I can remember a few years ago looking at an Adam Seger recipe for poutine, a dish which at the time I honestly hadn’t heard anything about. To those of you who are in the same boat as I was back then, this is a Canadian staple dish which features some simple yet delicious ingredients. Poutine is made with french fries which are then covered in cheese, usually mozzarella, and then they have a beef stock gravy poured over the top of them. In some cases the gravy could be chicken stock, or it may even be a mixture.

I was lucky enough to go to Montreal last year and try this dish for myself, and it was every bit as delicious as I had hoped for. If you are yet to try this tasty treat, here is exactly why you are going to love it.

Simplicity

As much as I do enjoy complex foods and gourmet options, there is something which is even more delightful about simple food. This is certainly something that falls into the category of simplicity. Given that each place you go to creates their gravy in a different way, you get a huge range of choices and the flavor is much more profound then you may realize.

Comfort Food

If we are talking comfort food then the truth is that there is no better choice than this. Poutine really does tick every box when it comes to what we look for in comfort food. Firstly you have the fact that it is not exactly healthy, a common trait with comfort food, secondly it is easy to prepare, it is quick to enjoy and it is every bit as gooey and delicious as comfort food should be. This is a dish which can certainly be enjoyed at any time, but when you need that little bit of comfort this is the perfect time to enjoy it.

Low Cost

If you are buying poutine at a cafe or restaurant then you can get this dish at a great price, which is not something that you can always say about something which tastes so delicious. Even if you are making this dish in the house, it will cost you almost nothing to prepare, and the cheese is likely to be the most expensive thing that you have to buy.

Perfect For Sharing

Now I am not someone who particularly enjoys sharing my food, but this is one food choice which I have nor problem at all sharing. There is the same feeling with this dish as there is with nachos, that idea of everyone chipping in and picking out something off the plate. To be honest, if it was a toss up between nachos and this, I’d be picking poutine every single time.

Have you tried this dish yet? What did you make of it? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to know what you think.

When it comes to food in Mexico City there is nowhere else in the country where you can get such a high quality of cuisine options. I have spent the last four or five years traveling to most of the Mexican states and cities, and of course sampling the incredible food choices as I went. Following this little bit of amateur research, I have certainly discovered that the food in Mexico City is the very best that you will be able to find, and here is exactly why that is the case.

Best by State?

Now I have to point out here that I am not saying that the state of Mexico City is the origin of very best Mexican cuisine, far from it in fact. The reason as to why the food choices here are so much better than anywhere else in the country is because of the fact that the food from elsewhere in the country is all brought to the capital. This range of food means that you can enjoy the delights of Yucatan and Oaxaca, the delicious food from Tabasco or Michoacan, and enjoy it all in a city restaurant.

International

My good friend and chef Javier Burillo used to become slightly frustrated with me if I frequented too many international restaurants each month, given the delightful Mexican options that we had, but there is some stunning international cuisine here too. From Korean barbecue places to Middle Eastern delights, there is so much to be found and enjoyed in this city. I have to be honest that there is no country which I can think of that is not represented in the city.

Fine Dining

Whilst it may not necessarily be known for it, this is a city with some incredible fine dining options. In fact Mexico City has 2 restaurants which are heavily featured in the list of the world’s best each and every year, in Quintonil and Pujol. What I love to see here in the city as well, is the new, younger generation of chefs who are looking to take simple, traditional Mexican food and bring it into the new world. For example there are traditional working class eateries called ‘fondas’ which have set menus and are often low cost. There are some new and exciting fondas which have been given modern and classy makeovers, and mid-range prices, this is what I love to see because these young chefs are really putting their stamp on cuisine.

Pueblito

When you leave the city limits and you are in a small town, you often find that the food is far higher in quality because of the fact that it is made using fresh ingredients and it is hand-made. What many fail to recognize is that despite the density in the center of the city, around the edges there are in fact small towns where you can find this type of food being prepared.

This is a city which really does have everything you could want from its cuisine.

Picking the right cake and decorating it is important for every event, whether it be a wedding or anniversary or birthday party. If you have been given the cake getting duty, you must come up with something special. A cake must be selected carefully as it represents the person’s character and style. We all know there are many options available, so how do we choose the right one and decorate it? We’ve come up with some amazing tips to help you out.

