Today, in celebration of mother's day, my family and I went over to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner. Since a big chunk of my extended family (12 of them) had just come back from an Alaskan cruise and the dinner had been planned literally on the day of, there was sadly no sugary lasagna or yummy homemade Filipino desserts on the buffet array (I guess I'll have to save those subjects for another time).Luckily, there was one particular item on the dessert table that I often talk about and don't get to eat enough of -- queso (cheese) ice cream!
Heart2Heart describes queso as "The Pinoy's version of a cheese desset (sic). Fresh cheese blended in creamy, milky sorbetes (sic) and dotted with "cheese" bits as how Pinoys know and love it."
The first time I encountered cheese ice cream, I had the same reaction as what you're probably experiencing now. "Cheese (and corn) ice cream? Seriously?" (This was a Magnolia-brand ice cream not featured above, and was basically the same ice cream dotted with corn bits). It was soooooo good. Unless you hate cheese or are lactose intolerant, you need to try this flavour. Heck, try it even if you don't like cheese -- it's that good. Everyone I know who's tried cheese ice cream has been instantly converted. It's now one of my favourite flavours of ice cream.
Of the three brands I've mentioned (Selecta, Magnolia, and Arce Dairy), I think that Selecta is the best by far (just look at the picture!!). My mom attests to it, and she's grown up with the brands.
Selecta is an offshoot of Arce Dairy. I don't know why, but it's soooo much better than its parent company. Magnolia is super-popular in Asia. Apparently, people from Hong Kong buy lots and lots when they visit the Philippines, and bring it back with them by packing it in boxes of ice (the flight is short enough for it to last without meltin
g away).Today was my first chance to try the Arce Dairy version of queso ice cream. It was very good, but it doesn't have the yummy cheese bits and rich creamy texture that Selecta has.
The only place I've seen that sells the Selecta and Arce Dairy brands of queso ice cream is my uncle's dollar store (the 99 cent store, across from the McDonald's located across from Landsdowne Mall in Richmond). I think that they go for about $11.99 for a litre, and it's well worth trying!
Mais-Queso ice cream by Magnolia is much easier to find -- it's in a lot of the small Filipino shops around Vancouver. If you want just a scoop, you can go to Rekados on Main Street, where I think they sell three scoops as one of their dessert items, one of which is queso. I have no idea what brand it is, however, and it's pretty pricey (over $5). The advantage is that you get to try ube and I think langka-flavoured ice cream as well. I would go for the tub. Look for this, if the thought of corn and cheese intrigues you:
**I will qualify this post by mentioning that a colleague just caught a glimpse of my post and commented that queso ice cream "is nasty and tastes like nacho cheese". I beg to differ, but be warned -- you might not enjoy it as much as I and my relatives do!**Mango, ube (purple yam), macapuno (coconut), ube-macapuno (purple yam and coconut marble), and langka (jackfruit), are other flavours I would recommend trying.
Are there any interesting/delicious flavours/brands/kinds of ice cream that have particularly impressed you?
La Casa Gelato (the gelato place on Clark and Venables with the insane amount of flavours) has closed, so if you can recommend other spots for neat flavours, please do so!
