AIBU to wonder why hazelnut ice cream is so hard to find?

[Hollowgast]

I love ice cream, but the god tier in my opinion is hazelnut. I've had it in France, Spain, Italy and at an Italian gelateria in London but it is virtually impossible to buy in the UK. Mint choc chip is complete pigswill in comparison but the bloody stuff is available everywhere? AIBU?

Aldi black label after dinner mint ice cream -> whole new level of mint choc chip.
Want to try their chocolate orange one next.

Agree the coffee is a good second option.

In terms of unusual flavours I had chocolate and olive ice cream in a restaurant in Bath a few years ago. Quite good! The bitterness of the olive worked well and wasn't overpowering.

We have a local Grom icecream shop (parlour??) and I am now contemplating a half hour walk to get hazelnut ice cream! Pistachio done well is amazing. My favourite ice cream producer charges a euro extra for pistachio because the good ones are so expensive but so worth it!

ooh yes coffee ice cream don't see it often but a nice rich one bit like a coffee sponge

Pistachio ice cream is lovely too so might try that as well

Remeo pistachio ice cream is lovely (Waitrose, Tesco and Wholefoods stock it)

@Cocomarine

My local vendor had it this summer and bloody hell it was good! So I can’t help, but I am here for the hazelnut ice cream chat.

Now… can someone explain to me why we have had pistachio ice cream for years but not hazelnut?

You could get it 30 years ago, at least. At the same time, hazelnut yoghurt was a really common flavour. So it can’t be about hazelnuts not being a thing in that UK in the 70s/80s.

I’ve often wondered (seriously!) how we came to have such an exotic flavour in pistachio.

@Cocomarine Omg I used to LOVE hazelnut yoghurt!!

@OhCobblers thank you. Got m&s nearer here do will try there first

@Mermaidwaves I was staying in a hotel in Sheffield a few years ago and the chef made his own ice cream, I had a lavender one and a rose one. They were divine. Fortnum & Mason used to have a sundae in the Parlour which featured rose & violet and had edible flowers and candy floss. Alas, it is no more ☹️

Yep came on to mention the botulism in hazelnut yoghurts. Some children died iirc. I expect that had a huge impact.

For those mentioning coffee ice cream - Morrison's has a cafe latte ice cream in their own-brand luxury range

@ChrissyPlummer

Lavender sounds amazing! I've never found anything floral since so perhaps it's just not popular? I agree that hazelnut is a fabulous flavour though! 😋

Reminds me when Ski yoghurt brought out hazelnut yoghurt - remember it as a kid in the 70s. Bloody hell it was good. Off to Waitrose to dig around in yoghurt and ice cream sections.

Right, quick update. Wandered into Waitrose and behold, Grom Nocciola.

It's expensive, £7 a tub, but really very bloody nice. Thanks again for the recommendation, if anyone has a Waitrose nearby, go and get some 👍

@labazslovesliving

talking of flavours sounds awful but years ago I had brown bread ice cream at a church fete and it was delicious. wish they made that flavour. BTW what is the difference between ice cream and gelato, please?

One of our local pubs sometimes has cornflake ice cream. Sounds equally weird, tastes fabulous.

@mermaidwaves My local ice cream maker does lavender and honey and it is divine! I have also tried gorgonzola ice cream which was as disgusting as it sounds!

Oh dear, my nearest Waitrose is 24 miles away. I'd have to eat it straight away so it didn't melt before I got home. I have hazel trees, though not many nuts this year. Well, I can buy them. Could look up a recipe.

Just to add - I love mint choc ice cream and can't find a decent quality one anywhere! Would love to find a Haagen Dasz type version but doesn't seem to exist

Oh, and coffee...would die for a good coffee ice cream

@KrakowDawn

I believe hazelnut yoghurt disappeared for so long because of the botulism outbreak in the 80s (1986?). Hazelnut yoghurt was at the centre of it, so they were all pulled from the shelves, and presumably took a long time for the market to recover.

I never knew that!

Hazelnut yogurt reminds me of my primary school packed lunch in the 80s.

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles

Squirrels. It's the squirrels. They eat it all up early in the morning before everyone else gets up.

That's just what they're like. When they're full, they copulate and make little squirrels, who eat even more.

I recently bought a lovely coffee ice cream from Lidl, it comes in smallish tubs. V. Nice with hot choc sauce.

@georgarina

Oh, and coffee...would die for a good coffee ice cream

www.nigella.com/recipes/one-step-no-churn-coffee-ice-cream

Nigella has a few no churn recipes.

The Morrison's coffee ice-cream is delicious. There's a hazelnut one in the range too but I haven't tried it.

@AuntyFungal Thanks!!

@heldinadream
Oooh!!! Turkish delight would be a good try! And I have a waitrose near me, I shall be sampling it!