Corn or Avocado?

QUICK!! Corn ice cream or Avocado ice cream?!?!

As a kid, I didn't think about ice cream flavors; I just shoved it in my face. But once I was older, the biggest debate in my small Pennsylvania town was if corn ice cream with chili flakes from our local Mexican ice cream shop La Michoacana was genius or a culinary disaster. While I do love sweet corn, I have never actually tried corn ice cream until just now, for you guys. You're welcome friends.

So... it was actually really good! I really enjoyed it. I am a big fan of creamed corn, so it was good that the first thing I said was "Wow, that tastes like corn!" I could understand why it was marked on their sign as the #1 Bestseller.

What I didn't expect was really enjoying the chilies with avocado ice cream. It was SO rich and creamy, and smooooooth. The salt mixed into the chili flakes enhanced the taste of other foods and the chili flakes balanced out some of that sweetness and richness. They still tasted overall like a sweet dessert, it was just a little hint that added some complexity.

So where does ice cream even come from in the first place? It probably wasn't Mexico, although new discoveries rewrite history all the time, so who am I to count Mexico out?

Ice cream has its origins in second century BC Asia where it was made from ice and snow so it was less like ice cream and more like sherbet or water ice.

Ice cream has been enjoyed by many of our presidents including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and of course Joe Biden.

In college, I took a physics class called "Physics 123: Fire, Food, and Physics," I was tasked with an extra credit assignment of making ice cream from scratch. We were learning about how salt molecules lower the temperature of ice (also explaining why we put salt on the roads in winter, and why Pennsylvania has so many darn potholes), so we had to use the bag shaking method.

Here are the steps in case you want to follow along:

You will need 1 cup of half and half,

2 tablespoon granulated sugar,

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extra (or you can just put in as much as you want like I do) you can do any flavor you want, but this is the measurement I know,

3 cups of ice (or more if needed),

1/3 cup of salt.

To get started, put the half and half, sugar, and vanilla into a small zip lock bag or coffee can, or anything sealable that can contain it while shaking vigorously.

Combine the ice and salt in a bigger bag/coffee can, and insert the container of liquid ice cream into the center of the ice.

Shake for about 10 minutes or until hard and cold.

Most importantly: ENJOY!

Below is my attempt.

It... did not turn out well.

But while there is nothing more American than hot apple pie al a mode, ice cream is still very much an international treat with every region taking it in a new and exciting direction.

I was lucky enough to try ice cream outside the United States when I traveled to Ireland in 2011. In all the shops I went to, there were two flavors: vanilla or chocolate. And chocolate is just vanilla with a flake bar.

Canterbury’s Flake is without a doubt my favorite chocolate bar in the world. It is layers and layers of flakey, chocolatey goodness that melts on your tongue. My family loves it so much that whenever a family member was coming from Ireland, we would ask them to pack a small suitcase of flakes with them. (That may be a small exaggeration but there were whole purses of the candy).

So this last St. Patrick's Day, we ditched the metallic tasting corned beef and cabbage no one really enjoyed eating and added some flakes to ice cream cones instead.

This trip to Ireland opened my eyes to all the unique takes on universal foods. While I have not been lucky enough to travel the world eating different types of ice creams (what a dream!)I am lucky enough to live in a place where a lot of immigrants bring their relational regional cuisine to mom and pop stores all over the place.

So, the next stop on the journey is...Japan!

Well, technically L.A. When I was in college, there was a hallway of Japanese and Chinese food stalls in our general studies building. There was boba tea, shoyu ramen, taiyaki, and mochi ice cream.I used to buy one of these out of an ice cooler whenever I was having a bad day (but be careful of eating more than one at a time because one ball of mochi can have the same amount of calories as an entire bowl of rice!)

While mochi ice cream was invented in Los Angeles, California, mochi can be dated back to Japan's Heian period (794-1185 AD). It is a type of chewy rice cake made from pounding a special type of rice that can then be molded into a variety of shapes. Japanese snacks and desserts are often more savory than American snacks and desserts, and they can be dipped in soy sauce, stuffed with a red bean paste, stewed in a soup, or fried until airy and crispy.

The concept of stuffing mochi can be traced back to two desserts, where it was usually filled with red bean paste or fresh fruit.

Mochi ice cream was created in the 1980's by a young couple named Joel Friedman and Frances Hashimoto on a trip to Japan 10 years before they started marketing it to Asian supermarkets.

They are sold in stores in traditional flavors like green tea or savory red bean paste, fresh fruit flavors like mango and strawberry, and more "American" flavors like chocolate and vanilla. MyMochi founder Russell Barnett had even tried flavors like Dulce de Leche and S'mores, as well as introduced a vegan line.

