Kilos of Ice Cream

Imagine a self-serve, cafeteria-style ice cream shop.

First you must carefully select one of about seven types of bowls. (Better to go a little bigger than usual because you aren’t sure exactly what you will find.) As you make your way along the freezer case you see tubs filled to the brim with ice creams such as passion fruit, banana, chocolate, toasted coconut and doce de leite.

You use the scoops provided to create your bowl and then proceed to the toppings -sweet sauces, candies, fruits and nuts. Next, it is to the counter where your creation is weighed and you pay per kilogram. Each time you return for a visit you get to try a new creation made especially for you, by you.

Welcome to my ice cream experience in Brazil. Awesome, right? I know!

Visiting the ice cream shop is always an adventure. We usually end up with several bowls so we can separate flavors and toppings accordingly. It is way too difficult to pick a single dip, thus we had to start carefully selecting our walking route when out so we weren’t tempted to stop each time. Too much of a good thing and all that.

Although, given are soon approaching departure, I was determined to try some flavors I had passed up on previous visits. You know how you get stuck in a rut and always get the same kind for fear your new pick will only disappoint. My favorites always included coffee, doce de leite and coconut.

The topping of choice – farofa doce.

A play on words from the farofa that goes with beef served here which is toasted mandioca (cassava, yucca) flour, farofa doce is made to look just like it. It’s a sweet peanut concoction that is crumbled into a fine powder. Something similar to crumbled peanut butter fudge mixed with ground peanuts. Yeah, that’s close. Sweet and salty, and ice cream will never be the same again without it.

One flavor that I had routinely passed up, but just had to try, was corn (milho) ice cream. This flavor is popular in other countries as well, but I had never tried it before. If you’ve never had it, first, you have to erase any thought of what you might think the corn ice cream would taste like. I had those visions, too.

Now think about the sweetest corn bread you’ve had minus the grainy texture. Picture instead a creamy, smooth spoonful. That’s corn ice cream and I have to tell you it is amazing!

Actually, now that I think about it, it reminds me a bit of my mom’s corn pudding in ice cream form, however, no grains or pieces of corn. Promise. It’s interesting because you can identify it as corn flavor, but it is very appealing despite what the thought of corn made into ice cream may first bring to mind. I’d get it again without a doubt.

So when in Brazil, seek out some sorvete por kilo, try the corn flavor and always, always, get extra farofa doce. You won’t regret it. My waistline will likely not miss it, but my taste buds surely will!