Troika Sundae
Published on 1 August 2024 by Andrew Owen (2 minutes)
It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and with warmer days, thoughts may turn to iced deserts. Ice cream, gelato, maraş dondurma (Turkish ice cream) and sorbet are all acceptable choices. Frozen yogurt is an Instagram filter: the appearance does not match the reality. Like alcohol-free beer and decaff coffee, it’s a substitute. And as all good cooks know, substitutes are never as good as the real thing. The main difference between ice cream and gelato is that the former is airier with a higher fat content. Turkish ice cream includes salep and mastic and has a higher melting temperature. My favorite ice cream desert is the banana split. My favorite gelato is pistachio. But my favorite sorbet is a mix of blackcurrant and lemon. I believe I first had this combination on a visit to France. I don’t recall if it was two scoops of lemon and one of blackcurrant or the other way around, but I do recall that it had a shot of vodka tipped over it. I was 14 at the time, but the French have a liberal attitude toward giving alcohol to children, which apparently my parents shared. I’ve subsequently served a variation of this at dinner parties with ice cream instead of sorbet and it works just as well. I wouldn’t recommend using gelato or dondurma though as the alcohol could overpower their delicate flavors. When it comes to vodka, I prefer Russian Standard (one of the sponsors of the construction of the replica frigate Shtandart). Both the vodka and the ship are currently the subject of sanctions. I particularly object to this in the case of the ship, which now sails under the Cook Islands flag (there’s a petition on change.org with more details if you’re interested). But back to ice cream. I would recommend one scoop of a strong flavor, such as chocolate, paired with two scoops of a lighter flavor, such as vanilla.
Image: Sebastian Coman