It's that time of year when you see everyone from age two to 100 eating ice cream at all hours of the day. It's not unusual for me to see someone enjoying an ice cream cone at 8:00 in the morning. I see people eating ice cream while walking their dog, driving their car, and riding their bicycle. The summer heat in Mazatlan makes ice cream an enjoyable and welcome treat.
I love the places where you can get actual hand made ice cream. The Oaxaca fair in Parque Zaragoza offers some phenomenal flavors like Angels Kiss and Burnt Milk. I try to make it by the Oaxacan ice cream booth whenever they are in town to get a taste.
Another surefire winner is the stand outside the Catedral. They have been in that spot for as long as I can remember. They offer many different flavors, including corn, which is surprisingly good. There is something really special about sitting on a bench in the shade outside the Catedral eating homemade ice cream on a home made cone. It's one of those experiences that to me will always be intrinsically Mazatlan.
But you gotta be careful who you buy from, because there are also vendors who are selling crap. They will scoop up some Holanda or Nestle, which is made with vegetable oil. Yep, that's the first ingredient. I don't even want to know what kind of chemical process you have to go through to make vegetable oil seem remotely like ice cream. Yuck.
Because of the vegetable oil, (which sounds even worse in Spanish - grasa vegetal,) I have become an avid label reader when buying ice cream in the store to take home. Disappointingly, most Mexican brands contain vegetable oil as the first ingredient. I have limited my ice cream buying to brands like Borden, Häagen Dazs, Dryers, and, of course, Blue Bell. But a half gallon of Blue Bell will set you back about $135 at Walmart, the only place in town to get it. Ben & Jerry's is about $90 a pint.
Beyond the price, there is the problem of getting it home. The only time I want ice cream is when it is hot. Walmart is pretty far from my house. If I want to buy ice cream from Walmart, I have to remember to pack a cooler, buy a bag of ice, and hope that I don't end up standing in the checkout line too long, otherwise I only make it home with chilled cream soup. I had pretty much given up on ice cream, except for the occasional stroll past an ice cream vendor.
Last month, I was in Ley, which I am in a lot more since we moved. It's just so convenient. As I walked past the ice cream freezer, I noticed they had some brands I hadn't seen before, so I opened the door to check them out.
At first, it was the same old thing – grasa vegetal. But then I opened the door on the freezer that holds the really big plastic containers of ice cream, and I was pleasantly surprised. Both the Ley brand and a brand named Arctic listed cream, milk, and sugar as the first ingredients on the label. Even more surprising was the price – about $85 for 1¼ gallons. What a bargain.
The drawback is there isn't much selection of flavors and they won't have the same choices from one week to the next, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. I am just glad that I have affordable ice cream close enough to get home while it's still solid.
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Larry