Cake Toppers

The first place to start is at the top, choose a cake topper that brings the entire cake to life. Most of the time, the cake will stand out as the centrepiece of the event, so you need a good cake topper to catch everyone’s attention. You can go for edible or non-edible; it all depends on your preference. You’ll find some stylish cake toppers at CMC Gold and other places online.

A cake topper is a small model that sits on top of the cake. For example, if you’ve ever seen a wedding cake, the topper is usually a figurine of the bride and groom embracing each other on the top of the cake. Here are some things to remember when choosing a cake topper.

• Theme – When choosing a cake topper, make sure it complements the theme of the event. If you don’t know what to pick, your safest bet is to choose one with a name on it. The colour of the cake topper should match the theme of the event.
• Simple – If you want something basic, go for a monogram style.
• Don’t Overdo It – If the cake has a lot of detail, the topper should be plain. You don’t want to make the cake feel cluttered with detail.

Online Cake Store

Although there are many things to think about when organising an anniversary party or wedding party, the cake should be a top priority. Ordering a cake online is a great way to find something you really like; it is affordable and convenient. When using an online cake store, make sure you find a company which is trustworthy and competent. While selecting the bakery, look at the type of ingredients they use, customisation options, prices, timeframe, and more.

Healthy Options

Many people are now extremely health conscious and many of them won’t go near sweets, chocolates, or cakes. There are ways to bake healthier without compromising on taste. If you plan on baking the cake yourself, you should use unsaturated fats, wholegrain flours, seeds, and herbs with a range of other healthy ingredients. Instead of butter icing for a topping, opt for something healthier – glace icing (water).

If you are a good cook and you fancy doing the cake yourself, you can always order the cake topping online. Once you know the theme of the event and the type of cake you’ll be baking, you can then order a cake topping that suits your masterpiece. If you decide to order everything online, do some research and get recommendations from friends and family.

 

Lamb + Potatoes = The love connection you need right now! Soft and crispy potatoes covering juicy lamb meat pieces and veggies… what more could you ask for? An amazing spin on casseroles, this is what you need to make your weekend great. Let’s begin:

Mini Lamb Hot-Pot

Are you a family of 4? This is one of the easiest lamb hot-pot recipes that will lead to an amazing weekend. Even your kids will love it! A couple of ingredients cooking on low heat for 2 hours and a top lower of potatoes… sounds easy, right?

Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time	Servings
10 minutes	2 hours	2 hours 10 minutes	4

Ingredients

• Red Onions: 3
• Lamb neck Fillet: 400 g
• Mint Sauce (mint leaves crushed with green chillies and garlic cloves): 6 teaspoons
• Umami Paste: 4 teaspoons
• Potatoes: 500 g

Method

• Switch on the oven to 170ºC
• Dice the lamb and chop the onions. Divide the ingredients into four parts and place them in bowls
• Season with pepper and salt
• Add in one teaspoon of the umami paste and mint sauce
• Add in 150 ml of water in each bowl
• Slice the potatoes and place them in the bowl, covering everything
• Cover the bowls with tin foil and bake in the oven for 2 hours
• Allow to cool for 30 minutes and serve with mint sauce spooned on top

Easy Lamb Hot-Pot

 

This is an original hot-pot lamb recipe that you can make in less than 2 hours. It doesn’t require many ingredients and is a recipe that you can enjoy day and night.

Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time	Servings
10 minutes	1 hour 30 minutes	1 hour 40 minutes	4

Ingredients

• Onion: 1 (diced)
• Carrots: 2 (cut into small pieces)
• Diced Lamb Leg: 600 g
• Lab Sock (Cube or Broth: 1/500 ml
• Potatoes: 3
• Olive Oil
• Pepper and Salt

Method

• Turn on the oven to 180ºC
• Add carrot, onion and oil in a casserole dish. Cover the dish and cook for 5 minutes until the veggies turn brown
• Take the dish off heat. Add in the lamb piece, season with pepper and salt, cover it with foil and place the dish in the oven for one hour
• After an hour, turn the heat up to 200ºC and cook for 30 minutes more until the potatoes turn brown
• Serve with fresh vegetables

 

Light Casserole Lamb Hot-Pot

A twist on the traditional, this is one of the juiciest lamb recipes that you will come across. Drenched in sauces and fresh herbs, this aromatic lamb dish will have you scraping the dish to get every last bit.

