Taste Test

I love frozen novelties.  It’s a weakness.  From childhood, there was something about hearing the tinny tune of the ice cream truck or asking Dad to buy G and me a cold and colorful sweet treat.  When I travel back to the US nowadays, I stare at them fondly in the freezer box at convenience stores.  I try to walk on by, but I still have my favorite temptations.

Recently, a Chinese friend learned about the phrase, “dog days of summer”.  She said that another American friend had told her, “On the hottest days of summer, you should eat ice cream.”  Of course.  Because we’ve had a few sultry days this month, Zhang decided to share some traditional Chinese frozen novelties with us.

As you can see from the photos, there are some interesting flavors.  A taste test was in order.  Our favorites?  Well, the berry for me.  For T, probably the coconut.  We also tried papaya, mung bean, durian and one that we couldn’t identify.  We thought maybe it was lychee or a coconut concoction, but a friend told us it was a very famous sesame-flavored ice cream.  We’re still not sure.  To be honest, we didn’t care for all of them.  But we celebrated the dog days in frozen splendor thanks to Zhang.

Voltaire once said, “Ice Cream is exquisite – what a pity it isn’t illegal.”  I am very glad it’s not.  Here’s to the dog days of summer – just another reason to celebrate and eat ice cream.