Ice Cream. San Francisco, USA

November 2019
Gelato, classic or innovative, take your pick of ice cream shop in San Francisco.  I love experimental interpretations of conventional foods so I couldn’t walk passed Salt and Straw in Hayes Valley without having to go in to investigate.  Flavours change monthly so being a week before Thanksgiving, that was the theme of most of their flavours.  Think turkey, sweet potato casserole, stuffing and pumpkin pie in ice cream form.  Initially I wasn’t convinced, however taking a look at the ingredients revealed how cleverly this had been done.  I sampled the Thanksgiving turkey – caramelised turkey skin folded in to salted caramel ice cream.  An explosion of flavours – sweet, salty and a definite meatiness that meant it had a very rich mouth feel.  Delicious as a sample but not sure I could have managed a whole scoop.  Much fresher was the goats cheese and winter spice ice cream, streaked with baked pumpkin pie.  The tart, earthiness of the goats cheese complemented the pumpkin pie perfectly to give just enough sweetness whilst being a refreshing and light scoop all the way to the last lick.  And don’t forget the cones, handmade in store these are crispy, flavoursome and smell divine – not a time to opt for a cup!
There’s another branch in Pacific Heights, as well as branches across other cities and states.  

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