No one culture can completely claim ice cream as its own—ice cream historians debate where it was even born. Roman emperor Nero supposedly had his slaves bring snow down from the mountains so that he could have it topped with fruit and honey. A king during China’s seventh-century Tang dynasty liked a version that was mixed with milk. And when explorer Marco Polo came back from China in the 13th century, legend has it that he brought back a sherbet-like concoction.
Today, Americans and Australians eat the most ice cream of anyone in the world, according to market research firm Euromonitor, but almost every country enjoys it—and the cultural interpretations vary according to palates. As you travel into Eastern cultures, for instance, the ice cream tends to be less sweet. “Here we gravitate toward candy and cookies in our ice cream, but other countries gravitate toward fruits, tea, or spices,” says Stan Frankenthaler, the director of culinary development for Baskin-Robbins, which has shops in more than 35 countries. Its 31 flavors change as you travel: a saffron ice cream has been a big hit in the Middle East, while a chocolate-peanut-butter combo has been a dud almost everywhere but the U.S.
Garlic ice cream
Beer ice cream
Thanks hbshrimp
I tried garlic ice cream once at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. It wasn’t too bad with the first tasting and then the overwhelming garlic aftertaste starts. I said I tried it once…..once!
They have a gelato place here with some unique flavors. They have a pepper flavored ice cream. When you take a bite, it’s a rich chocolate taste, then seconds later it tastes like hot peppers, it’s very odd but good.
Pistachio ice cream is good too.
All time favorite though has to be mint chocolate chip!
Yeah, Deb. Especially if it is Breyer’s.
In the UK we have a famous chef called Heston Blumenthal who treats his kitchen like a lab, he runs a restaurant called The Fat Duck which is in the Worlds top five restaurants (used to be Number 1). One of his more famous concoctions is Bacon and Egg ice cream, supposed to be very good.
I also know in Turkey there is an ice cream delicacy called Fox’s Testicle ice cream. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it is made from an orchid rhizome that resembles a fox’s testicle.
beer ice cream DROOL
My new book “The Marco Polo Odyssey” addresses the introduction of ice cream to Europe from Persia and China. In China it dates back 3,000 years. The most unusual story about ice cream occurred when I was in Gorki, Russia about twenty years ago. I was walking down a street and I was totally covered in down filled clothing in the minus 35C degree weather. On the corner in front of a grocery store a woman was selling something from a cart. I was shocked to find out she was selling ice cream. I asked my host why were people buying ice cream on the street in this miserably cold weather. He said it tastes “warm.”