On public radio’s “The World” today, a feature on flavors of ice cream around the world.
This week’s New York Times Food section had an article about the popularity of Asian-style ice cream desserts:
Must be summer!
Wife and I are not usually dessert peeps. We spent three weeks in June visiting Singapore and Japan. The 90+ F temps and 100% humidity made the cold refreshments irresistible.
Yam ice cream sandwich. Works better than it sounds. Ice cream on bread not unusual in Asia.
Mango chunks on shaved mango infused ice. Very refreshing.
Simple matcha tea ice cream cone. Don’t recall so many ice cream shops on previous visits. Now they seem to be everywhere.
Delicious combos of matcha ice cream, Mochi balls, red bean paste and other stuff. The ingredients in concert made for refreshing balance of flavors and textures.
I want the mango one - now!!!
1 Like
I had matcha ice cream I Japan and also English breakfast tea ice cream. Not really a fan of either. Currently in SE Asia and am loving the soursop ice cream I can find in Malaysia.
1 Like
Same here, tried matcha several times, not a fan. Tea isn’t easy to deal with, too sweet: denature the tea, not sweet enough: tasteless.
I like black sesame ice cream much more. Lychee can be good, kind of subtle if done right.
Is French international? Caramel and salty butter is so good!
1 Like
Good Swedish Ice Cream at Lejonet & Björnen:
http://www.lejonetochbjornen.se/
Otherwise most Swedish ice cream is the usual Unilever crap you get in the rest of Europe outside Italy (GB Glace, Frisko, Walls, Heartbrand, Langnese, Cornneto, Lusso, Vienetta, Breyers, Klondike, Good Humor, all $hit).
I think Unilever has been the downfall of good ice cream everywhere.
A laundry detergent company making ice cream is criminal.
I curse them and their applied tensides research.
I have had all of these in Japan 30 years ago. I do not find green tea or red bean paste ice cream to be “Delicious”. In fact I had to control my gag reflex the first time I had them since I was with Japanese business partners.
Matcha is an strange bitter flavor that tastes awful in ice cream, they throw tons of sugar in it to disguise this.
Red bean paste is sweet and cloying in an annoying vegetable kind of way that also is not good in ice cream.
If you were raised on these flavors then maybe I could understand.
But I’m sorry, but I just detest them. Again, awful. They taste yuckie.
If it’s in the New York Times that seals the deal. I have actually gotten sick lately at restaurants they have reviewed positively. They will write about any trend as though they have been doing this their whole lives.
Let’s face it people if we are stepping to the counter we will try the tea or bean ice cream maybe once.
Then it’s back to peach, pralines and cream, cherry vanilla, Rocky Road, black cherry, French vanilla, etc.
And the only place other than the US that has a well developed and delicious ice cream culture is Italy.
Nuff said.
Well not if you live there, but otherwise yes.
Caramel and salty butter sounds delishus.