Following our path through Asia, let's make a stop in the market stalls of Thailand. As I was rushing between classes one day, I stopped at a new food truck that sold rolled ice cream. I had seen it on youtube and tiktok as much as the next kid, but I had never actually seen it in person.

Rolled ice cream, also called stir fry ice cream, was created in the night market stalls in Thai cities like Chiang Mai around 2009, using the same technique as stir fry. Only instead of mixing it on a very hot stove, it is mixed on a very cold surface. The texture is hard and icy at first, but it melts into something truly creamy and magical on your tongue.

Rolled ice cream is great not only for the aesthetic value, and the ease of eating it as you walk, but because it allows for so many possible mix-ins. In Thailand coconut, dragon fruit, and durian can be found. A popular mix-in in Columbia is arequipe (also known as dulce de leche, meaning sweet milk). The US has popularized marshmallows and candy bars; however, youtube videos show everything from monster drinks to FIJI water to TAKIS. (As far as I know, there is no connection between rolled ice cream and ColdStone ice cream, which also involves mixing toppings into ice cream on a cold surface)

To make rolled ice cream, you need to start with a liquid ice cream base.

While I'm not sure what they use in Thailand, in the US you can easily make an ice cream base using 1 pint heavy cream, 1 can sweetened condensed milk, and a little salt. Mix it all together.

If you're in a hurry you can cool down a metal surface with liquid nitrogen, or if you're like me and can't afford any of that, you can just fill a metal baking sheet with the ice cream base and stick it in the freezer for about 4 hours. The key is to mix in any toppings before it's frozen. Go ahead and free a metal spatula or a metal (clean!) paint scraper too so it doesn't melt your ice cream when it comes out.

Place your tool at an angle and slowly push it forward so that it rolls, and place rolled ice cream in a bowl. Top with whatever you want. You're the boss!

Rolled ice cream has broken out of East Asia and is now popular in London, Spain, Brazil, and Columbia.

So that brings our journey back around to Mexican ice cream.

I've been to two different Mexican ice cream shops: La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream in Kennett Square and Que Rico: Ice Cream Bar and Latin Grill in West Chester. While the creaminess is heavenly and I can't say enough about it, the real star of what makes these ice creams special is the flavors. In addition to "normal" American flavors like chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and butter pecan, they highlight many fruits and nuts found in Mexico and the Caribbean.

Some flavors I'd like to try are: avocado, sweet corn, guava & cheese, cinnamon, tamarind, queso fresco, almond, and blackberry. And with toppings like chocolate chips or tajin (a blend of chili, lime, and sea salt).

The rich dairy filled ice cream didn't come along until Italian immigrants brought gelato to Mexico. Mexican ice cream shops still churn their ice cream by hand in garrafas, huge metal containers filled with ice cream base and nestled inside wooden barrels of ice and salt like the home recipe I left you guys to try, although it's stirred until frozen unlike my (unsuccessful) shaking.

However, they also have a strong tradition of dairy free popsicles that focus on fresh fruit.

If you want to try making ice cream at home with some great Mexican flavors, clink the link below and make recipes such as:

Spicy Watermelon Sorbet (Nieve de Sandía Picosita) made from watermelon, lime, and chilies

https://www.tastecooking.com/recipes/92175/

Horchata Ice Cream (Helado de Horchata) a mix of almonds, long grain rice, Mexican cinnamon, and several egg yolks

https://www.tastecooking.com/recipes/horchata-ice-cream-helado-de-horchata/

Cheese Ice Cream With Blackberries (Helado de Queso con Zarzamoras) made with black berries, cream cheese, queso fresco, and vanilla extract

https://www.tastecooking.com/recipes/cheese-ice-cream-blackberries/

So there you have it folks! That was our trip around the world with ice cream. So if you thought there was nothing more classic that vanilla ice cream, I suggest you get your passport ready and head on over to FlavorTown!

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https://www.idfa.org/the-history-of-ice-cream

https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/explore-the-delicious-history-of-ice-cream/

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mochi

https://www.mymochi.com/blog/the-surprising-history-of-mochi-ice-cream/#:~:text=Although%20mochi%20itself%20is%20a,traditionally%20a%20sweet%20bean%20filling.

https://www.mashed.com/190391/frozen-food-you-should-be-buying-at-aldi/

https://pregelamerica.com/pmag/articles/thai-rolled-ice-cream-a-trend-that-doesnt-know-frontiers/

https://www.splendidtable.org/story/2018/07/24/on-a-roll-thai-rolled-ice-cream-brings-fresh-new-flavors

https://tasty.co/recipe/diy-rolled-ice-cream

https://www.tastecooking.com/mexicanicecream/