Corn season has arrived. Every Greenmarket vendor is selling them for 50 cents an ear. [Speaking of, why do we count corn in such a way? Don't you think it's a bit odd to think of ears growing on trees? Imagine that.]

Anyhow, I like corn, but it’s always annoying when they get stuck in between your teeth. Also, when you get fresh corn in husks, the options of how to eat them are limited. Sure you can brush them with different butter, soy sauce, and other creative ways, but when we eat corns, we usually eat them as is.

I was expecting Nate’s parents over for dinner, and thought about what other things I can make with corn. They are from Ohio, where corn originated (not true, but his house is surrounded by corn fields), and needed to come up with an innovative way to eat corn.

So I decided to make corn sherbet. My initial idea was to make corn ice cream, but thought sherbet would be more refreshing.

You can use cream of corn instead of fresh corn, but when you have access to fresh sweet corns, you should take an extra step to follow this recipe.

CORN SHERBET

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of water
1 cup of evaporated milk
5 tbsp sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
3 ears of corn (which should yield about 1 cup of corn puree)

*If you are lazy, use a can of creamed corn instead of all these individual ingredients, which will work just as fine.

METHOD
1. Process corn until very smooth.

2. Sieve it or squeeze it through a fine cheese cloth to squeeze out the juice.

I sieved it, and it yielded just about 1 cup of corn juice:

3. Mix all ingredients together and heat up until it is barely boiling. Let cool completely.

4. Once cooled, put in the ice cream maker, and churn it until airy.

5. Scoop and plate.

This recipe is refreshing, and very smooth thanks to the milk. For a chunkier consistency, you could add real bits of corn into the mixture–add it into the actual ice cream machine, in step #4. Make sure to boil the corn first, if you are doing this. It would also be good to cook the corn in sugar to make the corn bits extra sweet.

Italian ice cream, especially from Sicily, has this smooth, creamy texture which you can eat with a spatula. It’s gorgeous, sexy and slimy. In the best way.

Ice cream in Danish is called “is” as in ice–meaning we call that slippery cold frozen water stuff for is as well. Meaning denotes from the colloquial, like in Japanese. Just 10 years ago, you could only buy factory made is in Copenhagen. Either in the supermarkets or at the kiosk in the shop freezer. And maybe here and there in the tourist trap areas some “old-fashioned” ice cream scoops in a traditional Danish waffle cone. The ice cream flavours were vanilla, banana, chocolate, nougat and strawberry and it was always the same boring experience, trite, stiff, hard ice cream you bite off, and vague waffle-like cardboard dipped in canned milk.

Not so in 2011. Ice cream has literally exploded across the Danish capital with many different outlets, chains, local vendors and organic little dairies making fresh ice cream every day. Ben & Jerrys have planted their enticing, cow decorated freezers in every 7-Eleven street corner kiosk. It’s my only vice, since I don’t really like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes or shooting heroin. And on Skydebanegade, the place in the city formerly known for the shooting and training of royal huntsmen, there is now a little dairy called Siciliansk Is (Sicilian Ice Cream).

“Så er der is igen” (We finally have ice cream again).

Not a fan of the exterior or window decor. I smell Italian heterosexuality except the chair colour outside is very 1993 hairdresser coral which indicates either bad taste or really great ironic Generation X humour. But I’m afraid it’s a combination of the first two.

This little dairy shop has won several awards for being the best ice cream in the city. Even though my personal taste is more attracted to American ice cream with lots of chunks, chocolate, nuts and stuff, I can understand why people in Copenhagen love this place. For once a manufacturer doesn’t just bullshit you and fill you up with ad agency smart talk, this place really walks the walk. As their name indicates, their primary function is to make real Sicilian ice cream based on Sicilian ingredients. On their homepage they explain in detail where they buy their locally produced ingredients including photos of the small artisan chocolate shops in cozy Sicilian villages.

Sicily spring 2010, taken by my friend. For more pics see my Wintering in Sicily post.

The island gets so much sun that everything you grow here tastes wonderful.

Dog not used as ingredient in ice cream. But perhaps this will be when in 2050 when China has taken over the world. Rice ice cream with pink Poodle chunks, yum.

Today I walked by the shop and had to sample three of their most popular flavours. Chocolate, havtorn and kærnemælkskoldskål.

