JOIN USWith Summer upon us, the one thing that constantly runs through one’s mind is ice cream. And with Bengaluru being a foodie city, the options for ice cream are limitless.
However, the one ice cream that the city is yet to taste is charcoal ice cream, something that has taken the internet by storm. The smooth, creamy swirled jet-black ice cream is the latest addition to the food world among other exotic flavours.
Sai Priya, the blogger of ‘My Cooking Canvas’ says, “I’ve been bombarded with posts about the charcoal ice cream on my social media pages. This particular flavour looks so tempting. I’ve had activated charcoal dishes and drinks but ice cream is something new. I hope it will be introduced in India soon. After all, we are all screaming for ice cream!”
Olivier Vincenot, the corporate chef of Foodhall says, “Lately, charcoal has been considered a superfood even though it’s not even an ingredient. There are different ways of making this and it’s actually tasteless. Having said that, it helps give the colour and definitely makes a lot more attractive.”
He adds, “Similarly, there are other interesting flavours that use matcha powder, coconut and jaggery and strawberry and balsamic that one can try these days. The options are limitless.”
They are indeed. Chefs experiment with different flavours of ice cream even if charcoal ice creams aren’t available.
The executive chef of ‘The Fatty Bao’, Prashanth, explains, “We have a dessert called ‘Halo Halo’ which is a deconstructed mix of jello, caramelised banana, purple yam ice cream, raspberry sorbet, vanilla flan and shaved ice. The different colours on the plate are definitely an attraction but it’s the yam ice cream that takes it up a notch. It’s a cool way of introducing an ingredient too.”
Interestingly, ice creams like beetroot and miso are also quite popular with the customers. Parvathy Rohith, a food stylist and photographer, recently created olive oil and salt roasted cashew nut and caramel ice cream. She says, “I don’t know why I took so long to invest in a churner — it’s so easy to make ice creams now! I thought of this combination because my husband loves caramel and I love roasted cashew. I used olive oil for a healthy touch. It came out much better than I had anticipated!”
Her main idea of creating unique flavours is to recreate her childhood memories. “My mom used to make unique dishes when I was growing up and I am constantly trying to reinvent those in my own way. And since everyone is experimenting with everything, I am going beyond what is available on the shelf to come up with something absolutely unique,” she adds.
Whether it is the simple vanilla ice cream or the new exotic flavours, one thing is for sure — all we need in life is ice cream!