Categories
foooood in thailand

unicorn ice-cream and other delights

i think sampling different ice-cream flavours is one of the requirements of traveling in a hot country. there were lots of them to try in thailand, so of course we had to test them all. for science!

the trio above was a mixed bag. taro is okayish, its squashy/jelly bits are definitely fun to bite into, but i found the flavour a bit underwhelming. durian is… well, durian. “tastes like fruity onions”, said our friend G who complained that he still had the flavour in his mouth hours later! if this had been jackfruit instead, i would have been all over that.

and the unicornetto was a thing of beauty. i had no idea this thing even existed in the world, but what a brilliant stroke of marketing! the boy wasn’t impressed with the flavour, but who cares about that when an ice-cream is (probably) made of unicorns and looks like this?

not pictured in my crap photo: the red wafer and the “strawberry jelly”-like core. it’s like it was made by (for?) teenage girls and i cannot stop looking at it… whoa. :D

moving on, one boring ice-cream on top, and one more exciting “black sticky rice with taro” option below, which was great. they put bits of chewy black rice on it, that popped up as you made your way through the ice-cream. i approve!

my favorite was this corn and coconut milk creation though:

putting coconut in anything is practically a guarantee that i will like it, but i don’t understand why corn is not more commonly used in desserts everywhere. it has three things going for it: nice color for food, naturally sweet (but not too much) and it has a nice bite to it. i vote for more corn! :)

Categories
foooood in germany

first ice-cream of the season!

photo 2

a lovely peanut butter specimen from fräulein frost! i declare this ice-cream season… open! :)

Categories
in finland traveling

salmiakki ice-cream

we’re in moomin-land for some days, so the next posts will feature a lot of finnish things! it’s not our first time in the country, but we were eager for an excuse to come back, review some of the things we loved the first time round and explore some more.

when i started looking for interesting things to do on this second trip, something popped up consistently… salmiakki ice-cream! :) salmiakki (salty liquorice with a side of ammonium chloride) is an acquired taste if there ever was one. for a candy, it tastes very “uncandy-like”… i don’t particularly like it, and yet, once i open a package, i can’t seem to stop myself from reaching for another piece every once in a while. so the premise of salmiakki ice-cream was intriguing…

today, we saw an ice-cream stand in the market, and naturally we had to give the salmiakki a go. the color was fantastic! the ice-cream itself tasted sweeter than the actual candy to me, which was a pleasant surprise. i quite liked it, though the portion was rather big and by the end of it i was a bit sick… perfect example of “sensory-specific satiety”, my science of gastronomy teacher would say!

bonus: this video of japanese people tasting salmiakki for the first time is quite funny! have you ever tried it? :)

Categories
foooood

banana ice-cream

for the longest time i had this dream of making ice-cream, but somehow the dream always got pushed aside… turns out, ice-cream making is a finicky business, requiring more patience, special equipment and room in the fridge than i currently possess… or so i thought, until the day i heard of the this fantastic one ingredient ice-cream recipe!


it goes like this:

– cut a banana in slices, spread it on a surface
– put it on the freezer for an hour or so
– once it’s frozen, blitz the pieces with an immersion blender or a standing mixer until smooth
et voilá! :D the banana takes on a custardy consistency which is just like ice-cream! it’s… magic!

seriously… who eats bananas in summer when they could be having ice-cream?! :D

Categories
in germany just life

ice-cream at vanille marille

we have a rule: if you’re going to cheat, make it worth it! none of that 1 euro kebab stuff or cheap ice-cream nonsense that leaves nothing but a bitter taste of regret in your mouth. go for the best and make it count!

for ice-cream, this means frequent trips to vanille & marille, our favourite ice-cream shop in berlin. so far, the caramel beurre salé is both mine and paulo’s all-time favourite, but we’re slowly making our way through their amazing selection, one flavour at a time. may the summer be long and warm! :D