Melting Ice Cream Cones

Have you ever heard of the ice cream that never melts in the sun? It's a wonderful little section in the Roald Dahl story of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. If only it were true in real life!

As this photograph demonstrates, if it's a warm, sunny day, ice cream might seem very appealing BUT you have to eat it quickly! My family were all shouting 'Quick before it all melts!" over my shoulder as I took this photograph. Needless to say once the camera was put away, these ice cream cones didn't have much longevity :-)

 

The ice cream cone has a fascinating history going back to the beginning of the 20th century. If this interests you, then you can delve further into the world of the ice cream cone by reading about the ice cream poke.

Ice Cream Cone Holder - A Welcome Idea

Have you noticed how, whenever you eat an ice cream cone there's always a bit which melts without you noticing and drips down onto your fingers? It then risks getting on your clothes and, what's more, it tends to all gather at the base of the cone and make it soggy and sticky.

Some people would say that's part of the fun of ice cream and when I was a child I would definitely have agreed .... but now? Well, I must admit to finding myself clutching a paper tissue in readiness before I even get served at the ice cream counter!

Countenance my delight, therefore, when I was recently handed an ice cream cone in its own paper cone holder - free of charge and without asking. It was even branded with the local ice cream maker's name .... a nice little marketing ploy and one I wholly congratulate them on.

Here's a picture of the mint choc chip ice cream cone my son chose - you can see the paper cone holder quite clearly.

FOOTNOTE: In N. Ireland they use the term ice cream poke instead of ice cream cone.

Ice Cream Poke & Ice Cream Slider

Today I heard two expressions relating to ice cream that I had NEVER heard before - ice cream poke and ice cream slider.

My family and I were visiting some dear friends (whose hospitality is always wonderful) and amongst our many topics of conversation - eg. the history of the Titanic, big band jazz, making ceramics and the technology of acoustics - we started talking about ice cream.

Now these friends know about my passion for ice cream and indeed I helped them get an electric ice cream maker of their own which they use regularly to try out my ice cream recipes. So you would think that having discussed ice cream with them before, there could be no way of them using terms completely unfamiliar to me ... but they did. You see Don was born in Belfast (which I pronounce as "bellfast" but he insists should be said as "belfarst") and on recalling childhood memories of ice cream he suddenly referred to ice cream pokes and ice cream sliders.

The quizzical expression on my face must have said it all so he kindly explained ....

ice cream poke = ice cream cone

ice cream slider = ice cream sandwich (using wafers)

Having returned home, I had to look this up! Apparently, these expressions are used throughout Ireland and also parts of Scotland. The ice cream poke expression interested me most and after a little digging what I discovered made perfect sense. I had heard the expression "a pig in a poke" before but never stopped to think about it. Apparently, one meaning of the word 'poke' is a sack or bag - a definition dating back over 600 years to medieval England! So it's totally logical to use the word to describe a cone for holding ice cream.

Great to have an English lesson from an Irishman!