Prep Time	Cook Time	Total Time	Servings
30 minutes	2 hours	2 hours 30 minutes	4

 

Ingredients

• Olive Oil: 3 teaspoons
• Lamb Leg Steaks (Fat Removed): 600 g (bite-size pieces)
• Garlic Cloves: 2
• Onions: (chopped)
• Celery: 250 g
• Carrots: 400 g (sliced)
• Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh Thyme
• Beef Stock: 500 ml
• Plain Flour: 1 tablespoon
• Worcestershire Sauce: 2 tablespoons
• Tomato Purée: 2 tablespoons
• Potatoes: 650 g (sliced)
• Black Pepper and Salt

Method

• Turn on the oven to 160ºC
• In a pan, heat olive oil and brown the lamb (4 minutes on each side)
• Transfer the pieces onto a plate
• Add one more tablespoon of oil in the pan and then add in the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Fry for 4 minutes and then add in thyme and rosemary
• Sprinkle flour on top and mix well
• Add the lamb pieces back into the pan and pour in the sauces and stock
• Bring the mixture to a boil and take it off heat
• Layer the potatoes on top, cover the pan with foil and place it in the oven
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes and then raise the temperature to 120ºC
• Bake for 15 minutes more until the potatoes have turned brown
• Spoon a little sour cream on top and serve

So, there you have it — three amazing lamb recipes that will make your day!

If you are looking into serving brand-new flavours and concoctions at your restaurant, juice bar, or pub, you need to look at making your own fruit juice blends. You can make your own signature fruit juice blends with the help of fruit juice suppliers UK that have the knowledge, training, and equipment to fulfil your needs.

So, what goes into the process of making bespoke fruit juice blends?

The most thirst-quenching and flavourful fruit juices are created with ripe fruits. You want to make sure that a supplier enforces strict quality control, in that all fruits used in the manufacturing of juice blends are just the right amount of ripe.

Once the fruits are ripe enough to juice, they proceed to the processing stage, where an expert blender can taste the natural sweetness and juice elements of the fruits combined.

What are the usual fruits that are combined to create signature blends?

When making your own juice blends, you are given the option of using a single-type fruit, or you may also choose two or more fruits to create a brand-new fruit flavour. Of course, there will be other businesses with the same fruit blends idea that you have, but you can further customise your blend by specifying the right amount of sweetness, fruit variety, or consistency for your blend.

Some of the most common fruit blends are:

• Orange and pineapple
• Apple and pineapple
• Cucumber and lemon
• Papaya and lemon
• Lime and mint
• Cranberry and guava
• Avocado and cucumber
• Strawberry and starfruit

If you have a brand-new and fresh fruit juice blend idea, you may request an expert juice blender to come up with a juice blend that fits your requirements and taste.

Is making a seasonal fruit juice blend possible all-year-round?

If you partner with a reputable fruit juice supplier in the UK, you gain access to seasonal fruits and even exotic fruits all year round. Since more of these fruits are processed into puree or concentrate form, they can easily be used in juice blending, too.

You can combine a standard fruit flavour such as orange with seasonal or exotic fruit such as mango to form your signature orange-mango juice blend made from the freshest ingredients.

Can you earn more customers by creating your own fruit juice blends?

Consumers these days are adventurous and health-conscious. You can take advantage of their requirements by coming up with unique and healthy blends that your competition does not offer. But of course, you need to conduct thorough research to learn which fruit flavours, when combined, will deliver healthful benefits and are great tasting, too.

As fruit juices are not only limited to beverages and cocktails, you may also use them in preparing light salad dressing, and sauces poured on top of pastries and even hot-grilled meats.

Additional features that consumers appreciate are organic ingredients, low-sugar content, all-natural, and vegan juice blends. You need to closely coordinate with preferred fruit juice suppliers in the UK, to transform your unique and tasty blending ideas into reality!

