It's summer here. But then again, it's always summer in Singapore. And what goes with summer? Ice cream! And it's everywhere in various interesting varieties.Like the Fair Price grocery store. It was on sale, so we decided to buy some. But how to get it home before it melted? A quick look at the sides of the box gave us the answer: it was prepackaged in Styrofoam.
And what intriguing flavors: Durian, Mango, and Sweet Corn.
The name "potong" on the box means "cut" in Malay. The traditional way of serving up what we call Popsicles was to cut a rectangle of ice cream from a larger block, put a stick in it (called a lidi, made from the spine of the coconut leaf), and serve it up.
Out on the street, you can see this tradition in action at any number of the portable ice cream stands. (Notice the integrated motorcycle; it's part of the stand.) For S$1, the vendor cuts your serving of your flavor of choice from the large block and gives it to you on a stick (Malay style), between two wafers (Hong Kong style), or on a slice of colorful bread (Singapore style). We tend to favor the Hong Kong option.In the various shopping venues you'll find a wide international representation of ice cream options. There is Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream from Japan with such interesting flavors like green tea (of course), black sesame seed, sweet potato, and (one of our favorites) caramel and sea salt. Ben & Jerry's is here. (Our friend Hunter Rose, the Ice Cream Czar would feel right at home.)
And there are several gelato options: Bravissimo and Gelato Twist are two examples. While maintaining a strong Italian tradition (chocolate, cappucino), both cater to local palates with flavors like Milk Tea, Red Bean, and of course Durian. All will let you taste extensively, and that's definitely part of the fun.
But alas, there is no Graeter's in Singapore (except for a brief shining period when we managed to bring some back with us packed in dry ice). So as much as we may enjoy the exotic options here, our mocha chip and raspberry chip cravings have to wait for our visits to the US. At least Kroger's (in Texas) now carries it.
4 comments:
Paul, You have to go for the Durian Ice Cream at Udders (MRT Novena I think) stop http://www.udders.com.sg ... It is owned by a Friend of a Friend, so stop in and tell the owner (David) that YuEe Ong says hello. Raye - There are other good flavors too...
So there IS durian flavored ice cream. How positively revolting.
How very interesting! We never ate ice cream in Singapore or even saw it for sale on the street. What fun to have a leisurely sample of the assorted varieties. I'm amazed that you flew ice cream back from Ohio using dry ice! I once bought and brought Hagen Daaz from Dhahran back to Yanbu, KSA for Ben when I flew over to Dhahran monthly for a district committee I served on. We thought that was a big deal. Hope all is well with you. I'm waiting to hear whether they want to hire me at the school I applied to teach at in northern India.
Just saw your blog here. I would definitely feel at home in that kind of town. I actually went through Scoop U with the guys that were opening the first shop in Singapore... at the Zoo.
Come back soon!
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