Izzy (and Mama) Eat: The Gourmand Goes To College...

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Wednesday, August 15, 2007

This Seems Positively Unnatural...24 Flavors of Soft Serve

While we were "down the shore", we passed a few ice cream establishments displaying enormous banners offering 24 Flavors of Soft Serve..How was that possible? The only place I have known to do that was Kohr's Frozen Custard on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights.. Could these 24 flavors possibly be an improvement? I wanted to find out but didn't get around to it...

Until yesterday when I approached Torico's, only to find they were waving that same 24 flavor banner. I immediately inquired.."You don't really serve 24 flavors here, do you? The young lady explained that they have "flavor extracts" which are magically mixed into the vanilla, no-sugar vanilla, or chocolate soft-serve, instantly creating these flavors. "Is there anything artifical in them?" "No, they are all natural." (hmm..would love to see the ingredient list)

It goes without saying that I had to try one. I ordered a cup of banana and watched in amazement as the scooper proceeded to pump a mysterious liquid into some vanilla soft-serve, mix it with a machine which then reswirled it. The ice cream turned a light shade of yellow and had a light banana flavor which didn't take completely fake but had a chemical aftertaste.

The entire experience was mystifying. Perhaps further research will uncover the truth. How natural can this product be, given that most soft-serve is not full of the finest ingredients.

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