Nearly empty gelato containers–again, this place is popular. Assortment of flavours like chocolate from Sicilian capital Modica, almond from Avola, Zuppa Inglese from Palermo, Havtorn (buckthorn), cassata (ricotta and pickled fruit), strawberry (Danish), coffee, mandarin, koldskål, blood orange and so on. It all looked very delicious!

The yellow colour of buckthorn caught my eye, I had to taste it.

Buckthorn is an expensive Scandinavian berry (this batch is from Sweden) which is so hard to pick.

Voila! I chose the large serving at 37 DKK ($7). The yellow ice cream is buckthorn–it tasted sweet and fresh, sort of a sour mandarin. I could totally see buckthorn popular in Japan.

White creamy ice cream is kærnemælkskoldskål (try to pronounce that, Americanos!). Kærnemælk is buttermilk and Kærnemælkskoldskål is a traditional  yogurty buttermilk dessert which I think I will write about next week. A cold and very refreshing Danish summer dessert served with biscuits and fresh strawberries. It’s a hit. This ice cream version is really delicious too–sweet but also spiked with a sourness. I only wish they’d gone a little American and dropped big chunks of biscuit and berry into it.

Chocolate hiding beneath… chump chump.

Ok, chocolate recovered.

This chocolate ice cream is based on chocolate made by famous dolceria Bonajuto in the city of Modica. To quote their webpage:

Modica is Sicily’s capital, when it comes to chocolate. Here they have specialized in chocolate for over 500 years and have over 80 small chocolate shops in town. Here people are experimenting with all sorts of spices, among other things: marjoram, nutmeg, white pepper, salt, cinnamon and cardamom to name a few.

Exciting. I would love to go there on an Umamiventure to sample all these interesting experiments.

All in all, this ice cream is very good and I like their business model and concept. I didn’t take pictures of the interior of the shop, I thought of it as quite messy and unsexy. Their website is very DIY as well, I think their business could do with a little redesign and concept styling to make it all come together much better.

But for now they probably spend all their time awake making great ice cream and hats off for that. Then we can hope for a better visual experience to match the culinary one sometime in the future.

In a city like São Paulo with its mild climate, and  millions of Italian immigrants, you would expect to find loads of good gelato. Instead there is a ton of picole (popsicles) and regular ice cream. Luckily for us, just down the street is Bacio di Latte (Kiss of Milk). On any given Sunday, you will be hard-pressed to find elbow room, let alone a chair, to enjoy your Pistachio di Bronte gelato, or any other of their 20 cream or fruit-based flavors. For me, on a cold day like today, or any other day, I could eat all of them.

Before Bacio di Latte opened, research led them all over Brazil, where they didn’t find anything that even closely resembled what was available in the most common shops in Italy. So they went to Italy, and the research continued. This is the kind of research I would die for.

Pistachio gelato.

While on their Italian adventures, Nick and his partner Edoardo Tonolli met one of the most famous gelato chefs, who offered advice: if you are gonna do it, do it right. Nick and Edoardo’s Italian-imported machinery, freezers, and choice of ingredients show their commitment to the craft, as they serve deliciously smooth, almost tender gelato and use only the best ingredients. They clearly don’t skimp on their customers. They recognize that their customers deserve only the very best.

The communal table in the center is a great place to get to know your neighbor.

Milk-based gelatos keeping it cool in Italian freezers.

Sicilian Lemon Sorbet with lemon zest.

Maracujá (passion fruit) and chocolate topped with chocolate nibs, ready for the next dinner party.

Passion fruit gelato anyone?

The texture of the passion fruit close up.

Brazilian “Williams” pear.

They use chocolate from Belgium and the Ivory Coast.

Mint and chip gelato.

Bacio di Latte supports their local bakeries, and you can have a bear claw and a coffee during the colder mornings.

Their shop is simple, clean, welcoming, well-staffed, and located on the prestigious Rua Oscar Freire. Their quality puts their gelato and ice cream competitors in their place, for a fair price. As many of their competitors haven’t yet caught on, they encourage you to take any three flavors for their base price while the others allow only one.

The Scottish-born Nick Johnston, describes our attraction to ice cream and gelato as, “A sensory adventure that leads you nostalgically back to the sensation of cold, sweet textures–which was very exciting for us as kids.”

