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When it came to ice But can ice cream improve relationships and de-
crease tensions between people?
cream, it seemed as Probably not, but perhaps there are some small ex-

if the locals did not ceptions. Many Israelis challenge the ban on crossing the
border into the West Bank just to taste the Dondurma
mind waiting hours made by a Ramallah’s ice cream shop, the Rukab, which

in line if the reward has been producing it since the 1940s. Just like with Cuba,
the hegemonic changes in the area affect every aspect of
at the end was the the private citizens and small business owners’ lives. The
more the situation mutates, the more businesses, includ-
so-called Ensalada ing ice cream shops, are affected.
The idea of ice cream being able to overcome dif-
from Coppelia. ferences is a recurring theme in the arts, sports and gas-
tronomy and it recently reached the Officine del Sapore,
the Italian Association for Protection of Gelato. The As-
sociation began organizing the Gelato World Heritage
meetup in Rome, and successfully used ice cream as a
symbol of peace and intercultural exchange. Despite the
likely disappointment of Italian Gelato makers, the first
edition was won by the United Stases with their peanut
butter flavor. Go figure.
International teams of ice cream connoisseurs could
Everybody loves ice cream, government officials too. Castro never achieved his dream of dairy self-sufficiency, eventually settle on a favorite ice cream flavor, but for
So what happens when leaders around the world and, at times, that has meant that the economy and economic world peace, we’ll have to wait a little longer.
enjoy a particular food? It changes how a country embargo led gastronomic institutions, like Coppelia, having
eats and drinks for generations. fewer or lower-quality offerings.As a matter of fact, even vis-
itors from the U.S. and Europe agreed that Coppelia was likely
Fidel Castro who was obsessed with ice-cream, serving the world’s best ice cream. Viva la Coppelia.
decided to circumvent the embargo imposed by Wash- It is said that the history of Cuba is reflected in that of
ington by having milk shipped directly from Canada. A ice cream and vice versa. The geopolitical changes caused
pretty risky move, considering it is said that at some the direct decline of Cuba’s dairy import, which made water
point in history the CIA thought about poisoning the the only viable substitute for ice cream production, altering
Cuban leader by poisoning his milkshakes. Fidel Castro, consistency and taste. Simultaneously, Cuba introduced the
who according to multiple sources loved ice-cream, double currency system: one for the locals and one for
decided to heavily invest in the production of good tourists. The introduction of this double currency model
quality of ice cream in Cuba. caused a split in checkout lines in front of all businesses and
To achieve this goal, the dairy industry needed to be a differentiated treatment for customers: a privileged fast
implemented, so the Cuban government decided to begin line for foreigners and a never-ending one for the locals.
the import of thousands of Holstein cows — the iconic black When it came to ice cream, though, it seemed as if the locals
and white variety — from Canada. But even when housed in did not mind waiting hours in line if the reward at the end
air-conditioned barns, they failed to thrive in Cuba even was the so-called Ensalada from Coppelia: a delicacy with
after being crossbred with local cattle in an attempt to obtain fifteen ice cream balls that are five different flavors.
a new species that could withstand the climate of the island. The made-in-Cuba ice cream adventure came to an
Thus, the Ubre Blanca breed was born and in 1982, but almost full stop with the rise of imported Nestlé ice-cream
the island’s conditions were still too harsh on the animals. products, which gained increasing popularity, especially
The dairy industry implementation came to an end and among the younger crowds. Throughout history, countries
the consequence was obviously the decrease of the inter- have disagreed on almost everything imaginable. One thing
nal production of milk and a rise in the import of dairy they do agree on, however, is the appreciation of fresh,
from the Soviet Union. creamy, delicious ice-cream.

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