Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Mangopeño Pistachio Parfait!

I was at this fabulous ice cream parlor in Lincoln called Ivanna Cone, which I--sadly--haven't actually visited in nearly four years. Apparently I had ridden my bike there, and as I looked at my bare arms, I realized that either it was warm out or that I was completely crazy.

In addition to more traditional flavors of their homemade ice cream, Ivanna Cone always offers several exotic options, and the selection this day was no exception. I looked and looked, trying to decide what to order. I was about to get something traditional (chocolate, probably), when a small container of vibrant, shiny emerald green cubes caught my eye. This, I saw, was the mangopeño--a combination, clearly, of mango and jalapeño. I asked the guy behind the counter if it was very hot, and he responded that it wasn't bad--that it actually could be spicier. Next to the cubes was an example of a parfait that could be made with the mangopeño.

On a whim, and feeling very impulsive and adventuresome, I ordered the mangopeño, in a parfait layered with creamy pistachio ice cream (which had a pale green swirl and had that sort of gritty look of ice cream made in a freezer at home--though it doesn't actually taste gritty). I thought the creamy pistachio would cut the spicy mangopeño nicely.

They made it in a tall (10"?) cylindrical glass with thick ribs, and I remember wondering how I was going to get it home on my bicycle, and deciding that I'd eat it there--maybe on the bench outside that paint-your-own ceramics shop. It cost $5.20, and I pulled out a ten dollar bill. Sadly, it may have been finding the right change that cost me tasting the concoction; I looked for and found two dimes, and was just handing them over when my alarm went off. I woke up with Mangopeño Pistachio Parfait! ringing in my head, but not, sadly, remaining on my tongue.

1 comment:

strovska said...

that's such a great dream! i was going to say it was the perfect dream until i got to the part about waking up before you could taste it.