It is the season for ice-cream in the city. In the last seven years, I don’t remember daily temperatures being so high in Atlanta. This is almost as bad as hot and sweaty Mumbai, as humid and muggy… Ugh. Last week, I was talking with my colleague and good friend Arvie telling him about Natural Ice Cream in Mumbai. They have the most amazing flavors – Watermelon, Chikoo, Tender Coconut, Fig, Custard Apple and more! The ice cream is incredibly light in texture; in fact you can eat two cones in a single sitting, one delicious flavor after another. It is definitely creamy but the fresh fruit flavor is the star in this ice cream, not the milk-sugar-cream combo, as one experiences often in most American brands of ice cream.

That being said, I should mention about Breyers Ice Cream. The reason I buy this brand most often is that it contains a short list of ingredients, all of which are easy to pronounce, and most of which I recognize. I prefer buying simple flavors; none of the Chips Ahoy or Reeses or Oreo flavors for me. Also, most of the flavors don’t contain egg. But I was beginning to tire of the same offerings – Neopolitan, Dulce De Leche, Strawberry, Butter Pecan. But my options were limited.

Or so I thought.

Then I peeked into the far corner of the rack and found the Publix Premium range of ice creams. I had always skipped over them, thinking that they’d contain egg and a host of other unknown ingredients. But this time, I looked closer. Maple Walnut… hmmm, that ingredient list didn’t look too bad. And egg didn’t feature in the list of ingredients.

I know ‘natural and artificial flavors’ don’t say much but I suppose I have to live with that lack of information.

How is the ice cream, you ask? Delicious! My father-in-law thought it too creamy for his taste. He also thought that there were way too many walnuts in there. I agree that it’s creamy but not overwhelmingly so. The taste and texture is a little like malai kulfi. Also, I found the proportion of walnuts perfect as well. There is a wonderful flavor of maple that goes very well with the crunchy nuttiness of the walnuts. I had to stop myself from taking seconds.

Now I look forward to trying the other flavors from this line.