The shop’s ingredients come from all over the world: Sicily di Bronte pistachios (costly), Nocciola Tondo Gentile (hazelnuts from Piemonte, in northern Italy), Chocolates from Belgium and the Ivory Coast. Their “Typo A” Milk is from the best dairy in Brazil, raspberries from Chile, and all other fruits in their perfected form like maracuja (passion fruit), abacaxi com hortela (pineapple mint) can all be found locally.

The others just don’t compare. If gelato were boxing, and Nick and his partners were the trainers, they wouldn’t even let their contender in the ring with the other competitors–not because it wouldn’t win in the first round, but because other ice cream or the Häagen-Dazs down the street (which costs more) seems savage in comparison. It really is a lovely product with flavor that will knock you on your ass.

Milk canisters converted into stools. So cool.

Any day of the week, customers are trickling in throughout the weekday afternoons, some to reward themselves after their enormous workout, or a break from the office, or while walking their dog. They sit, and with that first taste they all do the same thing: close their eyes, and take a deep breath. Then smile.

But please, don’t call it ice cream. It’s GELATO.

Just got back from a long weekend in NYC. The trip killed me. I ran around all day, tried to see everyone, ate and drank myself into a tizzy, and literally collapsed in exhaustion.

It made me feel old.

That said, it really is an incredible city for eating. Like anywhere, there are some major misses, but the hits really make you forget about that flacid slice of pizza you had for lunch on some street corner in Chelsea.

I’ll be posting the best dishes from the trip in this column, Just Kill Me Now. As in, as long as this is at my Last Supper, I’ll be ready to dance with the Grim Reaper. Bring it.

And why couldn’t I start my Last Supper with dessert? Had this mind-blowing ending (to a dazzling meal in general) at Locanda Verde. Behold the La Fantasia di Fragola, for two. Translation: Strawberry Fantasy. This sculptural centerpiece came towering in a huge silver goblet. It is for two, afterall.

Fior di latte gelato, strawberry-prosecco sorbet, triangular chips of balsamic meringue. Mouthmelting. The most delightful part laid on the very bottom– chunks of sbrisolona, which is an Italian cake traditionally made of almond and cornmeal. Oh, and the tiniest and cutest little fragoline dotted the dish.

Our spoons dueled for the perfect balance of each scoop. We ate in silence. The bustle of the restaurant had long turned into an orchestral symphony.

Yes, just kill me now.

*Photo by Alda Ly.

Two long tables that seat about 40 guests Harry Potter-style, line the walls of Camino in Oakland. These dramatic slabs of wood sum up the restaurant itself – friendly and warm. Adding to the drama are two stone grills at the back of the restaurant in full view of the guests and four huge chandaliers laced with bay leaves. The rustic atmosphere reflects the menu (that changes daily) which features simple and easy-to-understand ingredients and descriptions.

I went to Camino as a party of four. Sitting nestled between strangers allowed for a very unpretentious experience, reminding me a little bit of izakayas back in Tokyo. The food, however, was definitely not reminding me of an izakaya. Being a party of four was great for trying various starters. In fact, I would like to go back to Camino with a bigger party sometime so I can experience the entire starters menu…

Our starters were:

Blood orange, Oro Blanco, grapefruit and faro with cauliflower
Probably my favorite starter since it was really delicate and well thought out. The citrus added a subtle depth that complimented the otherwise buttery cauliflower. California cuisine at its best.

Fried smelt with arugula salad, beets and herb mayonnaise
The beets were the best part of this dish. I sometimes find beets to be too sweet – these were conservative in their sweetness. Give me some time with smelt, I still can not figure these babies out.

Rock shrimp soup
Very savory. That white stuff floating on the top, most probably cheese, was the star of this dish.

Pork feet nuggets and pork head slices
Melt in your mouth nuggets were amazing, but a little heavy for a starter. I would have liked to be eating these at a bar instead.

Camino also serves complimentary bread, delicious butter and mineral water (gas and no gas).

We all ended up getting the duck as our main entree which was perfection.

