The pleasures of ice cream

ICE cream does not need a season to be enjoyed; it only needs an excuse. However, Providence has been kind to this city in the sense that we enjoy warm weather for most of the year and hence get a greater chance to gorge on ice cream, though there are those among us who derive great pleasure in downing dollops of the cold, sweet stuff during the dead of Karachi’s (brief) winter. I, for one, am not one of them.

A wide variety of variations of the frozen dessert – beloved by countless faithful followers the world over – is available in the metropolis, from swish boutiques selling highly priced imported stuff in air-conditioned shopping malls to humble kulfi-wallahs peddling their product off a bicycle on the streets. No matter what your pocket size, God has given Karachians of every hue easy access to ice cream. Hallelujah.

Over the years, this writer has tried and tested ice cream of various varieties in this city – from the aforementioned shimmering malls to the thelay-wallas. Hereunder are listed some of the relevant experiences.

Perhaps a decade-and-a-half ago, when international fast food franchises landed on these shores, foreign ice cream vendors soon followed in their footsteps. To be precise, to my knowledge only one foreign franchise has come – a Swiss concern – while another up-market ice cream vendor claims to sell authentic Italian gelato, said to be a creamier version of good old ice cream.

One must call a spade, a spade: the stuff available at these places tastes heavenly. That said, the price, especially at the Swiss joint, is so high that no amount of ice cream can put out the fire raging inside the burning wallet of an average punter like yours truly after tasting a scoop or two at such places. Perhaps their product is flavoured with the milk of paradise. The Italian place, on the other hand, is priced a little lower.

But we are men of the people. Once or twice a year this high-end stuff might be okay, but where does everyman go for his/her ice cream fix? Well, for one there’s the stuff sold at corner stores and supermarkets manufactured by multi-national companies. But though these choc-bars, cones and other such delights may have their merits, just as I would not discuss a microwave dinner in a food column, ice cream sold out of a wrapper will have no place here.

Like fast food joints, there are countless ice cream parlours that dot the city, some very good, others average and some downright diabolical. Perhaps the most famous local chain is Baloch, with parlours from Kharadar to North Nazimabad and everywhere in between. One has to say that the special faluda at this place is a right treat on a sizzling summer day.

Not only does it quench one’s thirst, but the delicious mix of ice cream, rooh afza syrup, crunchy nuts and vermicelli is to die for. That goes for any well-made faluda. I say well-made as I’ve had my share of greasy, absolutely unpalatable faluda in this city.

Though flavours like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry can be had anywhere on earth, last summer I tried something terrific at a place on Burnes Road that specializes in kheer and rabri: rabri ice cream. What a truly glorious invention! It had the rich flavour of rabri with the smooth texture of well-made ice cream.

If you’re in the mood for something more traditional, perhaps Chaudhry Farzand Ali’s Spartan kulfi parlour might be the place to go. An absolutely no-frills establishment, customers are seated on marble benches here and served in tin plates that look like they date back to Partition. Located opposite the Empress Market in the heart of Saddar, this place retains something of the charm of old world Karachi in the simple delight it serves up.

Chaudhry Sahib’s offerings are as simple as the décor in his outlet: no tutti-frutti, frozen yogurt or foreign flavours here. Just plain old kulfi served up with plenty of vermicelli and a dash of rooh afza syrup and voila: a dessert fit for a king. Everyone from day labourers to cats in smart shirts line up to taste Chaudhry Sahib’s delightful kulfi.

But if you’ve had enough ice cream out of a cup or glass, you might want to try the cones available at two ice cream parlours just off Burnes Road, close to the old campus of the NED University. For the life of me, I’ve never had so much ice cream for so little money.

Starting at Rs15, these cats will make you a towering waffle cone with at least three flavours. However, be forewarned as unless you tell them exactly what you want, they are liable to give you the most bizarre mix of flavours you’ve ever tasted. I remember once ‘enjoying’ coffee, pistachio and mango in one cone. Quite an experience, to say the least.

If the swarming flies don’t bug you much, this is the place to get your money’s worth when it comes to ice cream.
Courtesy Daily Dawn Lahoe/ By Qasim A. Moini