WHAT'S MORE evocative of summer than ice cream? When the heat and humidity are overwhelming, there are few things that taste sweeter than a double scoop on a cone.
With ice cream franchises sprouting across in Hong Kong, there's now an overwhelming number of brands and flavours from which to choose. And it's not just ice cream. There's frozen yoghurt, sorbet and the iced dessert du jour gelato.
Invention bragging rights go either to China or Italy. Records show that iced desserts were served during the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907), while the Roman emperor Nero in the first century reportedly sent slaves to the mountains to bring ice and snow back to freeze his fruit drinks. Some scholars say Marco Polo returned to Europe in the 13th century with a Chinese recipe similar to ice cream. However, there's proof that Arabs discovered a way to make a kind of sorbet from mountain ice about the same time.
Whatever the truth, the cold fact is that a dessert mixture of milk, cream, eggs, sugar and natural flavouring has been around Italy since the 1500s. Technically, ice cream requires at least 10 per cent milk fat to be called such. Premium ice creams have up to 16 per cent. The softness depends on the amount of air whipped in, with the softer ones melting more quickly. In general, harder ice cream is the preferred choice of connoisseurs.
In Hong Kong, the market used to be dominated by several labels, with Haagen-Dazs the major retailer in takeaway, with its upscale image and premium branding. But no more.
Ben & Jerry's colourful stalls arrived in 2002 along with its wacky names and chunky bits. Known for its social causes and fat-flaunting taste, the brand was started by two Vermont hippies with a sweet tooth.