On the upper left side of the plate were super sweet cooked carrots of several hues (orange, yellow and cream). Au gratin potatoes were placed on the top of the plate. These were perfectly cooked thin slices of potato in about four layers. Between each medallion was a light cream sauce. The greens are peeking out from the grilled duck on the right side of the plate. This combination of greens had the texture of cabbage but the bitter flavor of kale. The main ingredient, duck came in two styles. On the right side is a piece of grilled duck leg. The buttery layers of duck melted in my mouth after experiencing a slight crunch from the top skin layer. On the left side were four rare slices of steak-style duck. The texture was reminiscent of roast beef, giving off a really satisfying feeling of indulging in red meat, yet without the super heaviness of beef. The concept of the dish was like a really gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. Being a fan of Thanksgiving, this was a really satisfying plate.

And dessert was yet another adventure at Camino. Luckily we all had to satisfy our sweet tooth, so we decided to share three desserts amongst the four of us.

Apple and quince tart with brandy cream
Perfect crunch with this tart. I loved how there wasn’t much of anything besides apple and a flaky crust.

Hazelnut ice-cream with chocolate
Simply hazelnut. And with shaved chocolate, this dish delivered exactly what it claimed to be – hazelnuts and chocolate.

Wood oven-roasted prunes with red wine and vanilla ice cream
This was the star of the show for me. It reminded me of Cherries Jubilee (an all-time favorite of mine). The vanilla ice-cream wasn’t too in-your-face to make room for the sweet prunes. The color of the red wine was gorgeous too.

A truly photogenic meal and atmosphere, Camino will definitely be on the list for places to celebrate a fancy occasion. This gem is definitely somewhere I’d like to go for a couple of cocktails in the near future as well.

CAMINO
3917 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA
T: 510.547.5035

While he ate his sandwich and sipped his beer, a bit of conversation came back to him. Blaisedell, the poet, had said to him, “You love beer so much, I’ll bet someday you’ll go in and order a beer milk shake.” It was a simple piece of foolery but it had bothered Doc ever since. He wondered what a beer milk shake would taste like. The idea gagged him but he couldn’t let it alone. It cropped up every time he had a glass of beer. Would it curdle the milk? Would you add sugar? It was like a shrimp ice cream. Once the thing got into your head you couldn’t forget it. He finished his sandwich and paid Herman. He purposely didn’t look at the milk shake machines lined up so shiny against the back wall. If a man ordered a beer milk shake, he thought, he’d better do it in a town where he wasn’t known. But then, a man with a beard, ordering a beer milk shake in a town where he wasn’t known—they might call the police.
—Excerpt from John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row

Whether to combine beer with ice cream—yes indeed, a conundrum for the ages. You love beer. You love ice cream. Would they work together as one, or would the sum prove less than the value of the individual parts? And if it doesn’t work, does that not make the root beer float we enjoyed as children just a cruel setup for adulthood when we attempt such a trick with beer? A mere feint to lure unsuspecting adults—folks like Steinbeck’s Doc—into a trap that leads to ridicule and humiliation merely for seeking to tap into the happiness of our inner child?

Fortunately, that is not the case. Thanks to brave souls like myself who have traversed the arid plains of the unthinkable in search of the oft-uncomfortable truth, you can rest assured that Doc’s enigma has an answer, and it’s a delicious one. Actually, I’m not the first person to try beer and ice cream together, not even close. However you’re still likely to draw suspicious glances from folks if you mention such a scheme, especially if you happen to be sporting a beard.

I call this concoction Doc’s Enigma, but you can call it a Beer Float, an Adult Float, or whatever else floats your boat.

Doc’s Enigma
1 bottle stout beer (I recommend Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Chocolate Stout)
2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream (get the creamiest, highest quality you can find)

If you’ve had a childhood in America you should know the drill. But I suppose there may be readers who are unfamiliar with the root beer float so here goes: simply toss the ice cream in any glass of choice and fill with the beer. Grab a spoon, a straw, or a spoon-straw, and either enjoy it immediately or do what I prefer which is to let it sit for a few minutes so the ice cream begins to melt into and react with the beer. And what a delicious reaction it is. The bitter, malty, and chocolatey notes of the beer are phenomenal with the creamy vanilla ice cream.

While it’s a simple enough endeavor with its two basic ingredients, the attention you pay to the ingredients you use will make all the difference. If you can’t get Brooklyn Brewery beer you can use Guinness or any other stout beer. The Brownstone Ale from Sixpoint Brewery, which is also located in Brooklyn, is another great choice.

