Ball of ice cream

When it comes to ice cream, Manish Vora knows what to do. “There’s nothing that makes more people happy than ice cream day in and day out,” he said.

But what pleases the Thief is the ice cream ball. “It’s really art,” he told Susan Spencer. “It’s brilliance in simplicity. It’s something so utilitarian but so timeless that it’s still a beautiful object.”

At the Ice Cream Museum in New York, co-founded by Thief, proud wizards stand eight feet tall in some mini-park in the style of Willie Wonka, complete with a pool of giant splashes.

But back to the scoop: a design we know and love today, with its built-in scraper, from 1897. African-American businessman and inventor Alfred Krale invented it and obtained a patent for it.

“Alfred Krale is our Thomas Edison at the Ice Cream Museum,” Vora said. And why not? His genius we owe to the perfect scoop of ice cream.

Spencer asked, “Why does it matter if the ice cream is in the perfect little ball?”

“I really think it’s tastier,” Vora said. “I really do!”

“You can use a crowbar, it will taste the same,” – laughed Spencer.

“Well, there’s research on tasting, whether you appreciate it or not. Aesthetics matter. What it looks like is related to how your brain responds to ice cream,” Vora said.

Remember that the next time you go to the freezer to have a snack!

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The plot is produced by Amiel Weisfogel. Editor: Carol Ross.

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