By John Saulnier, FFB Editorial Director
Well, gag me with a spoon! The dog days of summer are barking in New York and on the Left Coast of the USA, complete with the introduction of mustard-flavored ice cream and ice dog sandwiches. Yuck!
Now don’t get me wrong. I am quite fond of hot dogs and mustard – especially when served up as one in a bun. I also relish the way frankfurters are enjoyed at train stain stations and imbiss stands in Germany [birthplace of the best of wursts], where one takes pleasure in dipping the sausage into mustard on a plate, then chomping into the meat and thereafter taking a bite out of slice of bread and chasing it with swigs of cold beer.
But turning the classic components of a delicious dog with mustard into a frozen novelty, even for a limited time, is not to my taste. However, in deference to the Latin maxim de gustibus, one should refrain from passing judgment on folks who may somehow favor such flavor.
For those who missed out on celebrating National Mustard Day in the USA last week by indulging in not from France French’s Mustard Ice Cream on the streets of Manhattan or at seaside haunts in the Hamptons courtesy of Coolhaus food trucks, the perhaps not so mellow yellow treat will be dished out again at the Culver City, California Coolhaus storefront from August 9-11.
“As lovers of sweet-meets-savory, pure ingredients and unique creations, we are incredibly excited to be collaborating with French’s Mustard in creating this one-of-a-kind product,” said Coolhaus CEO and Co-founder Natasha Case. “It’s been so fun to explore this classic condiment in a whole new way and create an unforgettable thoughtfully-crafted ice cream flavor with an All-American taste.”
Not to be outdone by French’s, a McCormick & Company brand of traditional yellow mustard first introduced to Americans at the St. Louis World’s Fair in Missouri during 1904, Oscar Mayer will launch an Ice Dog Ice Cream Sandwich on August 12. The hot dog and cold cut specialist’s iconic 27-foot-long Wienermobile will roll through the streets of New York City all week long to dispense samples of its new mustard-flavored ice cream novelty accented with bits of candied meat and spicy Dijon gelato wedged between two cookies. Bow Wow!
Chicago-headquartered Oscar Mayer, a unit of the Kraft Heinz Company, teamed up with Jan Snyder’s popular il laboratorio del gelato shop in the Lower East Side of Manhattan to make it happen.
It’s surely been a long and winding road since Richard LaMotta introduced the Chipwich to New Yorkers in 1978. Sold for a buck each – which was rather pricey at the time – by street cart vendors, the original recipe featured vanilla ice cream loaded with chocolate chips sandwiched between two soft chocolate chip cookies. Now that was, and still is, thanks to the product’s relaunch by Crave Better Foods last year, an ice cream snack with staying power.
When Chipwich debuted more than four decades ago, its primary competition was among pushcart peddlers specializing in hot dogs. While Chipwich customers never ever uttered the words “Hold the Mustard,” some asked for a bit of change back from the greenback paid for the sweet treat. But the buck stopped there.
