Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Fish in My Ice-Cream?

An experimental biotech stuff approved by the FDA is being used in the ice-cream. The substance has good points. It is supposed to help the ice-cream to re-crystallize in case it warms up.

This substance is made from the blood proteins of a certain kind of an eel-like, bottom-dwelling fish found in the northern regions: western North Atlantic Ocean in the vicinity of Battle Harbor, in southern Labrador, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, all around the coast of Newfoundland, in the Bay of Fundy, off Nova Scotia, and as far south as North Carolina.. The fish is known as eelpout, muttonfish, ocean pout, and congo eel.

Who'd know the protein diet would advance this far! I think Dr. Atkins had nothing to do with this, but then maybe Breyers did, since they are the first ones to jump on the fish-blood wagon.

It is astounding to think how ice-cream has changed from the days of the Roman emperor Nero Claudius Caesar who sent slaves to the mountains to bring snow and ice to cool and freeze the fruit drinks he loved so much. It wasn't Nero only but also later Marco Polo who got into ice-cream after witnessing the Chinese ice-cream techniques.

Basic ice-cream should consist of milk, sweeteners, fruit, and emulsifiers. So many franchises claim that their product is the best ice-cream, because they make it with the finest ingredients.

Now the blood of an ugly fish becomes one of those finest (!) ingredients. Probably, not everyone is going to use it, but if this thing helps the ice-cream, the use of fish blood will spread like wildfire.

Maybe we won't even taste it or know about it. Still, I say, something fishy has gone into the ice-cream business.