“I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream” goes the famous 1920s song. I cannot recollect much of the rest of it and, frankly, don’t see any need to. This line has managed to retain its huge popularity even after many decades, and rightly so. Choosing any food item other than ice-cream in this scorching month of April would be sacrilege, wouldn’t it? What makes an ice-cream so special that we’re ready to suffer blocked noses and hoarse throats and hypnotically give in to its temptation?

Ice-cream is a type of frozen food made with dairy products or other types of milk like almond or soy. It is a great dessert option and can also make a good afternoon snack, especially in summers. (Although, if you have a family like mine, you’ll find it on the breakfast table too!) Vanilla and chocolate are most commonly used for flavour, while sugar and other alternatives are used as sweeteners in it.

Would it surprise you if I confess that I wasn’t always an ice-cream lover? Well, it’s true. While all my friends made a beeline at a softy ice-cream parlour near our college, just one bite of it was enough to put me off. My “It is too sweet” comment met with few stunned bulging eyes and hurt retorts of “Are you out of your mind?”. Meanwhile, my best friend hurriedly swallowed my ice-cream fearing that I might ask her to hand it back to me. 😀

My moment of revelation came when I and A, newly-married, were strolling in a mall and spotted a new gelato Italiano outlet. The beautiful pictures and the absence of the typical ice-cream parlour smell instantly summoned me in. This wasn’t your regular ice-cream joint with the usual fare. It had a wide variety of flavours to choose from. I opted for the bitter Belgian dark chocolate while A shot me a derisive look. As the chocolate settled on my tongue, I felt nirvana. Everything else was forgotten as I gave in to its luxurious pleasure. 🙂

Till date, that’s the only brand of ice-cream I like to have. What I once did for it though has become a sort of legend in A’s family.

We went for A Jr’s jadula/tonsure to our native place in Rajasthan when he was 11 months old. It was a group of fifteen people including A’s uncles, aunties and teenage cousins, and the three of us. After spending two days completing all the rituals and visits to our kuldevi temples, we headed to Noida. A’s maternal uncle lives there with his family and he had expressly invited us all to his place. We decided to visit the Akshardham temple in the afternoon and The Great India Place Mall in the evening.

Once we were in the mall, A’s adorable cousins took charge of A Jr and his diaper bag and requested me to walk around freely. While they indulged him in the game zone I mistakenly took a detour and reached the food court. I spotted it just then, the familiar name and the mesmerising recollection of the melting goodness. As I was magnetically drawn to it, I realised midway that my purse was in the diaper bag. I had no money on me! 🙁 🙁

What would you have done had you been in my place? I did something completely unlike me and am tad embarrassed about it till date. I walked over to the gelato outlet and on the pretext of sampling, tasted close to seven different chocolate flavours. The guy on the counter saw through me but played along sportingly, even suggesting some new ones. 😛 I returned to our group, happy and sated. When I told about this to A, he was livid while his cousins thought their bhabhi was a rockstar! 😀 😉

The best thing about ice-cream is its versatility. Milk shakes, faloodas taste better with it and sweets like gulab jamun and jalebi pair with it brilliantly. Have different flavours on a platter in sundaes or stick to your favourites, like I do. You can top it with choco chips, chocolate or wafer cigars, colourful sprinkles or delicious sauces. Nothing can ever go wrong with ice-cream. Isn’t it why, I scream, You scream…. 🙂 🙂

I’m sure you have an ice-cream story too. Do share it with me. 🙂

This post is written for #BlogchatterA2Z and #AtoZChallenge for April 2019