One time, MrC went to the local small grocery.  Before he left he asked me if I wanted anything.  I asked for any kind of Filipino ice cream: any ice cream which he finds exotic-sounding.   While in there he called up my mobile and told me he only found one flavor: the Selecta Quezo Real.  I said, “sure please get it!”

Up to now, I still find it surprising that Cheese Ice Cream is classified among the weirdest and more alternative type of ice cream flavors.  To us Filipinos, it is just a regular ice cream because we grew up eating this flavor.  When I lived in the US I was kind of disappointed to only find ice cream flavors that are mostly in variants of chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and strawberry!

Here in the Philippines, one can find the following ice cream flavors:

Halo-halo: based on the local favorite cold dessert which means Mixed up.  It includes fruit bits such as langka, bananas, and coconut meat products, mixed with yam, flan, beans, topped with crushed ice and milk.

Ube: This is a purple colored ice cream which is based from sweetened purple yams which is called halaya in Tagalog.

Sweet Corn: This yummy flavored ice cream tastes like, you guessed it, corn, with real corn bits.  It is also based probably on the local cold dessert called mais con yelo (corn on ice) which is a mixture of corn, milk, sugar and crushed ice.

Macapuno: I have always remembered this as my grandmother’s favorite.  I think this flavor has a long history indeed. Macapuno is simply sweetened shredded coconut meat.  The ice cream is plain white like vanilla but has that creamy coconut taste and bits of the sweetened shredded coconut meat.  Simply unforgettable!

Nangkasoy: jackfruit and cashew ice cream.  I haven’t really tasted this for years but I remember this was also one of my childhood favorites.

Durian:  I believe this is a new flavor which I have yet to try.  This is based on a fruit that is abundant in the city of Davao.

Tsokonut (or Chocnut): this is based on a unique Filipino candy that is like coconut and chocolate flavored and a bit powdery but for some reason stays solid.. anyway, you can compare it to an American candy called Reese’s.