Food Trip: Flavor of the Road

Filipinos love sweets. Especially when it is served cold on a very hot summer day. Today our food trip brings us back to my favorite childhood food -ice cream. However, this particular ice cream is different from the ones you buy in malls. Some call it Dirty Ice Cream but to give glory to this delicious dessert let's call it by its other name -Flavor of the Road.

Flavor of the Road

Unlike the ones sold in the markets, this ice cream is home made. What makes it stand out is that instead of/ aside from cow milk it is also made from breast milk... 

The Flavor of the Road: Cheese-Mango

I have to taste this one.

Trying out the Flavor of the Road in Mindanao

Yummy!

JUST KIDDING! Now that I got your attention, what really makes the Flavor of the Road unique is that it is made from coconut milk (which is abundant in a tropical country like the Philippines). Like most Filipino favorites, this food is also peddled in the streets much like the taho and the balot. The ice cream peddlers are called sorbeteros. In some provinces, you could order a "sorbetes keg" for special occasions like what we did in Agusan Del Sur during the dedication of my daughter (pictured above).

Scoop it up!

Going back to the peddled ice cream, once you buy it you are going to be asked where you want it served. Your choices are; a plastic cup, a wafer cone, a bread bun (try this one out), or your hand (just kidding).

The Flavor of the Road comes in several flavors, depending on what fruit is in season or what is available in the market. The most common are; cheese, chocolate, mango, and ube. However, there are also such flavors as; avocado, melon, jackfruit, cookies & cream, strawberry, mocha, and vanilla. You might also find several combinations like; mango-cheese and vanilla-coconut.

Posing with a sorbetero's ice cream cart in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur

So, why is Flavor of the Road called "Dirty Ice Cream"? Some ignorant fool will explain that the ice cream is called that way because it is homemade and the coconut milk is extracted using the hand, not by a machine. The real reason behind the derogatory name simply comes from the fact that the ice cream has a rough texture, unlike the ones sold in the markets that literally slides in your mouth. Aside from that, it is also a Western belief that any food peddled in the streets is called dirty.

The Flavor of the Road (Quezon Province Version)

Above all else, I love this food. It is clean despite being called dirty ice cream. It is a must-try if you see one being peddled in the streets during a hot summer day. 

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