 

CBD gummies have been portrayed as miracle cures, medicinal products, and more, but in a world of misinformation, it can be difficult to get to the truth of the matter. The fact is, CBD hasn’t been studied enough in-depth (due to its legal status for the last fifty years) to truly etch anything in stone. However, preliminary studies and anecdotal evidence from users suggest CBD has many health benefits, not the least of which is reducing anxiety and even inflammation during a post-workout routine. Here’s what to expect when trying CBD gummies for 30 days.

What Is CBD Anyway?

Before we move on, let’s clear the air about what CBD actually is. CBD, or cannabidiol, is one of the hundreds of cannabinoids found in the the Cannabis plant. Yes, that’s the same plant associated with marijuana, but let’s make an important distinction: marijuana is not the same thing. Many people assume that since the psychoactive cannabinoid THC comes from the same plant, CBD and THC must be the same thing, or at least offer that same “high” effect that THC does.

This isn’t the case, and in fact, CBD seems to have the opposite effect; counteracting the THC in the body. CBD is derived legally from plants containing 0.3% or less THC. Anything higher than that is considered a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act.

CBD products can be “full-spectrum” which means they contain THC and CBD, or “broad-spectrum”, which means they contain only CBD and no THC (or very little). For the purposes of this article, we’ll be covering only broad-spectrum products that are THC-free.

CBD Gummies

Gummies are a popular way to introduce CBD to the bloodstream, and being digested, the gummies actually take longer to release the full extent of CBD content to the bloodstream and are said to last longer as well. CBD gummies are both a tasty and affordable way to get your CBD for the day, and with so many CBD varieties available today, there are plenty of options for new and experienced users alike. Companies like Verma Farms produce high-quality CBD gummies using only the best ingredients.

Lower Pain Levels

According to a study conducted in 1988, CBD is actually the most effective of the cannabinoids at reducing pain levels and inflammation, making it a popular option for those suffering from such ailments as arthritis or chronic pain. When you take CBD gummies regularly, you may notice a reduction in your pain levels and discomfort, and you can always increase your dosage if you feel you need a larger amount of CBD per serving.

Reduced Anxiety

One of CBD’s most reported benefits is its ability to reduce anxiety and even help manage depression in those afflicted by the mental health condition. This is a huge step in mental health science, as many anti-depressant and anxiety drugs have harmful side-effects.

Some have even been known to make depression worse, causing suicidal thoughts or even actions. As we learn more about CBD’s uses, we can only hope that it’s as effective at these things as preliminary evidence shows. If so, we’ll likely experience a shift in the way we address and treat such conditions.

Calm and Relaxation

CBD gummies release CBD slowly into the bloodstream through digestion, so you’ll be able to prolong the effects of the CBD oil. Many prefer this method over taking CBD under the tongue for this reason alone, though a longer release time means you’ll have to wait an hour or more to feel the effects.

Even so, users have reported a sense of calm and relaxation when taking CBD gummies, and this continues to be one of the most alluring benefits. In our busy lives, we’re always looking for something healthy (in most cases) to take the edge off, and CBD gummies seem to be that solution.

No Psychoactive Effects

Unless you’re using full-spectrum CBD products, you can expect no psychoactive effects from CBD gummies. Unlike THC gummies, CBD doesn’t have any kind of psychoactive effect on the mind, and you won’t feel a “high” in either body or mind. CBD is a popular alternative for those looking to experience the many benefits the cannabis plant has to offer without the effects of THC. Since the compounds are separate from each other and regulated in completely different ways, you can expect your broad-spectrum CBD gummies to contain only CBD.

Are They Right For You?

While research may not have caught up with CBD products quite yet, the results so far on the research and anecdotal side of things are both positive. Users experience lower anxiety, pain, reduced depression symptoms, and much more when taking CBD gummies. The only way to decide if CBD gummies are right for you is to try them out for 30 days and get used to their effects. You might find that a potent CBD gummy can change your entire day, and make you more productive and worry-free.

