In this German ice cream parlour named Eiscafe Rino, customers have the opportunity to try unique flavours like cricket-flavoured ice cream, liver sausage and Gorgonzola cheese ice cream. Thomas Micolino, who runs the store, has always had a habit of creating flavours that are far outside Germans’ typical preferences for strawberry, banana, or chocolate ice cream. In the past, he has offered many different flavours including gold-plated ice cream for 4 euros (approximately 350 rupees) per scoop.
Producing cricket ice cream would have been a challenge if not for a European Union regulation that allows the use of insects in food. Under these regulations, crickets may be frozen, dried, or used as a powder. Micolino’s ice cream, which is made with cricket flour, is also topped with dried whole crickets. Customers report that it has a “surprisingly yummy taste and is actually very tasty and edible.” Other customers praised the ice cream’s creamy consistency.
Other flavour combinations are also becoming prevalent in other parts of Europe. In Italy, a series of beverages have been launched which contain olive oil in coffee. Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz, echoes a keto-inspired trend of adding butter to coffee with this series, which has provoked amusement and curiosity among Italians.
“Did we need coffee with extra virgin olive oil and syrups? Maybe yes, maybe no,” wrote the popular food and wine magazine, Gambero Rosso. But the chance to promote Italian excellence is a valuable one, they added.
Schultz presided over the launch of this new series, titled “Oleato” last week in Milan. The beverages will be rolled out in Southern California this spring and in Japan, the Middle East and Britain later this year.
Such interesting food combinations have already become a talking point, and they will only continue to rise.
With inputs from the Associated Press (AP).
