You'd think that living in the greatest dairy state in the U.S.A. for almost five years would have made me something of an ice cream connoisseur. I have indeed sampled some impressive ice creams and frozen custards in Wisconsin, including Michael's, Culver's, Schoep's, Chocolate Shoppe and, the pride of UW-Madison, Babcock Hall Dairy. The shocking truth is, however, that despite living in this land of plenty, my very favourite ice cream is still Dairy Queen soft serve. It's just such a classic, from its dependable vanilla flavour to its easy-to-eat consistency. You can dress it up with hot fudge sauce or dip it in a candy shell (with respect to dipped cones, I always went for the butterscotch, until I discovered the glorious new horizon of cherry--the shell is red and fantastically tasty, however there is nothing remotely cherry-like about it). Or you can go the purist route and just eat it plain. No matter how you order it, the DQ soft serve never fails to please.
I'm not sure how DQ soft serve ice cream is made, but I will hypothesize that involves vast quantities of prepackaged mixes of one kind or another. Then, of course, there's the machine that produces it, a marvel of mid-twentieth century mechanics if ever there was one. There is always a bit of excitement involved with the "pouring" of the ice cream onto the cone. Sometimes an inexperienced soft serve artisan will pour the cone at a dangerous angle, or panic the moment they have to perform that virtuouso twist of the wrist that finishes it off. It probably takes a little practice to get that wrist twist right. But it's worth doing well, and of course it's so much more sophisticated than just scooping ice cream out of a tub.
Despite my research efforts, I was unable to find out who the original Dairy Queen was or where she hailed from. I did learn that DQ has been around since 1940, that there are now DQs in 21 countries on 6 continents, that DQ and Orange Julius belong to the same parent company, and that ordering a large chocolate chip cookie dough Blizzard will run you about 1320 calories.
I can't be the only person out there who is staunchly devoted to DQ soft serve. It's not just a cool treat, but the coolest treat around. Actually, I just like using the word "treat." Anyway, for another testament to the greatness of this ice cream institution, check out Parker Posey's brilliant performance as Libby Mae Brown in Waiting for Guffman: "I'll always have a place at the DQ."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm pretty sure that DQ ice cream is made by pouring a secret DQ mixture, whose exact ingredients I couldn't find on the DQ site, into the DQ machine. I would be surprised if the mixture did not include the ubiquitous sweetner high fructose corn syrup, which would help to give it that silken texture, and things like xanthan gum and carageenan which act as stabilizers.
Your post brings back many fond memories. I used to love DQ back in the day. I used to get the blizzard, but in my recollection a blizzard tastes more like candy bars than like ice cream. Your post has made me really want some in the purist style.
I'm glad to have rekindled your desire for DQ! After writing my post, I did manage to track down the magical ingredients that comprise DQ soft serve. Corn syrup is indeed ingredient #3, after milkfat and nonfat milk and sugar, and right before whey (?). We don't really need to go into the ingredients that follow after that--kind of takes the romance out of the DQ soft serve relationship. Life's best flavours are sometimes better left unanalyzed, I think.
My grandfather used to take us kids to get banana boats. I was always trying to figure out a way to use the plastic "boat" the sundae came in as an actual boat - I glued on sails and so on, but the damned things always tipped over.
I do love a soft-serve dipped cone, though even then I preferred hard ice cream. But my favorite soft serve was the one in England - Mr. Whippy! With a Cadbury flake.
Yea DQ is pretty good and all, but you haven't tried soft serve until you have been to East Coast Custard. There are like seven stores in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It is so refreshing on a hot summer day. In my opinion East Coast beats out DQ by a lot.
Post a Comment