Speaker 1: Guess what gave? What's that mango? So have you ever
Speaker 1: noticed that Ben and Jerry's flavors are really chunky, Like
Speaker 1: they always have big pieces of banana or pretzels or
Speaker 1: chocolate in them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean they do make chunky monkey, right, so
Speaker 2: at least that'd better be pretty chunky.
Speaker 1: So when I was younger, I was always kind of
Speaker 1: thrown off by that style of ice cream, and I
Speaker 1: was kind of curious how they developed it. And apparently
Speaker 1: it's all because of Ben from Ben and Jerry's. According
Speaker 1: to their site, he has anosma, meaning he doesn't have
Speaker 1: a great sense of smell and he barely has a
Speaker 1: sense of taste too, So for him, like his love
Speaker 1: of ice cream is mostly textural, like he loves the
Speaker 1: creamy mouthfeel. He likes those like big, delicious, crunchy treats
Speaker 1: that are mixed in And so that's how they came
Speaker 1: up with it, and over the years fans fell in
Speaker 1: love with that consistency too. But that's just the first
Speaker 1: of nine facts were dishing out today about ice cream.
Speaker 1: Let's dive in hey their podcast listeners, I'm Monga's particular
Speaker 1: and my co host Will Pearson is out today sunning
Speaker 1: himself at the beach. But don't worry, I've got our
Speaker 1: research superstar Gabe Luesy a with us on the line.
Speaker 1: Hey Gabe, Hey, thanks for having me on. Yeah, of course.
Speaker 1: And we also have sitting behind that soundproof glass wearing
Speaker 1: his mister Softy T shirt, or as they call it
Speaker 1: in China, mister soft heart. Apparently there's no word for
Speaker 1: softie in China. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil. So, Gabe,
Speaker 1: I know we're doing an episode on ice cream today.
Speaker 1: Are you an ice cream guy?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Do you have a go to flavor?
Speaker 2: I am definitely an ice cream guy, like all good
Speaker 2: hearted people.
Speaker 1: And American people.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like all good hearted American Now, yeah, my
Speaker 2: favorite flavor is probably cookies and cream. I could go
Speaker 2: for just about anything except chocolate. Not a chocolate guy.
Speaker 1: Really, I wouldn't have guessed that. I am mostly a
Speaker 1: mint chocolate chip guy, though I'll eat most flavors. And
Speaker 1: I'm actually not sure if I've told you this, but
Speaker 1: my grandfather actually had an ice cream factory in India. U. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he had to drop out of college because his parents
Speaker 1: passed away, and then he did this correspondence course on
Speaker 1: electricity by mail, like from the States, and it was
Speaker 1: like a text school from America or something. And he
Speaker 1: taught himself to wire things and he ended up building
Speaker 1: like a little ice factory, and then he branched out
Speaker 1: into ice cream too, and it was called Tamalia ice cream.
Speaker 1: But that's awesome, I know. I mean, my cousins got
Speaker 1: to enjoy it, but it was all gone by the
Speaker 1: time I was a kid. But the most amazing thing
Speaker 1: to me was that when he used to come to
Speaker 1: the States, he was confused by the way Americans eat
Speaker 1: ice cream, because we eat it all year round, and
Speaker 1: how in India they only have it during the summer.
Speaker 1: Is that during the monsoons when it's super cold, they
Speaker 1: won't eat ice cream. It's just cultural or something. But
Speaker 1: I kicked this off with a Ben and Jerry's fact.
Speaker 1: So what do you have for us?
Speaker 2: Well, I just read about this amazing ice cream from
Speaker 2: Spain called Chameleon.
Speaker 1: So I'm already in drinued. What flavor is Chameleon?
Speaker 2: Well, thankfully it's not chameleon, but it's basically this Willy
Speaker 2: Wonka style ice cream, where like the color changes as
Speaker 2: you lick it and that also changes the flavor too.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. So it sounds amazing and like something for
Speaker 1: my dreams. But how come I haven't heard of this? Like,
Speaker 1: is it a new flavor?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, it's actually been around since twenty fourteen. It
Speaker 2: was created by this former physicist named Manuel Lenaris who
Speaker 2: was pursuing a degree in quote creating artists in ice cream.
