Date: November 20th, 2017 2:00 PM
Author: Low-t site
rofl shitlibs ruining ice cream
Turkey ice cream? Really? We tried the Salt & Straw Thanksgiving menu
By Alix Martichoux, SFGATE and Filipa Ioannou 4:00 am, Monday, November 20, 2017
Salt & Straw is serving up five ice cream flavors inspired by Thanksgiving dinner, included a turkey flavor and a mashed potatoes option. The ice cream store has two locations in San Francisco.
Media: Alix Martichoux, SFGATE
Since landing in San Francisco in April, beloved Portland-based ice cream shop Salt & Straw has commanded long lines at its Pacific Heights location with its inventive, eyebrow-raising flavors (see: bone marrow smoked cherry ice cream).
We were intrigued by Salt & Straw's Thanksgiving menu and decided to try it, so we headed to the chain's newly-opened outpost in Hayes Valley.
The Thanksgiving menu, available every November, is designed as a five-part meal, with three sides (sweet potato casserole with maple pecans, buttered mashed potatoes and gravy, and persimmon walnut stuffing), a main course (salted caramel Thanksgiving turkey, made with turkey stock and candied pieces of turkey skin) and a dessert (spiced goat cheese and pumpkin pie).
It inspired some strong responses. SFGATE staff opinions on the flavors follow, ordered from most to least controversial.
The persimmon walnut stuffing ice cream from the Salt & Straw Thanksgiving menu. Click through the gallery to see pictures of the other special flavors. Photo: Allison Jones
Photo: Allison Jones
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The persimmon walnut stuffing ice cream from the Salt & Straw Thanksgiving menu. Click through the gallery to see pictures of the other special flavors.
Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey:
This ice cream does not shy away from meaty flavor, with turkey stock flavoring the base and candy-coated skins studded throughout. Tasting it was a deeply polarizing experience for our office.
If the turkey flavor were advertised on a movie poster, it would be like that one for Darren Aronofsky's "mother!" with one side all raves ("DARKLY EXHILARATING") and the other, snippets of merciless pannings ("A CIRCUS OF GROTESQUE DEBAUCHERY").
"The turkey ruined my day," a producer said.
"The damn meat sneaks up on you and when it does, you wish it hadn't," said another staffer.
One editor, the first to try the flavor, bellowed an expletive, following it with the observation, "Oh man, it is weird."
But the turkey had its defenders: Four people thought it was one of the best flavors, praising the umami notes of the ice cream base and distinctive finish of the crunchy skin pieces. "The skin was yum and creative," said one such contrarian.
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Buttered Mashed Potatoes and Gravy:
This was the second flavor with a meat component (the potato-based ice cream is mixed with a gravy fudge that includes both chocolate and chicken stock). Responses ranged from "Weirdly good" to "Why?" with the latter camp outnumbering the former.
Many were not on board with the concept itself.
"On a good bite, it tasted like almost nothing," one producer said. "On a bad bite, it tasted like potatoes."
Spiced Goat Cheese and Pumpkin Pie:
Some felt the pungent goat cheese flavor overwhelmed the taste of the pumpkin pie, but again, there was discord. Takes included, "Cruel," "The best, but also the easiest to slam dunk," "Like eating cold Band Aids," and "Good alternative [to pie]."
Persimmon Walnut Stuffing:
One person found this flavor "disturbing," but she seemed to be in the minority. Most people said they thought it was a pleasant mix of fall flavors, with bourbon-soaked raisins and chopped-up pieces of toasted stuffing laden with spices.
Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans:
The sweet potato flavor, dotted with caramelized pecans and laced with ribbons of maple marshmallow fluff, was the closest thing to a consensus pick we had, deemed "different without being weird," although most agreed it was a little too sweet, and one person completely forgot she had tasted it.
It seemed like everyone had at least one flavor they loved and one they passionately hated. Luckily, Salt & Straw offers a tasting flight so you can try the meal for yourself without committing to full-sized scoops. And if you buy a pint of one of the Thanksgiving flavors, they'll donate one to Food Runners, a local nonprofit.
(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3803680&forum_id=2#34732171)