.jpg) A strawberry milkshake topped with a strawberry | |
| Alternative names | Thick shake, frappe, cabinet |
|---|---|
| Type | Beverage |
| Place of origin | United States |
| Main ingredients | Milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners |
Amilkshake (sometimes simply called ashake) is a sweet beverage made by blendingmilk,ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such asbutterscotch,caramel sauce,chocolate syrup, orfruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may also be made using a base made from non-dairy products, includingplant milks such asalmond milk,coconut milk, orsoy milk. Dry ingredients such as whole fruit,nuts,seeds,candy, orcookies may be incorporated.
Milkshakes originated in the United States around the turn of the 20th century and gained widespread popularity after the introduction ofelectric blenders in the following decades. During this period, ice cream shops became popular social gathering spots for young people, and milkshakes came to symbolize the simplicity and innocence of youth culture.
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Full-service restaurants,ice cream shops,soda fountains, anddiners usually prepare the shake in amilkshake machine. At home, a blender is more commonly used. Milkshakes can also be mixed by hand using a spoon. Milkshakes may be made from any flavor of ice cream; additional flavorings, such aschocolate syrup,malt syrup, ormalted milk powder, are often added prior to mixing.
Many fast food outlets do not make shakes from the individual ingredients; rather, they use automatic milkshake machines which freeze and serve a pre-made milkshake mixture consisting of milk, a sweetened flavoring agent, and a thickening agent. These are similar tosoft-serve ice cream machines, but they keep the shake at a drinkable consistency.
Terminology around the distinction between a milkshake that uses ice cream and other forms offlavored milk varies regionally. An ice cream-based milkshake may be called athick shake to distinguish it. In parts ofNew England and eastern Canada, the namefrappe (/fræp/FRAP) is used;[1][2] in Rhode Island specifically, they may be calledcabinets,[3][4] as in the "coffee cabinet". A milkshake containing malted milk powder is sometimes called amalt. The termconcrete is used for particularly thick milkshakes that do not spill when turned upside down, such as those offered by the restaurant chainCulver's.[5]
In some jurisdictions there are legal requirements about what can be called a "milkshake", such as requirements for the percentage presence ofmilk fat and non-fatmilk solids. Because of this, it is common for restaurants to avoid using the term "milkshake" to refer to their products, such as simply calling them "shakes" rather than "milkshakes".Fast food restaurants that do not refer to their similar products as "milkshakes" includeWendy's (which calls their product a "Frosty"),Burger King,Dairy Queen,Del Taco,McDonald's,Shake Shack, andSonic Drive-In.[6]
When the termmilkshake was first used in print in 1885,[7] a milkshake was an alcoholicwhiskey drink that has been described as a "sturdy, healthfuleggnog type of drink, with eggs, whiskey, etc., served as a tonic as well as a treat".[8] However, by 1900, the term referred to "wholesome drinks made with chocolate,strawberry, orvanillasyrups". By the "early 1900s people were asking for the new treat, often with ice cream". By the 1930s, milkshakes were a popular drink atmalt shops, which were the "typicalsoda fountain of the period".[8]
The history of the electric blender, malted milk drinks, and milkshakes are interconnected. Before the widespread availability of electric blenders, milkshake-type drinks were more like eggnog, or they were a hand-shaken mixture of crushed ice and milk, sugar, and flavorings.[citation needed]Hamilton Beach introduced its Cyclone Drink Mixer in 1911, and it was widely used in soda fountains.[9][10][11]
The Hamilton Beach design, with the motor on top, remains the most common kind of milkshake machine.[citation needed] In 1922, Steven Poplawski invented the bottom-motorblender, which is sometimes used for making milkshakes.[12] With the invention of the blender, milkshakes began to take their modern, whipped, aerated, and frothy form.
The use ofmalted milk powder in milkshakes was popularized in the US by the Chicago drugstore chainWalgreens. Malted milk powder – a mixture ofevaporated milk, maltedbarley, andwheat flour – was invented byWilliam Horlick in 1897 for use as an easily digested restorative health drink for disabled people and children, and as aninfant's food.[13][14] However, healthy people soon began drinking beverages made with malted milk simply for the taste,[14] and malted milk beverages containing milk, chocolate syrup, and malt powder became a standard offering atsoda fountains. In 1922, Walgreens employee Ivar "Pop" Coulson made a milkshake by adding two scoops of vanilla ice cream to the standard malted milk drink recipe.[15] This item, under the name "Horlick's Malted Milk", was featured by the Walgreen drugstore chain as part of a chocolate milkshake, which itself became known as a "malted" or "malt" and became one of the most popular soda-fountain drinks.[16]
The automation of milkshakes developed in the 1930s, after the invention offreon-cooled refrigerators provided a safe, reliable way of automatically making and dispensing ice cream. In 1936, inventor Earl Prince used the basic concept behind the Freon-cooled automated ice cream machine to develop the Multimixer, a "five-spindled mixer that could produce five milkshakes at once, all automatically, and dispense them at the pull of a lever into awaiting paper cups".[17]
Newspaper articles from the late 1930s suggest the term 'frosted' was sometimes used to refer to milkshakes, particularly those made with ice cream. In 1937, theDenton Journal in Maryland stated that "For a 'frosted' shake, add a dash of your favorite ice cream." In 1939, theMansfield News in Ohio stated that "A frosted beverage, in the vernacular, is something good to which ice cream has been added. Example par excellence is frosted coffee –that hot, tasty beverage made chilly with ice and frosty with ice cream."[18]
By the 1950s, popular places to drink milkshakes wereWoolworth's "5 & 10"lunch counters, diners, burger joints, anddrugstoresoda fountains. These establishments often prominently displayed a shining chrome or stainless steel milkshake mixing machine.[19]
These establishments made milkshakes in Hamilton Beach or similar styles of drink mixers, which had spindles and agitators that folded air into the drinks for "smooth, fluffy results" and served them in12+1⁄2-US-fluid-ounce (370 ml) tall glasses with bulbous top. Soda fountain staff had their own jargon, such as "Burn One All the Way" (chocolate malted with chocolate ice cream), "Twist It, Choke It, and Make It Cackle" (chocolate malted with an egg), "Shake One in the Hay" (a strawberry shake), and a "White Cow" (a vanilla milkshake).[20]
Milkshakes had also become popular in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom and Australia. In Australia, milk bars had grown popular and milkshakes were normally served lightly whipped and often in the aluminum or stainless steel cups in which they were prepared. In addition to more traditional flavors, spearmint and lime-flavored milkshakes became popular in Australia.