Speaker 1: That's what the La Time says.
Speaker 2: At least, I guess it's a major at this Spanish
Speaker 2: culinary institute.
Speaker 1: Huh. But anyway, I've only seen.
Speaker 2: Pictures of the ice cream, but it's really beautiful, like
Speaker 2: at least one of the shades is. It's this gorgeous
Speaker 2: shimmery purple and pink color. And it has a bunch
Speaker 2: of flavors that come through too. There's a strawberry, cocoa, almonds, banana, pistachio, vanilla,
Speaker 2: and even caramel. What But the reason you haven't heard
Speaker 2: about it is that the inventor is still waiting for
Speaker 2: the patent to come through. Before you know it goes
Speaker 2: wide scale. And also, Kahlion isn't his only flavor. He
Speaker 2: has this other one he's working on. It's just for
Speaker 2: adults though it has all these Peruvian and African herbs
Speaker 2: in it, and it's supposed to be an aphrodisiac.
Speaker 1: So I always think it's funny when people try to
Speaker 1: mix medicine into ice cream. Like I actually pulled a
Speaker 1: fact about this. I saw this thing on life hacker
Speaker 1: where someone had made this peptobismal ice cream to deal
Speaker 1: with hangovers, which I know, to me, it just makes
Speaker 1: me nauseous think about it. But there's also a Korean
Speaker 1: version that sounds way better. Apparently, like hard drinking is
Speaker 1: such a common thing in South Korea that hangover cures
Speaker 1: are actually like one hundred and twenty five million dollar industry.
Speaker 1: It's it's just insane to me. Yeah, But in that
Speaker 1: mix of like drugstore cures, there's actually an ice cream
Speaker 1: bar that's called Yandio Bar. I don't know how it's
Speaker 1: actually pronounced, but the name translates to hang in there,
Speaker 1: which is so positive. But it's it's a grapefruit flavored
Speaker 1: ice cream bar with some special raisin juice in there too.
Speaker 1: It supposedly works wonders, And I mean for me, like
Speaker 1: what with or without a hangover? I'd be down to
Speaker 1: try like a grapefruit and vanilla ice cream. But what
Speaker 1: what do you have next?
Speaker 2: Well, how about a fact about astronauts. And this isn't
Speaker 2: about astronaut ice cream. You know that that freeze dried
Speaker 2: monstrosity that they try to trick you into eating of planetariums. No,
Speaker 2: this is this is about the real ice cream than
Speaker 2: astronauts occasionally to try on mission.
Speaker 1: That's really funny.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I wanted to start this thing where we would serve
Speaker 1: astronauts Sundays where it's just there's astronaut ice creams crumpled
Speaker 1: up with some chocolate sauce on top of it and
Speaker 1: whipped cream built time. I felt like that would do
Speaker 1: really well on Instagram. But so I thought astronauts used
Speaker 1: to complain about like missing ice cream in space, Like
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was actually a thing that they
Speaker 1: get to eat. Yeah, they do.
Speaker 2: And I mean for years, NASA had this list of
Speaker 2: the top three foods that their astronauts missed the most
Speaker 2: in space, and you know, it was fizzy drinks, pizza,
Speaker 2: and ice cream. But Atlas Obscura did this story and
Speaker 2: apparently every once in a while is a special treat.
Speaker 2: Astronauts now get real ice cream and it's sent to
Speaker 2: them at the International Space Station, and I was curious,
Speaker 2: you know, why is it such a big deal? And
Speaker 2: and you know the reason to have ice cream in space,
Speaker 2: like why isn't it allowed? And actually the reason is
Speaker 2: you need freezer space to store the ice cream. And
Speaker 2: you know, because astronauts are using this limited freezer space
Speaker 2: on board, they you know, they have to make room
Speaker 2: for blood and urine samples and I don't know other
Speaker 2: experimental stuff and it's just hard to you know, save
Speaker 2: room for ice cream. But now now there's a workaround.
