Nothing says summer like ice cream, so it’s fitting this weekend’s Los Angeles Times Food section features a profile of ice cream maker Tyler Malek in the Memorial Day edition. Malek, the inventive mastermind behind the creative flavors at Salt and Straw, draws his inspiration from practically everywhere. Said the Times:
Tyler Malek finds inspiration for ice cream flavors in a variety of sources, including the Oregon Symphony orchestra. “They came to our Portland kitchen last year and played, and we translated the music into flavors. I saw the musical notes and they read like a recipe,” says Malek. “One was a Bach piece. The way the flavors would transform and melt in your mouth for 1 1/2 minutes follows a particular 1 1/2-minute piece of music.”
To date, Salt & Straw has come up with more than 300 unique recipes, and Malek has played with ingredients as diverse as berries, chocolate and his grandmother’s almond brittle, as well as more unconventional flavorings such as sea urchin and fermented carrots.
The Buzz stopped in last night to check out the latest flavors for June, which explore fermentation. They include CA Avocado & Cardamom with Fermented Carrot Custard; Sourdough with Chocolate & Strawberries; Fish Sauce Caramel with Palm Sugar; Cacao Nib & Red Miso; and Dill Pickle Sorbet. I only tried the Dill Pickle sorbet, but friends tried all the others. Needless to say, we ended up walking out with five pints to take home for the rest of the weekend.
All the new flavors will be available by the scoop and pint at the Larchmont Village, Abbot Kinney and Studio City locations from May 27th through the month of June.
