Crocodile egg and suckling pig: the world’s weirdest ice creams

There’s a whole culture of weird ice cream out there. I went down a rabbit hole of “research” that consumed most of an afternoon.

Classic: who really wants a weird ice cream, anyway?

The phrase “only in America” is thrown around a bit, usually with disparaging overtones. So when “news” of a horrific new Frankenstein ice cream popped up the other day, that’s exactly where my mind went. Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, in an ice cream. (Nathan’s is to hot dogs what Four’N Twenty is to pies here. Maybe someone here should have a go at an Aussie meat pie and sauce ice cream?)

I was reaching for the Mylanta a few weeks back at the thought of a German Burger King creation that included vanilla ice cream, green olives and a 100 per cent whole beef pattie, but “only in Germany” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. And frankly, I find the idea of making an ice cream with pieces of caramelised hot dog and bun through it far more repulsive. I mean, who knows what’s in a hot dog? At least a burger is minced beef. Isn’t it?

Apparently, they make the ice cream by buttering and toasting potato hot-dog buns and blending them into a sweet-cream base; the sausage is sliced into discs and caramelised before being added to the cream base. This creation, called “Let The Dogs Out”, by Prospect Heights (NYC) ice cream shop The Social, was a one-off for the recent Coney Island hot dog eating contest on the fourth of July holiday weekend.

Something about the article intrigued me and it led me down a rabbit hole of “research” that consumed most of an afternoon. There is, in fact, a whole culture of weird ice cream out there. And, yes, much of it warrants the “only in America” eye-roll. A chicken wing ice cream (discontinued, I wonder why?) from manufacturer Perry’s. Pizza ice cream at Little Baby’s Ice Cream Philadelphia, made by blending tomato paste, basil, garlic, tomato concentrate and oregano with fresh cream. At Sunni Sky’s in North Carolina there is an ice cream made with three different fresh chillies and two types of hot sauce; it’s called Exit Wound and yes, you have to sign a waiver before they’ll sell you a scoop. In Portland, at Salt & Straw, they do something called Calamari Contest: honeycomb, “teal and pink tracksuit ice cream” and bone marrow fudge. In Maine, at Ben & Bill’s Bar Harbor, they do an ice cream with lobster meat. Stop reading if you’re feeling ill. It’s about to get worse.

Turns out the phrase should be “only in Japan”. At a place called Namco Namja Town in Tokyo, flavours have included eel, Indian curry, beef tongue, crab, grilled eggplant (actually, that could work), snake, horse meat (can you imagine the RSPCA on that one?) and squid ink. Also, whitebait and shark fin noodles. In the Philippines I found ice cream made with crocodile egg, lechon (suckling pig), tilapia (an ornamental fish), and bagong, which is like shrimp paste. Mercy.

Dear Reader, there’s a perfectly good recipe for vanilla ice cream in Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion. It’s all you need to know.