Speaker 2: And that's because when shipments and supplies are sent up
Speaker 2: to the space station, people will now you know, often
Speaker 2: sneak a few pints of ice cream into those containers
Speaker 2: for the astronauts. But here's the catch. You know, because
Speaker 2: there is no freezer space, they have to eat the
Speaker 2: ice cream pretty quickly upon delivery. So you know what
Speaker 2: ends up happening is, you know, they throw these little
Speaker 2: zero gravity ice cream parties whenever the ice cream comes up.
Speaker 1: Oh that's amazing. I kind of love that. So here's
Speaker 1: something that's a little less joyous but still funny to
Speaker 1: be So I was looking at this book The Victorian City,
Speaker 1: which is about everyday life in Dekenzie in London, and
Speaker 1: in the eighteen fifties, ice cream was obviously like a
Speaker 1: big luxury and could buy a little taste of ice
Speaker 1: cream and these Neapolitan ices from street vendors. But what's
Speaker 1: funny is that apparently some of these folks started selling
Speaker 1: fraudulent ice cream to kids. Instead of a serving of
Speaker 1: ice cream, it was common for people to serve you
Speaker 1: like scoops of mashed turnips instead. Oh, it'd be so disappointing.
Speaker 1: You just took a spoonful.
Speaker 2: Of ice cream on a hot day and it just
Speaker 2: turned out to be mashed up.
Speaker 1: I know. It almost feels like some parents' idea to
Speaker 1: like trick kids into eating veggies. But the strange thing
Speaker 1: is that people still use that trick today, like mashed
Speaker 1: potatoes are often used as a stand in for ice
Speaker 1: cream on film sets because ice cream is so melty.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, that's funny.
Speaker 2: I love those food hacks, Like you know how people,
Speaker 2: you know, you use glue as a stand in for
Speaker 2: cereal milk on sets, and you know it's because it
Speaker 2: looks better on film, and you know you can position
Speaker 2: the cereal wherever you want it without worrying about it,
Speaker 2: you know, floating away.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: But speaking of dripping ice cream, that's actually another thing
Speaker 2: scientists have now fixed.
Speaker 1: So I love that there are so many problems in
Speaker 1: the world, but the one where fixed on focusing is
Speaker 1: like melty ice cream.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really shows you where our priority slot. But
Speaker 2: apparently this has been in the works for a while now.
Speaker 2: A few years ago, British scientists figured out a way
Speaker 2: to slow down the melting process a little bit by
Speaker 2: adding this special protein that binds the air and fat
Speaker 2: and water together. And then Japanese scientists took it and
Speaker 2: they figured out a different way of doing this. They
Speaker 2: actually used a liquid extract from strawberries that stopped the
Speaker 2: water and oils from separating. So you know what you
Speaker 2: got were these ice cream and popsicle treats that could
Speaker 2: last three hours at a time and eighty degree heat
Speaker 2: and all while still retaining their shape.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty amazing. And the ice cream isn't that
Speaker 2: expensive either. That's probably the most amazing part. It's actually
Speaker 2: only about four dollars a pop.
Speaker 1: That's really incredible. I am curious what the texture of
Speaker 1: it is like though.
Speaker 2: Yeah, food and Wine reported that the Japanese weren't the
Speaker 2: only ones making these advances. Like there's a grocery store
Speaker 2: in Australia that has their own technique. They haven't revealed
Speaker 2: what it is, but they turn out ice cream sandwiches
Speaker 2: they won't melt in the Australian sun.
Speaker 1: That's pretty crazy. So I guess we'll have a whole
Speaker 1: variety of different non melty ice creams to try in
Speaker 1: the future. But it is kind of weird to think that,
Speaker 1: like kids in the future might not get ice cream
Speaker 1: headaches because they can eat a cone as slowly as
Speaker 1: they want, or like they'll never have sticky hands from
Speaker 1: ice cream dripping all over them. And you know, you
Speaker 1: and I will be telling our grand is these stories
Speaker 1: like they're war stories. So I knew Clint Eastwood was
Speaker 1: mayor of this beautiful town of Carmel in California, but
Speaker 1: I didn't know that ice cream was actually one of
Speaker 1: the first measures he brought up at his first city
Speaker 1: council meeting. And at the time there had been some
Speaker 1: sort of water shortage and so the city refused to
Speaker 1: give an ice cream parlor a license on their main strip,
Speaker 1: and Clint Eastwood's campaign was actually on getting rid of
Speaker 1: this kill joy mentality and bringing back these street corners
Speaker 1: where kids could happily eat ice cream again. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is what you remembered from his youth and what
Speaker 1: he wanted to bring back. But he also reinstituted the
Speaker 1: pledge of allegiance before every meeting, which feels very Clint Eastwood.
