Should we eat snow? Probably not
By Matt Blitz, Food & Wine
With winter upon us and snow coming down in delicious flakes (in some parts of the country), it’s hard to fault the hungry people who are racing outside to scoop up the fluffy white stuff by the spoonful. OK, maybe you haven’t filled up a natural snow cone yet this winter, but humans have been eating the stuff for thousands of years.
Legend has it that Cleopatra served her lover Mark Antony a frozen slush treat after a rare Egyptian snowstorm and the extravagant Roman emperor Nero had snow transported from the tops of nearby mountains to his table for a sorbet-like dessert. Even Marco Polo may have brought back a snow ice cream recipe from his Far East travels that Kublai Khan kept a closely guarded secret.
While we always knew not to eat yellow snow, unfortunately recent studies now say that perhaps we should avoid eating this wintery treat falling from the heavens altogether.