|
Written by foodie pam
|
|
Sunday, 07 October 2007 |
|
I grew up in Buffalo, NY. Winters are long, cold and often gloomy. Yet my favorite dessert was ice cream and it still has my heart. It didn't matter if it was 10 degrees or 90 degrees out, ice cream hit the spot (perhaps it helped with the winter gloom?). Now, if you're thinking that must just be me then you're wrong - I wasn't the only Buffalonian out there in the middle of the winter eating ice cream! Nearly all the ice cream shop were open year round. As a teenager I worked in an ice cream shop and sure, we'd get slammed summer evenings with the baseball teams, but winter weekends were also busy. People at these shops actually ate ice cream, not just hot things like soup!
While growing up it never seemed odd to me that we'd eat ice cream in the cold, then I moved to Texas - Houston to be exact. It's hot and humid in Houston, almost all year round, but I noticed the oddest thing - far less ice cream shops than in Buffalo. In fact, Husband and I had to search out ice cream stores when we first moved to Houston. We found some but not too many and none as big as the ones Buffalo had. Now, here in California, where it's pretty much pleasant year round we have ice cream stores, but again, not as many as Buffalo….
 So it really came as no surprise to me when I learned that this year's Haagen-Dasz create your own flavor contest was won by a Buffalonian. Better yet, the winner, Leslie Zoerb, created the flavor during an ice storm that resulted in a power loss so it was actually cold out when she created the flavor! True Buffalo spirit if I ever saw it… The flavor Leslie created is called "Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan". I'm not a huge fan of raw pears but I'll eat cooked pears so when I recently had a chance to try this out I only hesitated a bit - besides how could I not try ice cream conceived in Buffalo? The base ice cream is pear which goes great with the toasted almonds and caramelized pears. Taste wise it's clear why this ice cream won the competition - it's great. But deep down I like to think any ice cream from a Buffalonian would have an advantage simply because they have so much more ice cream experience and year round brain freeze experience than anywhere else!
|
|
|
PermaLink
|
|
Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 October 2007 )
|
Stumble It!
Digg This!
Save to del.icio.us!
Blog