Braver Flavors
Local chefs are incorporating savory ingredients for ice cream that’s anything but vanilla.
By: Meghan Kavanaugh
Black Sesame
Bistro du Midi pastry chef Robert Gonzalez infuses black sesame paste into an ice cream base for his strawberry rhubarb crema dessert. The dish also features port apples, ginger streusel and blackberry mint gel, but the Asian-influenced ice cream is Gonzalez’s favorite aspect. “Black sesame itself has notes of dark chocolate, coffee and nuts,” he says. “By infusing it into the ice cream, you get those flavor accents with a touch of sweetness and cream mixed with the fruitiness of the remainder of the dish.”
272 Boylston St., Boston (617-426-7878) bistrodumidi.com
Porcini
Honey porcini ice cream became a part of Comedor chef/owner Jakob White’s repertoire early in his career after a former boss’s vacation gave him room to experiment in the kitchen. The flavor sold out that weekend, and it’s still popular today at the Newton restaurant, where guests can order scoops for dessert or pints to-go. The mushroom-based treat “tastes almost like a coffee caramel ice cream, but with umami,” White says, noting that while flavors rotate weekly, honey porcini makes regular appearances. Also expected in June: strawberry toast, lemon sweet pea and vanilla jalapeño.
105 Union St., Newton (857-404-0260) comedornewton.com
Sunchoke
Because they’re often treated as a savory root vegetable, pastry chef Giselle Miller of Liquid Art House says many people don’t realize that sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) have a natural sweetness. “The idea to pair them with a sweet hazelnut milk chocolate just clicked in my head,” says Miller, whose sunchoke ice cream lends earthy and nutty notes to her German stout chocolate cake dessert with apricot, sesame and toffee. “It was a fun risk to take.”
100 Arlington St., Boston (617-457-8130) liquidarthouse.com
Dandelion
When chef Eric Cooper of new restaurant Forage created an appetizer pairing chilled poached arctic char with pickled burdock, he felt that something was missing. “I wanted an herbal element in there and bitterness, too, and something that captured the wild flavor of spring,” he says. When a friend walked in one day with wild dandelion greens, he got the idea for a savory ice cream, which joins pine buds and nasturtium flower oil to add “a bit of adventure” to the fish dish.
5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge (617-576-5444) foragecambridge.com
The Big Chill
These local treats prove that ice cream is at its best when sandwiched between even more dessert.
By Meghan Kavanaugh | Photo Credit: Nicole Popma | June 3, 2016
Braver Flavors
Local chefs are incorporating savory ingredients for ice cream that’s anything but vanilla.
By: Meghan Kavanaugh
Black Sesame
Bistro du Midi pastry chef Robert Gonzalez infuses black sesame paste into an ice cream base for his strawberry rhubarb crema dessert. The dish also features port apples, ginger streusel and blackberry mint gel, but the Asian-influenced ice cream is Gonzalez’s favorite aspect. “Black sesame itself has notes of dark chocolate, coffee and nuts,” he says. “By infusing it into the ice cream, you get those flavor accents with a touch of sweetness and cream mixed with the fruitiness of the remainder of the dish.”
272 Boylston St., Boston (617-426-7878) bistrodumidi.com
Porcini
Honey porcini ice cream became a part of Comedor chef/owner Jakob White’s repertoire early in his career after a former boss’s vacation gave him room to experiment in the kitchen. The flavor sold out that weekend, and it’s still popular today at the Newton restaurant, where guests can order scoops for dessert or pints to-go. The mushroom-based treat “tastes almost like a coffee caramel ice cream, but with umami,” White says, noting that while flavors rotate weekly, honey porcini makes regular appearances. Also expected in June: strawberry toast, lemon sweet pea and vanilla jalapeño.
105 Union St., Newton (857-404-0260) comedornewton.com
Sunchoke
Because they’re often treated as a savory root vegetable, pastry chef Giselle Miller of Liquid Art House says many people don’t realize that sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes) have a natural sweetness. “The idea to pair them with a sweet hazelnut milk chocolate just clicked in my head,” says Miller, whose sunchoke ice cream lends earthy and nutty notes to her German stout chocolate cake dessert with apricot, sesame and toffee. “It was a fun risk to take.”
100 Arlington St., Boston (617-457-8130) liquidarthouse.com
Dandelion
When chef Eric Cooper of new restaurant Forage created an appetizer pairing chilled poached arctic char with pickled burdock, he felt that something was missing. “I wanted an herbal element in there and bitterness, too, and something that captured the wild flavor of spring,” he says. When a friend walked in one day with wild dandelion greens, he got the idea for a savory ice cream, which joins pine buds and nasturtium flower oil to add “a bit of adventure” to the fish dish.
5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge (617-576-5444) foragecambridge.com
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