The Big Bang – June 1995

In the Summer of 1995, Mariam, Ali and Myself tried the little wooden ice cream bucket with a hand crank for the first time.  We had raided the local market for salt and had a brick of ice all crushed up and ready to go.  Our machine was the tried and tested old-fashioned formula, which we were trying to emulate, partially because all our literature suggested that despite technological changes, Ice Cream is still best made the old-fashioned way.  Our second reason for going for rustic, old-fashioned ways was financial.

We started small.  After a few minutes of churning, nothing.  Then gradually, you sense a slight thickening in the mix and some resistance.  It’s beginning to thicken.  After a while, churning has become quite a tough job, far from the breeze it was at the outset.  Finally, there was considerable excitement as we could see a little liquid start to seep out of the canister.  The ice cream had thickened up perfectly; time to stop churning and have a taste.  Our first batch was Maple Walnut, which turned out smooth and voluptuous.  There were questions.  How would it be the next day after hardening?  When would it start to oxidise?  Will the texture change or remain smooth and creamy?  Could we improve on our machine or our technique, and how?  The first gingerly step into the unknown had proven successful.  Though exhausted, we all had some interesting dreams and were busy chatting about the next step towards building those dreams at the breakfast table the next morning.  A journey had begun, unplanned and nurtured by enthusiasm and love.  Where would this road take us, we wondered?