glacières, in which they preserved ice for table use. Henry III. was said to be the first who introduced ice at his table in France, and it became common enough in the following century. The word glacière is not found in the dictionary of Monet, published in 1636. But in 1667 Boileau wrote:—
“Pour semble de dis grace
Par le chaud qu’il faisait nous n’avions point de glace,
Point de glace, bon Dieu! dans le cœur de l’été,
Au mois de Juin.”
Wenham Lake ice is now handed round during dinner to mix with wine or water between April and August.
CHAPTER XVII.
COFFEE.
