Key Points
- There are many “minatamis,” the most popular of which are halo-halo, minatamis na saging na saba (sweetened banana plantains), and, of course, dirty ice cream.
- Dirty Ice Cream is Filipino ice cream that derived its name from being sold in the streets. The flavours usually include cheese, avocado, chocolate, ube, and mango.
- Ricci Carmona, pastry chef and chocolatier, is interviewed about dirty ice cream.
*Kwentong Palayok is SBS Filipino’s podcast series focused on Filipino food, its origins and history, and its evolution both in the homeland and Australia.
For Filipinos who grew up in the Philippines, afternoons mean waiting for the sound of a bell rung by Kuya or Manong, a street vendor who peddles “dirty ice cream” placed in colourful wooden push carts.
Inside those push carts are different kinds of flavours of sorbetes, also known as dirty ice cream. Flavours usually include tropical fruits and root crops endemic to the Philippines, such as avocado, mango, and ube but also include chocolate, cheese, cookies and cream. Kids would flock to Manong to fall in line and eat “dirty ice cream.”
No matter the flavour, there’s nothing quite like dirty ice cream. It’s made from carabao’s milk or coconut milk, and is served in either wafer cones, sugar cones, or pandesal or bread buns. A typical Filipino childhood includes memories of eating dirty ice cream, usually under the summer heat, and with friends or playmates in tow, never mind that the sorbetes melts very quickly (it is part of the experience).
May kasamang good childhood memory ang ice cream.Ricci Carmona, pastry chef and owner of Dirty Ice Cream
“I remember going to a popular ice cream parlour right after going to the dentist as a reward,” Ricci shares.
“My aunt, who was influential in my pursuing a culinary career, she would take us to Baguio during summer. Of course, it’s cold in Baguio, but we would have ice cream for dessert, but we would ask, why ice cream when it’s already cold? But my aunt would always say, ‘ice cream is a heat-giving food,’” Ricci shares in the Kwentong Palayok podcast.
And, of course, dirty ice cream, which Ricci loved eating as a kid.
I’ve always loved simple desserts, like dirty ice cream, just honest-to-goodness classic Filipino ice cream.Ricci Carmona, pastry chef and owner of Dirty Ice Cream
With her experience as a chocolatier and as a pastry chef, and with her training in making gelato, Ricci decided to create a home business offering dirty ice cream in 2021. With this, Filipinos who miss this cold dessert can take a trip down memory lane, or for parents, share with their children what dirty ice cream is, which is an undeniable part of Filipino culture. As well, dirty ice cream can make it on the global stage, the same way gelato is for Italians.
History of Dirty Ice Cream
Ice reached the Philippines during the American colonial period in 1902.
The first “dirty ice cream” or sorbetes during this period was made using a primitive ice cream maker called garapiñera, a metallic cylinder which is filled with the ice cream ingredients and enclosed in a wooden bucket full of ice. It has a cranking mechanism that has to be repeatedly turned until the desired ice cream consistency is achieved, often taking an hour. Salt was typically added to the ice to hasten the freezing process.
These days, the garapiñera has been retired and replaced by modern ways of making ice cream, which Ricci uses. But nevertheless, the same classic and homey goodness of dirty ice cream is replicated.
As for its name, dirty ice cream has an interesting origin. It is anything but dirty. It got its name because it’s hand-churned and sold in the streets. Filipino mothers, in dissuading their kids, called it “dirty”, but that did not stop them either way.
No matter where Filipinos are in the world, the ring of the bell, the sight of the colourful sorbetes cart, and the delicious taste of dirty ice cream can make them smile, bringing about joy, comfort, love, friendship, family, nostalgia, and that deep sense of staying rooted to their history and culture.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST:
Kwentong Palayok: dirty ice cream, minatamis na saging atbp. Mahilig ka bang tumikim ng “minatamis”?
SBS Filipino
26/01/202416:32