In 2006, the U.S.Agricultural Research Service developed reduced-sugar, low-fat milk shakes for lunch programs. The shakes have half the sugar and only 10% of the fat of commercial fast-food shakes. Schools need a milk shake machine or soft-serve ice cream machine to serve the milkshakes. The milkshakes also have added fiber and other nutrients and reduced levels oflactose, which makes the shakes suitable for some people withlactose intolerance.[21]
U.S. sales of milkshakes, malts, and floats rose 11% in 2006, according to the industry research firm NPD Group. Christopher Muller, the director of the Center for Multi-Unit Restaurant Management at Orlando's University of Central Florida said that "milkshakes remind us of summer, youth – and indulgence", and "they're evocative of a time gone by".[22] Muller stated, that milkshakes are an "enormously profitable" item for restaurants, since the drinks contain so much air. The market research firm Technomic states that about 75 percent of the average-priced $3.38 restaurant shake in 2006 was profit. An executive fromSonic Drive-In, a U.S. chain of 1950s-style diner restaurants, calls shakes "one of our highest-volume, revenue-producing areas".[22]
A 2016 article stated that chefs are trying out innovative ideas with milkshakes to keep customers interested in the drinks.[23] The article noted that coffee-flavored shakes are popular "because it complements both sweet and savory" dishes. Another trend is using different types of milk, such asalmond milk,coconut milk,soy milk, orhemp milk.[23]
In May 2019, during the build-up to theEU parliament elections in the United Kingdom, the throwing of milkshakes emerged as a protest tactic, usually targeting right-wing politicians. The movement originated with the "milkshaking" ofTommy Robinson, with a second thrown later that month.[24][25]
The UK police requested that an EdinburghMcDonald's refrain from selling milkshakes on May 17 during a visit byNigel Farage. This promptedBurger King to tweet in response: "We're selling milkshakes all weekend. Have fun."[26] Burger King's tweet was later banned by the UK'sAdvertising Standards Authority, because they felt that it "condoned the previous anti-social behaviour and encouraged further instances", and that it was therefore an "irresponsible" advertisement.[27] At a separate visit in Newcastle on May 20, Farage had aFive Guys milkshake thrown at him.[28]Carl Benjamin had a total of four milkshakes thrown at him that week.[29] The act of milkshaking is similar to that ofegging as a form of protest against political figures.[30]
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Filmmakers sometimes utilize milkshakes as a visual shorthand for themes of purity, innocence, and uncorrupted youth, representing them as embodiments of 'sweetness and goodness.[31] InAll About Eve, by directorJoseph L. Mankiewicz,Bette Davis's character is unhappy to see a man she likes chatting up her young female assistant, so Davis's character orders an alcoholicMartini, and "then mockingly suggests [that] Eve [the young assistant] will have a milkshake", thereby "asserting womanhood over girlhood through milkshake's associations with virginity".[31] Similarly, the socially awkward characterSteve Buscemi plays inGhost World is made fun of by a teenage girl because he orders a "virginal vanilla milkshake"; inManhattan, by directorWoody Allen, the director draws attention to the difference in age between his 42-year-old character (he also acts in the lead role) and his teenage girlfriend by having her drink a milkshake. In the filmLolita in 1997, a teenage girl drinks a milkshake while she is with the middle-aged man (her mother's new boyfriend) who is attracted to her.[31]
The characters fromArchie Comics are often depicted drinking milkshakes. The TV seriesRiverdale, inspired by the comics, depicts the characters in a 1950s-inspired local diner, Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe; to promote the show, the cast shared a milkshake during an appearance onThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[32]
Master Shake, one of the main characters from the Americananimated seriesAqua Teen Hunger Force (also known by variousalternative titles), is a life-sizedanthropomorphic milkshake.
InKelis' 2003 hit single "Milkshake" the name of beverage is repeated throughout the song.[33] Milkshakes are prominently featured in the song's video clip, which features characters consuming them in adiner.[34]
The termMilkshake Duck, coined on Twitter in 2017, refers to a person who initially becomes popular on social media, only to become disgraced as other users comb through their online presence and find offensive statements or an unpleasant history.[35]
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