I love dessert, especially ice cream. Like, the type of love where I could be comatose after a huge dinner and still perk up enough to roll myself to the kitchen at the thought of ice cream. My theory is that ice cream is basically a liquid, so you don't need space in your stomach. Instead it kinda just fills the holes in between food in your stomach.
I recently went travelling for three months and wanted to compile a food comparison for all of the countries I visited. I pondered my options and realised that ice cream was, of course, the obvious choice for this comparison. Not only can I gorge myself on foreign delicacies and still have room for it, but every country has ice cream. Regardless of whether you are mincing through the humid streets of Manilla or freezing in the Swiss Alps, you will be able to find a gelateria or, at the very least, some vendor slugging Magnum-esk cream on a stick.
As I drifted into a daze imagining the moment I could add 'global ice cream taster' to my resume, my boyfriend so kindly pointed out that I am lactose intolerant. To this, I replied that fate loves the fearless, and his common sense and genuine concern for my intestines would not melt my ice cream dreams. Live fast die young, or maybe just eat ice cream knowing the location of the nearest emergency exit (and by exit I mean toilet).
We set off on our journey, and you can't imagine how much joy I felt having this conversation in every.single.country with my boyfriend.
Me: "I need to get ice cream."
Him: "Didn't you have one yesterday?"
Me: "It's for the blog, I NEED to get ice cream. How else will I earn my income?"
Him: "But it's 7am..?"
Me: "It's 5'oclock somewhere."
After this, I would avert my eyes from his defeated, yet still quite judgemental, stare, open the Google Maps app and begin plotting my next ice cream escapade. Victory had literally never tasted so sweet.
Long story short I tried 14 different ice creams, and it was glorious. Better yet, I've compiled taste and price rankings for you below. All prices are for two scoops and were converted to Aussie Dollars based on Travel Money Oz's online rate on the 20th of August.
Here are a few Aussie ratings so you can get an idea of my palette, some control samples you may say.
Baskin and Robbins Love Potion 31
Taste: 8/10
Price: $8.40
This ice cream's vanilla base makes you feel like you're making a healthy choice next to those double choc options. The berry swirl and chocolate chunks surprise you like an extra nugget at the bottom of your Maccas bag and leave you wanting more.
Connoisseur Cookies and Cream
Taste: 10/10
Price: Around $10 for a tub, so we can say $6 for two decent scoops
When people ask me the meaning of life, I point to this ice cream. It's soft, grungy look fills my heart, and it's perfectly balanced cookies, and cream flavours fulfil my wildest fantasies. If my boyfriend has done something to annoy me, he simply needs to purchase me a tub of this sweet nectar and all is forgiven.
Chocolate Paddle Pop
Taste: 4/10
Price: $3
Not bad but nothing to icescream about. Mums buy this for their kids because it's cheap, isn't that terrible and will shut them up for a while. Poor kids still haven't been introduced to the world of life-changing ice cream.
