The love of ice cream knows no age or climate. And, well, no diabetes, too.
There is something about rows and rows of colorful and flavorful ice cream that transports you to an age of innocence – to a time when a scoop or two was all it took to chase the blues away.
Ice cream is an affordable indulgence, consumed not only to cool down in the sweltering Manila heat, but to uplift one’s mood as well. It is synonymous to celebrations – from birthdays to Christmas time and all the social gatherings in between.
“Filipinos love ice cream. It is an all-year-round product, especially in the Philippines with its tropical climate,” Novotel Manila executive chef Michael Schauss told Manila Standard during the launching of the hotel’s Ice N Cream station.
It was in the last quarter of 2016, said Schauss, when his team toyed with the idea of coming up with an ice cream station separate from what was already being offered in The Food Exchange, the hotel’s buffet restaurant.
“We wanted a good mix of the classic flavors as well as the local ones, and with a twist. It was a series of hits and misses until we were all satisfied with the flavors,” he said.
Take Ice N Cream’s Tijuana Sunrise. The team started with basic dalandan sorbet, but Schauss felt something was missing so they decided to add tequila. The resulting concoction was good, but he said it was a bit too sour for his palate. Manuel Sy, the hotel’s executive pastry chef, suggested adding cucumber to offset the acidity of dalandan and tequila, and the final product is one finely-spiked sorbet.
Some flavors are sugar-free (diabetic-friendly), some are alcoholic, but all 18 signature flavors contain no stabilizers or artificial ingredients.
Uniquely Filipino flavors include Purple Dream (ube with slivers of jackfruit); Green with Envy (avocado with Belgian chocolate chips); Smell Me, Taste Me, Love Me (creamy custard with durian essence); and Leche de Almond (velvety leche flan with almond florentine).
For those who prefer Ice N Cream’s classic flavors, they have Choco Goes Nuts (which pays homage to the proletarian Choc-Nut candy); Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go! (for your instant caffeine fix); and It Matcha Been Love (Japanese green tea), while those who would like a lighter fare may opt for a sorbet, with flavors such as coconut, soursop, mixed berries, and mango.
Aside from Tijuana Sunrise, other alcohol-infused flavors are Papa Don Preach (raisins with Don Papa Rum) and Kirsch Me (a black forest cake-flavored ice cream spiked with Kirsch brandy). The sugar-free ones are Yo Berry Yo! which has creamy Swiss yogurt with mixed berries and Oh Honey Honey with calamansi and honey.
Ice N Cream also partnered with Carmen’s Best, which is well-known for its playful flavors made with the best available ingredients. (Good enough, in fact, for Pope Francis who reportedly enjoyed the malted milk flavor on his way back to Rome after his visit to the Philippines in 2015.)
“Carmen’s Best is driven by quality. They do not use preservatives. We have the same values, same principles,” Schauss said.
Carmen’s Best flavors that are available at Novotel include vanilla, malted milk, salted caramel, butter pecan, coffee dark chocolate, cookies and cream, hazelnut fudge, honey, maple walnut, and the cheekily named He’s Not Worth It, which is full of fudge, nuts and cookies.
So next time you head off to Novotel Manila, go and indulge yourself at the Ice N Cream station. Close your eyes as you take a bite off your flavor of choice, and feel like a child again while enjoying that scoop.
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