Hey Häagen-Dazs, Gimme Five! #realornothing

File this story under an ironic “It’s a Hard Life But Somebody’s Gotta …” as an afternoon spent as a guest of Häagen-Dazs and Great British Chefs to blind taste ice cream and try out the brand’s “real or nothing” approach applied to a meal prepared by winner of Masterchef 2013, Natalie Coleman, proved a lot of fun and especially delicious. Here’s the scoop!

Häagen-Dazs is my go-to ice cream. Honestly, much of the reasoning behind my preference is that I know the shops nearest my flat all stock it. Still, given the choice, I tend to buy Häagen-Dazs as I reckon it’s usually the yummiest option (no matter where in London I’m shopping). So, I enjoy it for its flavour – and its nice creamy texture – but the cool thing about Häagen-Dazs products is that their made without any yucky stuff.

Of course ice cream isn’t health food, but the recipes used by this Brooklyn-born brand with vast global reach can hardly be described as junk. For example, Häagen-Dazs’ vanilla ice cream consists of only five ingredients: eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and sugar. It, as with all the ice cream makers’ flavours, contains no stabilizers, emulsifiers or colorants.

With the invitation to this Häagen-Dazs/Great British Chefs team up (held at The Chandlery – an excellent venue in Southwark with a killer open kitchen and nice roof terrace) came the chance to discover “secrets behind the world famous ice cream,” but the only real secret found out was that there doesn’t seem to be any aside from exact proportions in recipes and getting the flavour, consistency and texture just right while not relying on additives and such.

Put to a blind taste test of three vanilla ice cream brands available at pretty much any British supermarket and one that was homemade by guest chef Natalie Coleman, the Häagen-Dazs came out on top among myself and a handful of other bloggers attending the lunch. It was without doubt the one with the most vanilla-y aroma and fullest flavour – creamiest, thickest texture too – and I can only presume the fewest things in it.

As what often feels like the only human in London who doesn’t watch TV, I’d never heard of Natalie Coleman before. But she was super friendly, and most certainly she could cook! Her poached duck egg with asparagus and generous truffle shavings was a delight, and I reckon her pressed pork belly (served with scallops) was one of the tastiest and tenderest I’d ever had.
Can you guess what was for dessert?

Learn more about Häagen-Dazs at haagen-dazs.co.uk.