Nozlee Samadzadeh

Ice Cream in Literature: Jack Kerouac

August 21, 2012

In honor of Ice Cream Week, we'll be taking a look at some of ice cream's best cameos in our favorite novels and poems. Missed any? Read all our Ice Cream in Literature quotes.

Today: "Real ice cream" in Jack Kerouac's On The Road.

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Today's ice cream scene brings us to the expanses of the American West in Jack Kerouac's On The Road, where Dean Moriarity and Sal Paradise are driving from California to New York as fast as they possibly can. Stopping to visit an old acquaintance at his ranch in Colorado, they stay for a dinner cooked by their friend's wife.

Meanwhile his young wife prepared a magnificent spread in the big ranch kitchen. She apologized for the peach ice cream: "It ain’t nothin but cream and peaches froze up together." Of course it was the only real ice cream I ever had in my whole life. She started sparsely and ended up abundantly; as we ate, new things appeared on the table.

No one ever turned to Kerouac for his food writing, but this excerpt has always stuck with me. "Ice cream," literally!

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I'm Nozlee Samadzadeh, a writer, editor, farmer, developer, and passionate home cook. Growing up Iranian in Oklahoma, working on a small-scale organic farm, and cooking on a budget all influence the way I cook -- herbed rice dishes, chicken fried steak, heirloom tomato salad, and simple poached eggs all make appearances on my bright blue kitchen table. I love to eat kimchi (homemade!) straight from the jar and I eat cake for breakfast.

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