Ice cream has certainly come a long way. During my 1980s childhood, the best you could hope for was a vanilla soft serve, sometimes made more glamorous with the addition of a Flake 99. When Vienetta hit the scene, things got really exciting: I remember chipping away at the little concertina folds with my spoon, wishing the moment would last forever. If you were really, really lucky, you got a Carvel cake for your birthday, complete with crumby chocolate bits in the middle and thick icing on top. otherwise, you were doomed to Little Red Schoolhouse on Friday nights - an ice cream which, disturbingly, was the colour of red setters. Fitting, because the taste was more akin to a wet dog or towel left too long in the laundry than chocolate.
Somewhere between then and now, however, ice cream joined the ranks of beer, coffee and bread; a food item which is no longer fondly associated with sticky hands and hot days at the coast, but which now bears the proud label of Artisinal. It's Something To Be Taken Seriously. Eliza Doolittle's metamorphosis could hardly be more complete.
That's probably because, in recent years. we've seen homemade ice cream make its way out of the food markets and onto menus and, ultimately, into stores. there's Pete's Super Natural Ice Cream, Wicked Cream and The Creamery, as well as the guy who, to my mind, started this frosty revolution: Paul, of Paul's Homemade Ice Cream.
I admire Paul as much as an entrepreneur as an ice cream maker - it's no small feat to go from scooping cookie dough sandwiches at a market to owning two eponymous stores. But I'm not surprised. For a girl raised on Little Red Schoolhouse, PHIC is just - well, let me just say that I can't believe both of them could be considered the same substance.
Because I love PHIC so much, I hit on a brilliant idea: every week, my eldest daughter and I go on a mommy daughter date to Rosebank, our nearest PHIC outlet. See how this works - I get to be a loving mom AND spoil myself at the same time. She always has whichever chocolate variation is available, and I sample almost every flavour. This is one situation where being extremely indecisive is an asset: one of the things I love most about PHIC is that the flavours change all the time, so while you might be disappointed not to find your favourite, you are equally likely to discover a new best-of-all-time. I started out in love with Nutella and roasted banana, then fell for Vietnamese coffee. Since then, some of the goodies I've gone for are chai, cookie butter (not surprisingly, one of my best), peppermint crisp tart and dark chocolate. It's always hard to make a choice, though, because the flavours are like something dreamed up in a Wonka kitchen.
That said, I like to give every ice cream parlous a fair chance - so, when I saw that the question 'Where can you get the best ice cream in Joburg?', asked on the Facebook group Jozi Restaurants, was frequently answered with "BBQ Workshop", I knew I had to give it a bash.
Don't be misled by the name - although these guys are apparently famous for their smoky souvlaki type dishes, it's definitely an ice cream heaven. My daughter stuck to her usual (with no ordinary chocolate available, she had to 'make do' with Fererro Rocher), but I branched out with grapefruit - and it was so good that I coudn't help but let out an "oh wow" when I tasted it. It had the refreshing tartness of sorbet, but the satisfying smooth creaminess of ice cream - and it was pure deliciousness. The watermelon had a similar freshness, and the Snickers was a no-brainer for fans of peanuts and caramel.
My final verdict? BBQ Workshop, you were an amazing fling and I will always remember you - but PHIC's imaginative flavours come out tops for me.
Somewhere between then and now, however, ice cream joined the ranks of beer, coffee and bread; a food item which is no longer fondly associated with sticky hands and hot days at the coast, but which now bears the proud label of Artisinal. It's Something To Be Taken Seriously. Eliza Doolittle's metamorphosis could hardly be more complete.
That's probably because, in recent years. we've seen homemade ice cream make its way out of the food markets and onto menus and, ultimately, into stores. there's Pete's Super Natural Ice Cream, Wicked Cream and The Creamery, as well as the guy who, to my mind, started this frosty revolution: Paul, of Paul's Homemade Ice Cream.
I admire Paul as much as an entrepreneur as an ice cream maker - it's no small feat to go from scooping cookie dough sandwiches at a market to owning two eponymous stores. But I'm not surprised. For a girl raised on Little Red Schoolhouse, PHIC is just - well, let me just say that I can't believe both of them could be considered the same substance.
Because I love PHIC so much, I hit on a brilliant idea: every week, my eldest daughter and I go on a mommy daughter date to Rosebank, our nearest PHIC outlet. See how this works - I get to be a loving mom AND spoil myself at the same time. She always has whichever chocolate variation is available, and I sample almost every flavour. This is one situation where being extremely indecisive is an asset: one of the things I love most about PHIC is that the flavours change all the time, so while you might be disappointed not to find your favourite, you are equally likely to discover a new best-of-all-time. I started out in love with Nutella and roasted banana, then fell for Vietnamese coffee. Since then, some of the goodies I've gone for are chai, cookie butter (not surprisingly, one of my best), peppermint crisp tart and dark chocolate. It's always hard to make a choice, though, because the flavours are like something dreamed up in a Wonka kitchen.
That said, I like to give every ice cream parlous a fair chance - so, when I saw that the question 'Where can you get the best ice cream in Joburg?', asked on the Facebook group Jozi Restaurants, was frequently answered with "BBQ Workshop", I knew I had to give it a bash.
Don't be misled by the name - although these guys are apparently famous for their smoky souvlaki type dishes, it's definitely an ice cream heaven. My daughter stuck to her usual (with no ordinary chocolate available, she had to 'make do' with Fererro Rocher), but I branched out with grapefruit - and it was so good that I coudn't help but let out an "oh wow" when I tasted it. It had the refreshing tartness of sorbet, but the satisfying smooth creaminess of ice cream - and it was pure deliciousness. The watermelon had a similar freshness, and the Snickers was a no-brainer for fans of peanuts and caramel.
My final verdict? BBQ Workshop, you were an amazing fling and I will always remember you - but PHIC's imaginative flavours come out tops for me.
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