Xpress
July 22, 2004
Creamy Dreams
Ice cream's a luxury when you know where to find the real thing
Like a culinary pilgrim, I seek out ice cream wherever I go.
So when I heard the famous cheese maker in Balderson sold ice cream I thought nothing of driving two hours in pursuit of the ultimate cone. Imagine my disappointment when I found a freezer filled with 32 kinds of Nestle, the ubiquitous supermarket brand. Big scoops and cheap prices aside, it's a long way to go for a Rolo.
Chocolate mint serves as an excellent barometer of an ice cream maker's oeuvre. When it's bad, the mint tastes like Listerine and the chocolate is waxy. Other criteria? Good ice cream isn't sugary sweet or fluffy with air; it's creamy and homemade, created with care to showcase the perfectly ripe fruit or real cocoa within. Which is why I'm easily seduced by ice cream's all-natural, high intensity Italian cousin, gelato.
As it turns out, Ottawa offers a number of good gelaterias. The pink and green logo of Piccolo Grande, a local institution since 1987, pops up all over town. For the true experience I worked my way into the crowd outside the main location on Murray Street. Both chocolate and hazelnut were smooth and satisfying, tasting of fine ingredients, if not a little too sweet.
When it comes to inventive flavours however, a relative new kid on the block makes an impression. Pure Gelato, a late-night hangout on Elgin Street for the last five years, has given gelato a boost with its authentic taste and innovative flavours like cinnamon, fig and the ridiculously yummy Rocher (made with crushed up Ferrero Rocher chocolates). Sadly, both the chocolate mint and Toblerone and orange flavours were sold out the last time I visited.
And who would've guessed you could find homemade gelato at a Lebanese pastry shop in Old Ottawa South? Hassan Malak started making frozen treats two years ago and last summer decided to forgo the large buckets of jam-like concentrate in favour of real fruit. His mouth-watering strawberry gelato is an icy incarnation of a fragrant roadside berry stand.
His relatively modest selection of gelato, sorbet and ice cream includes three Lebanese flavours with a gummy texture thanks to, I'm told, the addition of balsam and mistika (sap from the Yemen tree!). I tasted a sample of the saffron ice cream he makes especially for Iranian restaurants in town. The North American palate is scarcely prepared for such taste sensations. Quite an experience.
Malak hopes to introduce more people to his gelato this summer by serving the more familiar flavours at the Gourmet Canada store in New Edinburgh. That's where I happened upon another Ottawa ice cream institution.
Next to Malak's gelato was a freezer of Lois' n' Frima's homemade ice cream. The chocolate chip mint was among the best I'd ever tasted. Its rich creamy chocolate ice cream, hit of pure peppermint, and crunch of dark chocolate chunks had one advantage: unlike gelato, it need not be compared with something I'd tasted in Italy.
Directions to the goods: Piccolo Grande, 55 Murray Street, 241-2909, various other locations; Balderson Cheese Store, Balderson, 613-267-4492 www.cheese.com ; Malak Lebanese Pastry, 1216 Bank Street, 526-2002; Lois' n' Frima's - Gourmet Canada, 176 Beechwood Avenue, 746-4515, various other locations; Pure Gelato, 350 Elgin Street, 237-3799 and 71 William Street.