You can experiment with other types of beers as well, although I think darker, maltier beers serve the purpose better, and they’re rich enough and have enough body to embrace the ice cream. I certainly wouldn’t go with anything lighter than an amber ale, as pilsners and the like just won’t give you that malty, slightly bitter flavor that so greatly complements the ice cream.

The choice of ice cream is also important. The creamier the ice cream, the better the final product will be, so skip the low quality stuff as well as anything artificially flavored. I’ve never tried this with a non-dairy ice cream so lactose intolerant folks may have to do their own experimentation. While I think vanilla ice cream provides the best flavor combination with the beer, there may be other flavors out there worth experimenting with. I would however stay away from anything with bits and chunks in it, as they’ll simply float to the bottom.

I suppose you can also go the full milkshake route by blending everything together instead of treating it like a float. I can’t imagine that being bad either, although in the end you may find that simplicity is still the best route.

Now let’s see if we can get crackin’ on the shrimp ice cream.

*Got a cocktail question? Hit me on twitter @paystyle, email me at payman(at)lifesacocktail(dot)com, or simply drop me a comment below!

**Paystyle was born in Tehran and grew up in Los Angeles (aka Tehrangeles) before moving to Brooklyn with his wife and co-pilot Vanessa Bahmani who provides the stunning photography of Pay’s concoctions. Return every Wednesday for his weekly Happy Hour column.

Trader Joe’s. Cupertino, CA. Do you see all the little silhouettes of monkeys everywhere? The whole thing is so cheesy, I couldn’t resist buying a box (only $1.99 for four bananas!).

Just in case you were interested:

Everything about this excites me.

My new favorite ice-cream product is Chocobari. The closest translation for the Japanese word “bari” in English is the onomatopoeia “crunch.”

I first knew of Chocobari in the summer months when they were running ads for it on TV. I couldn’t find the actual ad I saw on Youtube, but here’s one I was able to dig up that looks kind of old, above.

Everything about Chocobari screams artificial. The “crunch” is provided by pellets of ground peanuts and flour. While the ice-cream isn’t actually even ice-cream, but instead “ice-milk” which is a poor man’s version of ice-cream that’s quite common in Japan.

Ice-milk close up:

The result is addictive. It totally lives up to its name – providing a crisp chocolate shell with brown pellets that really deliver crunch impact. It’s similar to a Crunch ice-cream bar, but its size is much more generous and it’s something about the Japanese touch that makes it forgivably artificial.

The best part: Chocobari is only ¥126 and readily available at 7-11′s and Family Marts across Japan.

Just got back from LaLaLand for the last in a never ending series of weddings this year (uhhh, SEVEN). Jon Sublet got hitched!!! It was quite the wedding for the ages- the dessert table consisted of Persian sweets, fresh figs and these beautiful petite WHOLE CUCUMBERS. Of course I shamelessly had like five of them, it was awesome. How often do you get to eat whole cucumbers at a wedding??? Exactly.

LA is a place near and dear to my heart. It’s the first city my family and I moved to from Tokyo, and my brother was born there. I have nothing but love for that city- the pulsating energy reminds me of NYC (untz, untz, untz), despite warring sentiments on both sides. Fuck that! LA now has the BEER FLOAT, thanks to The Golden State. NYC, whatchugot???

As I wrote back in February, my good friend Jim Starr opened this joint along with his friend Jason Bernstein. This was my first time there since they opened in March- I won’t bore you with a massive review since they have gotten so much I N T E R N E T love, not to mention Jonathan Gold love. Whoa.

And here she is… The Famed Golden State Beer Float.

Old Rasputin Imperial Russian Stout
1 Scoop Horchata Ice Cream by Scoops
1 Scoop Dulce de Leche Ice Cream by Scoops

HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS THIS WAS AMAZING. Creamy, velvety, chocolaty, the perfect pairing. UMAMIPORN HOLLER.

How amazing, you ask???

This amazing.

Incidentally, my brother works here a few nights a week, so if you see him, make sure to say hello! He’s the scraggly Asian kid, can’t miss him.

THE GOLDEN STATE
426 N. Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
T: 323.782.8331

*Kayoko will be eating pho for lunch today, somewhere in Santa Clara, CA.