Bacon ice cream

Bacon ice cream(orbacon-and-egg ice cream) is anice creamgenerally created by addingbacontoegg custardand freezing the mixture. The concept of bacon ice cream originated in a 1973 sketch on the British comedy seriesThe Two Ronniesas a joke; it was eventually created forApril Fools' Dayby a New York ice cream parlour in 1982. In the 2000s, the English chefHeston Blumenthalexperimented with ice cream, making a custard similar toscrambled eggsand adding bacon to create one of his signature dishes. It now appears on dessert menus in other restaurants.
Ice cream is generally expected to be a sweet food, eaten as a dessert, even though there is evidence of savoury ice creams eaten in Victorian times.Bacon ice cream originated as a joke, a flavour that no one would willingly eat, in the 1973 "Ice Cream Parlour Sketch" byThe Two Ronnies, where a customer requests cheese and onion flavoured ice cream followed by smokey bacon.
In 1992, bacon-and-egg ice cream was created as anApril Fools' Dayexperiment at Aldrich's Beef and Ice Cream Parlor inFredonia, New York.Ten years earlier, co-owner Scott Aldrich was challenged by agravysalesman to make beef gravy ice cream, which he did for April Fools' Day of 1982. Although it was reportedly "their most disgusting" creation, Aldrich's went on to release other unusual flavours on April Fools' Day, such as  "chocolatespaghettiice cream" (the first of Julia Aldrich's many contributions),"ketchupandmustardswirl", "pork and beans" or "sauerkrautandvanilla" in 1991. In 1992, they made 15 US gallons (57 L; 12 imp gal) of bacon-and-egg ice cream which he gave away free to anyone who would try it. The ice creams generally received positive reviews.In 1992,The Victoria Advocatereported,
In 2003 an ice cream parlour, "Udder Delight", opened inRehoboth Beach, Delaware, specialising in "outlandish" ice cream flavours. Among other flavours, such as their award-winningpeanut butter and jellyice cream, they have created a bacon ice cream that tastes likebutter pecan. The owner, Chip Hearn, had included the flavour along with 17 others in an invitation-only focus group, where the tasters were allowed to suggest changes and give opinions on the flavour.
The English chefHeston Blumenthalcreates unusual dishes usingmolecular gastronomy. His restaurant,the Fat DuckinBray, Berkshire, has won threeMichelinstars among other achievements. As early as 2001, Blumenthal created savoury ice cream flavours such asmustard grainandcrab.In an article explaining the concept of "flavour encapsulation", Blumenthal explained that flavour is much more intense in encapsulated bursts, rather than when dispersed in a solution; therefore, the more that eggs are cooked, the more that the proteins stick together. This creates pockets of egg flavour in the ice cream, which release as it melts in customers' mouths.
Traditional ice cream is frozenegg custardwith flavours added. Blumenthal whisksegg yolkswith sugar until the sugar interacts with the proteins in the yolk, creating a network of proteins. The entire substance turns white, at which point flavouring can be added and cooked in. While stirring the mixture, Blumenthal cools it as fast as possible using liquid nitrogen.
Blumenthal's bacon-and-egg ice cream, now one of hissignature dishes,along with his other unique flavours, has given him a reputation as "The Wizard of Odd" and has made his restaurant a magnet for food enthusiasts. Blumenthal has stated that one ambition is to create an ice cream with flavours released in time-separated stages; for example, bacon and egg followed by orange juice or tea. Once he perfects the technique of separating the flavours, he would attemptmusselsfollowed bychocolate.
In the 2006New Years Honours List, Blumenthal was awardedOfficer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire(OBE), the United Kingdom's fourth highestorder of chivalry, for his services to food.
As bacon ice cream was created in 1992 and came to prominence in the 2000s, there is no traditional recipe. Recipes generally involve adding bacon to a standard sweet ice cream recipe, oftenvanillabut other suggestions includecoffee,rumorpecan. Thesaltinessof the bacon highlights the sweetness of the ice cream.According to oneWired.comarticle, the bacon should becandiedbefore addition, a process which involves baking the bacon in a sugar syrup. This has the benefit of sweetening the bacon, similarly topancakesin some parts of theUnited States.
Blumenthal's recipe uses ice cream without flavouring, but which tastes of an egg. In the recipe featured inThe Big Fat Duck Cookbook, the bacon is lightly roasted with the fat on, then infused in milk for 10 hours. The infused mix is precisely heated with egg and sugar to overcook the eggs, increasing the "eggy" flavour, then sieved, put through a food processor, churned, and frozen. The ice cream is served with caramelisedFrench toast, atomato compote, a slice ofpancettahardened with maple syrup, and tea jelly.
Blumenthal has since updated his recipe to include ten hours of soaking the bacon in a vacuum-packed bag before baking. He has also changed the presentation so that the unfrozen ice cream is injected into empty egg shells, then dramatically scrambled at the customer's table inliquid nitrogen, giving the impression of cooking.
Bacon ice cream has received a mixed reception; as a combination of sweet and savoury flavours, it was designed to be controversial. In 2004, rival chefNico Ladenisthought the Michelin system was doing a "great disservice to the industry" by hailing Blumenthal as a genius for egg-and-bacon ice cream, saying that originality alone should not merit a Michelin star. Blumenthal pointed out that Ladenis had never tried the aforementioned ice cream.
Trevor White has suggested that Blumenthal had latched onto a culture where diners cannot get enough of the new and are spoiled by choice, comparing the food to a "freak show".Janet Street-Porterhas criticised Blumenthal's cooking as pretentious. She attempted to make his bacon-and-egg ice cream from the recipe published in hisThe Big Fat Duck Cookbook, altering the recipe slightly due to her hectic workload and guessing when she did not have the right tools. The result she described as nauseating and "too sickly for words".
The ice cream sparked debate in theLos Angeles Timeswhen food writer Noelle Carter described bacon ice cream as perfection but the health section put up a photograph of a heart bypass and the headline "Bacon ice cream. No good can come of it".The Delaware "Udder Delight" ice cream maker, Chip Hearn, who made bacon ice cream appears to have done so partly as a gimmick to get people into his shop since he allows customers to taste any flavour in the store. He felt that his flavours differentiated him from the many other parlours on the shore and many people come in to try bacon ice cream only to buy something else.
Bacon ice cream has been recreated by other chefs in recent years. For example, it appears on the menu at Espai Sucre in Barcelona, a restaurant that specialises in desserts, with descriptions such as "innovative" and "spectacular".In the United States, bacon was one of the themes for dessert at theFancy food show. In 2006, two separate contestants created versions of bacon ice cream in the reality seriesTop Chef.Celebrity chefBob Blumerwon a Texas ice cream making competition with a bacon ice cream. Originally planning to use candied bacon, he changed at the last moment to do a baconbrittleice cream.ChefMichael Symonmade bacon ice cream in the first season of theFood Network'sThe Next Iron Chefcompetition.Andrew Knowlton, a judge, dismissed it as not original. But Symon managed to progress in the competition and eventually win.Burger Kingrolled out a "bacon sundae", vanilla ice cream with caramel, chocolate, bacon bits, and one strip of bacon, in the summer of 2012 in the US.It was tested inNashvillein April.