Speaker 1: And the article also pointed out, though, that he voted
Speaker 1: to ban beachfront fireworks on July fourth, which sounds a
Speaker 1: little antithetical to those other two things.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so much for getting rid of the kill joy mentality. Wow,
Speaker 2: I know, well, I know, We've got two more ice
Speaker 2: cream facts to share, but before we do, let's take
Speaker 2: a quick break.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to part time genius. Abe. Do you know
Speaker 1: what the grossest ice cream flavor served as a state
Speaker 1: dinner has to be? No, what's that oyster? It was
Speaker 1: oyster flavored ice cream. So Jake Cross and A Metal
Speaker 1: Flaws did the story on the history of ice cream
Speaker 1: in America. And Dolly Madison, who was you know, by
Speaker 1: all accounts, the greatest host or hostess in Washington, d C,
Speaker 1: used to serve oyster ice cream to guests who were
Speaker 1: totally wowed by it.
Speaker 2: Wow, I'm kind of surprised people kept coming to these
Speaker 2: parties after that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. But actually, the other thing I learned
Speaker 1: from the piece was that George Washington was really the
Speaker 1: person who made serving ice cream at state dinners a
Speaker 1: thing like he had a three hundred piece machine to
Speaker 1: make and serve ice cream in his kitchen, and it
Speaker 1: sort of became the ultimate sign of luxury if you
Speaker 1: could serve ice cream at your dinners, because it was
Speaker 1: just such an effort to make, and that's kind of
Speaker 1: what kicked off America's obsession with it. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: I think that's my last fact. But how do you
Speaker 1: want to end this? Well, how about with a really
Speaker 1: quick fact.
Speaker 2: So you know Rupert Grint, right, m.
Speaker 1: H Yeah, he played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, exactly. And you know, he grew up making
Speaker 2: those movies. So when he passed his driving exam, he
Speaker 2: was already worth a lot of money by then. And
Speaker 2: you know, so one day people on set were talking about,
Speaker 2: you know what sorts of fancy cars they were thinking
Speaker 2: about buying with all their HP money, And for some reason,
Speaker 2: Rupert's dream was to own an ice cream truck, and so,
Speaker 2: you know, he got one and the first time he
Speaker 2: took it out for a spin, he actually he went
Speaker 2: to a pub and when he was leaving, all these
Speaker 2: kids came up to him trying to buy ice cream.
Speaker 2: And the problem was he hadn't bothered to stock any
Speaker 2: in the truck, which is just like the world's biggest
Speaker 2: tease right now. Totaling around in an ice cream truck
Speaker 2: with zero ice cream on board, what did you think
Speaker 2: would happen? But anyway, he sort of learned his lesson
Speaker 2: after that, and now he keeps the van stocked with
Speaker 2: you know, tons of popsicles, and there's even a working
Speaker 2: soft serve machine on board, and so sometimes he just
Speaker 2: drives around to villages and gives out free ice cream
Speaker 2: to kids.
Speaker 1: It's pretty awesome, right, Yeah, I mean that's great. I
Speaker 1: mean it is funny. I told a story about people
Speaker 1: tricking kids with mash turnips instead of ice cream, and
Speaker 1: you told a story about Ron Weasley magically delivering ice
Speaker 1: cream to village kids in his spare time. So I
Speaker 1: do think you have to take home the trophy today?
Speaker 2: Well, thank you so much. I think I know just
Speaker 2: how I'll be celebrating.
Speaker 1: Well, that's it for today's nine Things. Moving back with
Speaker 1: the full length episode tomorrow, but thank you so much
Speaker 1: for listening. Thanks again for listening.
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