Graeter's Ice Cream: An Irresistible History

Historians may not agree on when or where ice cream was first developed, but there is little debate that one of the best versions of this sweet treat today is made by Graeter's Ice Cream in Cincinnati. Louis Charles Graeter started his ice cream business in 1870, hand churning the concoction in a cylinder pot set in a larger bucket of ice and salt, a contraption known as the French pot. The ice cream business in America has evolved to favor mass production, but little has changed in the way Graeter's makes ice cream today--much to the delight of the company's many thousands of devotees. Graeter's is churned from the same mix of cream, sugar and eggs, still made in two-gallon batches and still owned by the same family, now in its fourth generation. Journey with Robin Davis, food editor with the Columbus Dispatch, as she recounts the history of the company that has enchanted millions of taste buds across the country.

Robin Davis Heigel has been the food editor at the Columbus Dispatch since 2002. She is also the host of Dispatch Kitchen cooking segments and specials on the local CBS affiliate, WBNS-TV.

Before coming to Columbus, Davis Heigel was a restaurant critic and food writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. She came to San Francisco by way of Los Angles, where she worked as an assistant editor at Bon Appetit magazine.

Davis Heigel has a bachelor of arts in English and psychology from the University of Dayton. She also has an associate's degree in culinary arts from the California Culinary Academy.

Davis Heigel is the author of three books: Wookie Cookies (Chronicle Books, 1997), Infusions (Chronicle Books, 1998) and The North Market Cookbook (American Foodways, 2008).