The cool new trend for savoury ice cream
Forget vanilla and think brussels sprouts and foie gras. Ice cream will never be the same again.
Heston Blumenthal’s new mustard ice cream for Waitrose has become the talk of the summer this year.
At first, the idea of savoury ice cream sounds like a joke. Indeed, in The Two Ronnies’ 1973 ice cream parlour sketch, a customer asks for cheese and onion and smoked bacon ice creams, provoking a ripple of laughter.
Fast-forward to 2011, and savoury ice cream is a growing world-wide trend, as recognised by the National Restaurant Show in Chicago and trendwatchers everywhere.
From the movement towards ‘gelato naturale’ in Italy – ice lollies flavoured with vegetables and herbs – to the fashion for extreme flavours in Tokyo, like octopus and ox tongue, it looks like the idea is here to stay.
But what irks me is incompetent chefs concocting dodgy flavours and cynical ice cream companies using it as a gimmicky marketing ploy.
Far from being a new-fangled fad, savoury ice creams go back a surprisingly long way, to the Victorian era and even beyond.
A cool, distinguished history
Hard to believe though it is, savoury ice creams were extremely popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Cheese ones especially, flavoured with stilton, camembert and parmesan, were as common as vanilla, chocolate and strawberry are today. There is, for instance, a recipe for parmesan ice cream in L’Art de Bien Faire les Glaces D’Office by Emy, published in 1768.
The iconic ice cream expert, cookery teacher, writer and businesswoman, Agnes B Marshall, gives several recipes for savoury ice creams in her classic, The Book of Ices, published in 1885. Not only did she flavour her chilled creations with parmesan, asparagus, cucumber and spinach, but she also gave recipes for wine and spirit ice creams.
This long-forgotten but thoroughly modern idea was rediscovered and seized upon by twenty-first century molecular gastronomy chefs like Ferran Adria and Heston Blumenthal. The latter was initially mocked – and subsequently admired – for his smoked bacon and egg, and sardines on toast ice creams.
I scream, you scream…
Huddersfield-based Yummy Yorkshire, which has sold ice cream in green pea and beef and horseradish flavours, has recently launched a limited-edition Yorkshire pudding, gravy and raspberry ice cream. Its beetroot flavour has just won a star at the prestigious Great Taste Awards.
Louise Holmes, Yummy Yorkshire’s co-founder says: “I wanted to prove the point that you can make ice cream from anything. The savoury flavours we have chosen in fact have quite a sweet flavour; and we wanted to see how the colours looked, eg. for the green pea ice cream.”
Some of the most delicious I have tried are by Sheffield-based Yee Kwan. Kwan makes them in global flavours like avocado and chilli, wasabi and parsnip, and smoked olive oil and black pepper.
She says: “I am passionate about the experience great food can bring, pushing new boundaries and opening people’s minds to new flavour combinations, and taking their tastebuds on a rollercoaster ride.”
How to enjoy savoury ice cream
So you still haven’t got your head around the idea? It’s mental conditioning. We’re used to perceiving ice cream as a dessert or a kid-friendly sweet treat on a hot summer day. To appreciate savoury ice creams, you have to stop thinking about them in the same way as conventional ice creams.
Serve savoury ice cream as starter or in canapés, spooned onto melba toasts or oatcakes, or stuffed in vegetables like tomatoes. Alternatively, scoop into hot or cold soups. They also work well as a palate cleanser between courses, or as an accompaniment to meat or fish dishes, where the cool ice cream melting on hot food acts as a sauce.
Just as there are different textures of food, think of your meal as having contrasting temperatures. Home-made vegetable ice creams could even be a clever way of getting kids to eat their greens. It takes trial and error to get the flavour balances right, so don’t be afraid to experiment.
If you don’t want to make your own, Morelli’s Gelato in Harrods offers a bespoke ice cream service. Over the years, it has successfully created flavours like gorgonzola and pear, mushroom, Marmite, and brussels sprouts for customers all around the world. I wonder what The Two Ronnies would have said?
Still not convinced by savoury ice cream? Is it more gimmick than gourmet? Do you think it’s pretentious? Or are you adventurous and can’t wait to try some? Perhaps you have even tried making your own? Let us know in the comments box below!
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