 

Have you caught onto the coconut milk trend? This delicately flavoured liquid is used in soups and sauces, desserts and curries. Coconut milk has long been popular in South American and Asian cuisine, but it has recently gained in popularity in the UK.

Here are a few quick facts about coconut milk, and advice on how to use this versatile ingredient in your cooking.

What is Coconut Milk?

Coconut milk is a liquid that is extracted from the coconut. You take the flesh of the nut and grate it, then soak it in hot water. You shouldn’t confuse coconut milk with coconut oil, water, or cream. After the soaking process, you collect the cream from the surface for use as coconut cream. Then you sieve the leftover liquid to separate the flesh from the coconut milk. Of course, it is easier to buy coconut milk in a can. Coconut milk in a can collects all the benefits of the milk into a convenient package.

But what are the benefits of coconut milk?

Coconut Milk Can Help You Lose Weight

Coconut milk contains healthy fats called short and medium-chain triglycerides. These beneficial fats make you feel fuller and cause you to consume less at each meal. Drinking coconut milk or using it in cooking also helps you to stop snacking between meals.

Coconut Milk Is Rich In Antioxidants

Antioxidants like vitamin C and E in coconut milk prevent free radicals from forming. Free radicals damage the cells and can promote tumour growth. Coconut milk contains high levels of antioxidants, making it a beneficial ingredient in healthy cooking.

Coconut Milk Helps With Electrolyte Balance

Electrolytes are crucial for good health. Coconut milk contains electrolytes like potassium, which is vital for maintaining normal heart rhythm. Magnesium, another electrolyte, is necessary for the immune system and it helps to maintain nerve function and muscle tone. Besides, phosphorus in coconut milk helps your bones and your teeth.

Coconut Milk Prevents Heart Disease

Do you want to maintain a stronger heart, free from disease? Drinking or cooking with coconut milk helps to reduce the LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) in your body. This, in turn, helps to promote the health of your heart.

Coconut Milk Improves Your Immune System

Help strengthen your immune system with coconut milk. The liquid assists with fighting infections and in strengthening the immune system against the damage done by antibiotics. Coconut milk also raises the levels of iron in the blood, which prevents the onset of anaemia.

Where to Buy Coconut Milk

Coconut milk is now a recognised staple in cooking, both in the home and in restaurants. You find it in major supermarkets as well as in bulk from restaurant suppliers. Coconut milk UK suppliers provide traceable coconut milk from high-quality sources to use in restaurant dishes. You can buy coconut milk online for delivery. The milk also comes from Asian and Oriental supermarkets.

 

GrubHub’s website published a blog post back in 2015 discussing how some of the biggest restaurant chains were attempting to introduce a measure of personalization. The thinking was that personalization could help restaurants better position themselves for growth. Did it work? And if so, can personalization continue to help restaurant growth in 2020?

Unfortunately, there are not any hard numbers that quantify whether or not personalization has helped over the last five years. But the idea is at least worth looking at anyway. Ultimately, growth in any industry relies heavily on meeting customer demand. After all, if customers are demanding personalization, any restaurant refusing to provide it would be jeopardizing its own future.

Examples of Personalization

GrubHub cited numerous examples of personalization in their 2015 piece. Among them was a McDonald’s program known as ‘Create Your Taste’. The program allowed customers at select restaurants to build their own burgers from an extensive list of ingredients. McDonald’s saw it as a door into the artisan market. It failed miserably.

Create Your Taste lasted little more than a year. If folded in late 2016 after the company realized that the amount of effort needed to keep the program running was not worth the revenues it generated. People just weren’t interested in creating their own burgers. They wanted the old standbys.

Other examples cited by GrubHub were customizable music at KFC locations in South Africa, Applebee’s Two for $20 menu, and a customizable pizza offer launched by a New York City pizza chain. All three programs eventually went the way of Create Your Taste. They did not generate enough buzz to turn into long-term trends.

Some Models Built on Personalization

It would seem from the examples cited thus far that personalization is a non-starter. But wait just a minute. There are some restaurant models that are built on personalization and always have been. Take submarine sandwiches, for example. You can go into just about any sub shop and build your sandwich any way you want. It is a model that has worked for decades.

