By Jason R. Gronlund, Contributing Editor
Ice cream cools on a hot summer day, takes tears away in times of sorrow, makes children laugh and adults smile. It’s the one and only item served with birthday cake. And all this from one basic ingredient: frozen milk.
Although the origins of ice cream go back as far as the 4th century B.C., when the Roman emperor Nero asked for ice topped with fruit, it was in Italy where ice cream, as we know it, finally took shape. After Italian scientists realized that adding salt to ice would decrease its temperature, freezing trials subsequently yielded our beloved ice cream.
As Europeans experimented with this newfound delicacy, they reportedly began introducing flavors like orange blossom, jasmine and rose—high-end desserts for high-end diners.
But, at some point—particularly in America, where this creation finally received the name “ice cream”—such exotic flavors gave way to vanilla, chocolate and, to a lesser extent, strawberry. However, even though those mainstays still have a firm grip on the ice-cream-eating public, an ever-increasing range of flavors is available—and the list continues to grow, as gourmet, exotic, ethnic and just plain strange ice cream flavors hit the public.
Exotic and ethnic
From garlic ice cream (served annually at the Gilroy Garlic Festival) to black pepper ice cream served with strawberries, there seems to be no stopping the creativity people are applying to this once-simple creation. Some notable unique pairings are blue cheese and caramelized shallot, strawberry candied jalapeño, balsamic caramel, and pistachio bacon.
Depending on where in the world you are, ice cream can be as normal as apple pie and as strange and bizarre as eating bugs. Japanese curry ice cream combines heavy cream, milk, coconut milk, egg yolks, brown sugar, curry powder, a squirt of lemon or lime, and shredded carrots. Or how about a creamy, milky, sugary blend of ground and roasted black sesame seeds? The ebony-colored concoction is one of many similar nutty ice cream flavors commonly featured on restaurant menus around Japan.
Making the scene here in the United States is a tasty frozen treat that combines Japanese mochi (made from sticky rice) and ice cream. Mochi is eaten as a snack and forms the basis of a confection that gets a filling of azuki (red-bean paste), and is sometimes coated in toasted sesame seeds. For mochi ice cream, an outer wrapping of mochi—providing chewy mouthfeel—goes around various flavors of ice cream, traditionally vanilla, matcha (ground green tea) and red bean. Even non-Japanese restaurants are making this unique style of ice cream and adding flavors like crystallized ginger and toasted macadamia nuts, and adding a second filing inside, like chocolate lava. Coating the ice cream with the mochi takes time in a restaurant setting, and time is of the essence in its preparation, as the ice cream will get too soft rather quickly, giving an overall texture that is not desirable. In manufacturing, plant conditions should not permit the ice cream to soften during the coating step.