Ice Cream Gone Crazy

Of course there are the standard popular ice cream flavors.  Today we'll take it one step further and venture in to the bizzaro side of the creamy confection.

July is national ice cream month.  I own a calendar.  I am aware it's only June.  The weather gets hot this month.  So lets talk about ice cream now.

First, I did some research about the most popular ice cream flavors.  It's no surprise that vanilla is the favorite and has been since dinosaurs roamed the earth.  Flavor of choice for the T-Rex was chocolate chip mint.  Chocolate is the runner up at number two followed by butter pecan, strawberry, and neapolitan.

A bunch of new ice cream flavors were introduced this past April at the annual Ice Cream Technology Conference.  Some of the flavors showcased included hot sauce and Mexican spiced chocolate.

You'll think those tastes are fairly tame after you I tell you about some other ice cream flavors that are being sold.

You may know that different countries have different preferences for food and taste.  Case in point.  In Japan Haagen-Dazs is now marketing vegetable flavored ice cream.  There are two varieties, carrot orange, and tomato cherry.

Now for some varieties that are far off the beaten path.

Let's briefly  jump over to London.  At George's Portobello Fish Bar for desert you can indulge in their creamed cod ice cream.  For heaven's sake, no tuna ice cream on the menu?   .

Ice cream maker Coolhaus, that delivers to more than 2000 retail shops manufactures a flavor called "Cuban cigar".  I'm assuming there are some people who can eat a sundae that tastes like tobacco.  Coolhaus offers another variety called "fried chicken and waffle".  Fried chicken and waffles is a great southern dish. Can that combination translate well to ice cream?   .

Raise your hand if you prefer ice cream that tastes like a tree.  Not many of you raised your hand.

If you like the taste of wood, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is for you.  Jeni's just introduced not one, but two confections based on the taste of trees.  The first choice is a pine flavored Oregon fir ice cream.  There's also the option of digging your spoon into a cupful of cedarwood vanilla. I can't tell you if Jeni charges extra for bark topping.

There's a place in Scottsdale Arizona, Sweet Republic, that serves up beer flavored ice cream.

Another alcohol based ice cream is sold in Brooklyn.  We're talkin' hard booze here.  At Ample Hills Creamery you can order up a cup of whiskey butterscotch.

The final funny flavor can be found in "The Big Easy".  Are you ready for this one?  In New Orleans try foie gras ice cream at Creole Creamery.  Personally, I would prefer to "duck" away from that choice.

Here, in New Jersey we're blessed to have hundreds of high quality ice cream shops. The vast majority make their product in house-fresh and offer a huge selection of flavors.

I would love to name them all, but it would not be fair to omit any of the shops.

For me, I'll stick with my favorite ice cream flavor.  It's number 8 on the most popular list, good ole cookies and cream.