Buffet dining is also built on personalization. Some of the best buffets in this country are outstanding simply because of the sheer variety of choices on offer. The common thread here seems to be the basic premise of all or nothing.

People Want to Experience

The people behind Salt Lake City’s Taqueria27 Mexican restaurant chain say that the biggest thing that determines success in the restaurant business is experience. In other words, with the exception of diners who subsist mainly on fast food, people who go out to eat want to experience something that makes them feel good. Yes, they want good food. But they also want a comfortable atmosphere, an environment that allows them to relax, and so forth.

The thing about personalization is that it can either enhance or detract from the customer experience. In the three cases cited by GrubHub, personalization was isolated to a single thing. In McDonald’s case, the entire menu was not personalized. Only burgers part of the Create Your Taste program were.

For personalization to have any kind of long-term effect, it has to apply throughout a given restaurant model. It has to be all or nothing. When restaurants attempt just a little bit of personalization here or there, they get a short-term bump from it. But the bump never lasts. Any gains realized are eventually lost when the novelty of personalization wears off.

Can personalization fuel restaurant growth in 2020? Yes, if restaurants embrace it fully and completely. If they try to piecemeal personalization, it won’t do any good.

 

Thinking of bringing your family out on a special occasion? Sure, bringing them to restaurants where they can dine satisfactory and spending quality time with them is a good idea. One of the biggest challenges when doing so is choosing the right restaurant where to bring them. You would never want them to feel disappointed as not all the time this kind of activity happens.

Just to make sure you are dining in at the best family local restaurant, consider the steps provided below.

Steps When Choosing A Local Family Restaurant To Bring Your Family

Just to help you get started with this task, below is a step by step guide you can consider using:

Step 1

Ask your family for suggestions and ideas

Gather all your family members and hear some of their suggestions and ideas. Asking them of a cuisine they wanted to try or a restaurant they have been dreaming for to dine is a good idea. Collaborate and filter your options to about 2 to 3 restaurants.

Tip: When you ask for their suggestions and ideas, make sure it will count.

Step 2

Read reviews

Once two to three restaurants are identified, check on each of the restaurants reviews online. Read reviews that can help you determine how well the restaurant satisfies their customers. Do not focus just on the food, but also price, and customer service. But, do not believe reviews too easily until you verify the legitimacy of the reviewer’s account. There are reviews made to deceive people, hence it is best if you take a little care when choosing a reviewer to trust.

Consider the restaurant’s rating and the number of raters. The restaurant may get 5 stars because there is only one person who rated them. The more raters the restaurant has, the more accurate information you would get.

Tip: Visit their website and check out the food they offer and also its price. You would not want to bring your family to a restaurant with limited food choice nor a restaurant that might break your bank account.

Step 3

Do an ocular inspection

When you are satisfied with the feedback you read online, it is time that you perform an ocular inspection. Drive to the restaurant and observe. Some of the things that you need to check out are:

• Parking area
• Cleanliness of the restaurant
• Availability of clean comfort rooms
• Amenities where your children can play
• Customer service
• The size of the restaurant
• Attentiveness of staff

It is also best if you place an order. When doing so, you may want to observe the pace of their food service, the serving sizes, the taste and price of their food. Dining out with your family is a special activity you must take seriously. If you do not like what you see and experience, look somewhere else.

 

Other than dining in, there are other activities you can do with your family like playing slots at online casinos and their sister sites, board games, picnicking and so much more. Family time must always be spent right all the time.

 

Weird And Wonderful Ice Cream Around The World

We hope that in writing this article, we would be able to expand your horizons when it comes to making an ice cream dish. We’re a big believer that there’s no one ‘best’ ice cream. We’re more inclined to go with the system we’ve seen used in the mobile slots game ’99 Time,’ where one of the bonus rounds sees players designing the perfect ice cream dish from various different ingredients in order to win money. The better the recipe the Vegas Slots players can come up with, the more money you’ll win. Mixing ice cream recipes together in real life might not be able to win you a mobile slots jackpot, but it can provide a taste sensation. How about mochi served on top of a bowl of regular ice cream, for a start? Also, as weird as it sounds, we’ve suddenly developed a craving for spaghettieis!

