Heritage Malta is presenting an unusual experience that ties together a live cooking session with historical information in Vittoriosa this Thursday.

Between 1664 and 1759, the kitchen of the Inquisitor’s Palace was equipped with the necessary apparatus to contain ice and freeze ice-cream. By 1798, the Inquisitor owned several ice-cream containers intended to cater for entertaining his guests.

The consumption of ice-cream offered the Maltese, and especially the nobility, a moment of relief from the beating summer heat. This dietary practice was made possible through the importation of large quantities of snow and ice from Sicily. Ice-creams provided a new and rather sophisticated manner of experiencing new tastes and textures in a Baroque age.

By the end of the 17th century, cooks published recipe books intended to propagate the knowledge of how to prepare ice-creams. Malta’s archives boast  some fine examples, including a 1748 recipe.

Noel Buttigieg will share Maltese recipes from the 1740s while chef Josef Baldacchino will conduct a historic cook-along session of two ice-cream recipes which participants will be able to taste.

This is an exclusive sensory experience for a limited number of participants. Proceeds from this event will help to refurnish the kitchens back to their heyday. Participants will also be entitled to one complimentary copy of Eighteenth Century Malta at a Glance.

■ The event is taking place at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from all Heritage Malta sites and online at http://shop.heritagemalta.org.

Discounts apply to Heritage Malta members upon presentation of a valid membership card.

For further details, call 2166 3731.