Gelato Love
By Wara Karim
It is a cold, sweet yumminess that melts in your mouth. It tingles your palate as well as your soul. That’s why you find it difficult, if not plain impossible, to say no when someone offers you this frozen delight. However, the exact history of the origin of the world’s most popular dessert is unknown. But we do know that it's been around in different forms for more than two millennia! Records suggest that Alexander the Great loved eating snow and ice flavoured with honey and nectar, an ice cream recipe that surely can't be more natural!
From children to adults, ice cream is on everyone’s list of favorite foods. I love it in the spring, summer, fall and winter. When it comes to ice cream, I do not care what the outside temperature is. Like many people, I too keep pints of ice cream at home year-round.
This summer, I have also bought boxes of ice cream cones from the grocery store. As it's not possible to take a toddler to an ice cream parlour a few times a week, I thought I would perhaps just fill a cone with ice cream from my freezer when my child wants some. In this way, I can also control the quality and quantity of the ice cream she eats. You can serve this as a dessert to your guests, too. It’s easy and delicious! No one can say no when ice cream appears in a cone before their eyes. For a fancy look, pour sprinkles or chocolate/caramel/butterscotch/hot fudge topping over the ice cream before serving.
When my brother and I were kids, our mother used to make ice pops for us at home. She had a set of reusable popsicle molds. Using a very simple recipe (milk, sugar and Ovaltine), she would make popsicles for us during the hot and humid days of summer. On some days, she would make us lemonade popsicles. Oh, how refreshing they always tasted!
I fell in love with ice cream when I was just a child. I remember going to Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban (National Assembly Building), holding my father’s hand. Our place was just a few minutes' walk from there. Twenty seven years ago, Sangsad Bhaban was a neatly-managed site at the heart of Dhaka city. It was safe, clean and quiet. We would take our shoes off and walk on the lush green lawn of the parliament house. We would walk down the Lake Street, and admire the beautiful pink water lilies that bloomed in the waters of Crescent Lake. When our feet got tired, we would sit on the grass or stairs of the parliament building. My father would get me and my brother Polar ice cream from the mobile vendors, who sold ice cream and soft drinks in that area every day. I would put very little ice cream into m y mouth at a time lest it would finish quickly!
Those who grew up in the late ‘80s and ‘90s must remember how popular Polar was in those days. Even today, penguins remind me of Polar ice cream! I think it was during this time of childhood that my love for ice cream blossomed.
I have had ice creams of many different kinds in the past two decades, but somehow, the Polar and Igloo vanilla ice cream cups and chocbars that I relished as a child always seem very special. Perhaps because there was not an unlimited number of ice cream options in those days. In that less materialistic world, we also knew how to keep ourselves happy with less.
Here in the U.S., ice cream vendors drive trucks through American neighborhoods and parks, playing a jingle that’s the same across the country. Everyone, young and old alike, knows the famous American ice cream truck tune. At the sound of the ice cream truck jingle, children come running out of their homes with loose change and one-dollar bills. Adults often accompany them. The love of ice cream is universal, you see.
At the end of a long day, when everything else fails to lift your spirits, try a scoop of thick, rich and creamy ice cream to feel better. "You can't buy happiness, but you can buy ice cream, and that's pretty much the same thing."
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