You probably think you know what ice cream looks like. It’s a soft, fluffy dessert which you either eat from a tub with a spoon, or you lick and bite it out of a cone, right? If you’re reading this article in the USA or the UK, you’re probably nodding in agreement with that suggestion. If you’re from other European nations, or you’re based elsewhere in the world, you’re probably wondering what we’re talking about.

In what might be a surprising piece of information for you, there are actually as many different ice cream recipes as there are pasta recipes – and there’s a whole lot of range within those recipes, too! Ice cream has come a very long way since it was invented by the Chinese over a thousand years ago, and almost every major nation has their own take on the world’s favorite dessert. Here are some of the most delicious and unusual varieties of ice cream we’ve encountered!

Mochi (Japanese)

If you’ve been to a mid-range Japanese restaurant, you’ve probably been offered green tea ice cream (or at least we hope you have, because it’s spectacular). If you’ve been to a high-end Japanese restaurant, you might have been offered green-tea ice cream the way that the Japanese enjoy it – in the form of mochi. Mochi is a kind of ice cream rice cake. We usually associate rice cakes with being on a diet, but these sweet Oriental treats wouldn’t help you much if you were counting the calories! The concept of a mochi is very simple – it’s a bite-sized portion of ice cream wrapped in a flavored rice cake. Green tea is the most popular flavor, but there are several other options, including red bean. Eating mochi is like eating ice cream-flavored cookies.

Kulfi (Indian)

Think about what ice cream tastes like when you put it in your mouth. What are the first few words that come to mind? Soft? Sweet? Fluffy? How about chewy? If chewy doesn’t seem to sit right as a description of ice cream, it’s because you’ve never had ice cream the way that the Indians make it. Indian ice cream makers work at their craft – making a single serving of kulfi can take an entire day (although ‘quick kulfi’ can be made in around four hours). You’ll rarely see kulfi served on its own; it’s generally a topping for another dessert, such as a popsicle. Nuts are often sprinkled through this mix of cardamom, honey, and milk to give it a little more crunch.

Spaghettieis (German)

We know what you’re thinking. You’re looking at the ‘spaghetti’ part of the name, and in your head you’re telling yourself ‘there’s no way anybody has made spaghetti out of ice cream,’ but they have. The Germans have decided that the best way to serve ice cream is to make it look much like long strands of spaghetti as possible. They start off with standard vanilla ice cream – the same as the kind you’d buy from a store – but they put it through a pasta maker and come out with a dish that is basically ice cream noodles. They then take the whole thing a step further by using strawberry sauce to resemble a layer of tomato sauce, and shavings of white chocolate to look like grated cheese. It looks exactly like a plate of pasta. Why someone thought this was a good idea is a question we don’t have an answer to.

Dondurma (Turkish)

We’ve already seen an example of chewy ice cream from the Indians, but the Turkish have a different take on it which looks a little bit more like the ice cream we know and love. It’s white, and it’s served in a cone, but that’s where the resemblance ends. Dondurma is extremely chewy. You can push it, pull it, hit it, and twist it, and it still won’t come to pieces. Dondurma is like cold, edible Play-Doh. Many of the basic ingredients are the same as the ones we use when we make ice cream, but flour and mastic – an ingredient which is commonly found in chewing gum – give it a starchy and malleable texture. It has to be kneaded and beaten with a rod before it goes onto your cone. Don’t expect to be able to finish it very quickly; chewing it takes effort!

Akutaq (American)

You don’t have to go thousands of miles away to find weird and wonderful ice cream. There’s a very unusual type being served in the United States of America; albeit only in one state. Alaska is the home of akutaq. Because it’s already extremely cold in Alaska, there isn’t much call for traditional ice cream. Akutaq is what they eat instead. Fruit and berries are commonly added to akutaq recipes for flavor, but we think their true purpose might be to disguise the taste – the dessert is made using animal fat. In some cases, it’s made using fish fat. An akutaq serving might even contain fat from moose, seals, and fish all blended together. If you think that sounds disgusting, then we might be inclined to agree with you; but you still shouldn’t write it off without trying it yourself.