Conscious Choice: Italian Ice Capades... & One Tale of Woe

August 2002 | Conscious Dining

Italian Ice Capades... & One Tale of Woe

by Ethel Hammer and Stephen Kleiman

Stephen learned about the origin of Italian ice as a member of a secret society privy to the culinary reveries of the Roman emperor Nero. At the time of his "incident," Stephen belonged to a men-only gourmet group that sat around drinking wine and discussing which caviar should be paired with what vintage. In fact, this society recently responded to the threat of the transportation of nuclear waste across Illinois by raising a flute with a rare vintage and sighing, "This wine has a fetching fruitiness paired with a touch of spice and a smidgen of blueberry."

At the time of his revelation, Stephen tapped his baton and said, "Emperor Nero wishes to say something." Then he promptly fell into a trance, opened his mouth, and started talking like Nero backed by a golden zither. "I invented Italian ice. I requested my servants bring me the earth’s most enchanting delicacy. They hiked to the mountains, retrieved the purest snow, and mixed it with delicate wines. Legend says that I fiddled while Rome burned. In fact, I was sucking on Italian ice."

Stephen has since denounced these carousers as "twaddlers"; he no longer chats with Nero. Still, when the fires of indignation reign, running around comparing Italian ices on a summer’s eve is a great escapade, and it doesn’t require lots of change in your pockets. So here are our favorite spots offering slippery, slurpery lusciousness, followed by a few others to round out your jaunts. Of course, Plutarch was right when he said, "Gout is not relieved by a fine shoe nor a hangnail by a costly ring nor a migraine by a tiara."

We don’t get too heavy into ice distinctions. Sugar, water, and fruit form the basis of Italian ice. Additional elements such as egg whites contribute to the fluffier, more whipped texture of sorbet. Real sorbet has a much higher fruit and sugar content than Italian ice.

Preferred Spots

Mario’s Italian Lemonade, 1068 W. Taylor Street (no telephone). This little wooden outdoor stand, with its hand-painted sign, delivers spectacular lemonade (read slurpy Italian ices you eat with a spoon and drink with a straw). We flipped for the homemade watermelon, a rosy ice made with big chunks of real watermelon, whole watermelon pits, and lemon wedges. There are fourteen flavors in all. The lemon with lemon wedges was also nice. At $1.50 for a medium cup with two straws, two spoons (and two flavors, if you chose), it’s heaven to share with your lovie.

The Penguin, 2723 W. Lawrence (773-271-4924). When it comes to spectacularly mellow and balanced Italian sorbets, this is great homemade stuff. You may have some trouble if you are not bilingual in Spanish, but you have fingers to point. Plus there are tasting spoons. Then again, The Penguin abounds with goodwill from a father from Argentina with Italian roots and his helpful son. We loved the subtle, delicate pink grapefruit. The delicious peach and refined pineapple had ample amounts of real fruit.

Mario & Gino’s, 2057 W. Roscoe (773-529-8664). Not every place makes its own Italian ices. So far, Mario & Gino’s only makes one — lemon. It is white as snow, flecked with tiny pieces of real lemon zest, and utterly delicious. The commercial Ciao Bella brand sorbets are also yummy. We loved the delectable rich dark chocolate, the delicate pear, the zesty mango, and the very refreshing green apple.

Carm’s, 1057 W. Polk Street (312-738-1046). Carm’s is keeping its Italian ice secrets secret. "After all, you don’t see that much of this in the city," a man behind the counter smiled. Of the eleven homemade ices, the pineapple, banana, cantaloupe, and watermelon are made with real fruit. The lemon and cantaloupe are all natural. The rest are made with artificial syrups. We found the cantaloupe very light and delicate with a subtle flavor.

Sweeties Ice Cream, 3731 N. Clark Street (773-868-1940). Sweeties grows on you. It’s a darling place, designed to resemble an updated old-fashioned candy store, where you can get eight tasty sorbets as well as gummy worms, taffy, and candy buttons. We loved the tangerine sorbet. Other goodies include a gentle mango, a pineapple with a nice aftertaste, and a watermelon that masquerades as cotton candy.

Others

Joanne & Sons, 1775 W. Sunnyside (773-334-0101). This is a cute breakfast and lunch place with tons of Elvis memorabilia, doodads everywhere, and six Italian ice flavors courtesy of Anthony’s (2009 N. Bissell). Ices are all-natural and are served Thursday through Sunday evenings. We preferred the coconut and red raspberry.

Tom and Wendee’s Italian Ice, 1136 W. Armitage (773-327-2885). We used to love this place, which features more than a dozen flavors, until we got deeper into our ice capades. The chocolate toffee crunch is yummy, but the ice is coarser than any of the above contenders. The $2.00 cup is just about a thimbleful. The prices are the highest, and these ices are now among our least favorite.

Swiss Gourmet, 2187 N. Clybourn (773-755-4616). The icy zing made our teeth freeze. The lemon was so-so; the raspberry had a nice texture with seeds.

Baskin-Robbins, Ashland at Wellington. The blue-green daiquiri ice doused us with a sugar overload. Nobody offered us tasting spoons; there was no goodwill and very little English.

Leona’s Organic Turkey Fiasco

And now for the tale of woe. On May 22, 2002, we visited Leona’s Lakeview location and ordered an Organic Turkey Stuffer, prominently advertised on the menu as "Organic Turkey! Free-Range Birds, Hormone and Steroid Free. Too Much Info?" Requesting the name of the organic vendor, we were told by corporate chef Pablo Manriquez that it was Cooper Farms in Ohio. We called Cooper Farms. Not only do they not offer organic turkey, but their turkeys are fed antibiotics from birth until three weeks before slaughter, their salesperson informed us.

We immediately called Leon Toia, the grandson of founder Leona. He expressed shock, promised to fix the situation, and apologized. On June 10, 2002, chef Manriquez called us and sent an e-mail, which said, "I was surprised to know that Cooper Farms was not organic. I was misled both by its natural look and by its taste. This product was originally found and introduced by our former purchasing director. I take, however, responsibility for this involuntary mistake."

On July 3, 2002, Manriquez assured us they had switched to a natural turkey brand after learning of the situation, and had been serving organic turkey since the last week in June. We were faxed the new turkey’s organic certification.

Still, an extended period of time transpired during which customers were not notified — either on the menu or by the waitstaff — that the turkey was not organic. It would have been so easy to add a note to the menu or have the waiters simply inform customers, "Today’s turkey is not organic." In fact, at one point before the switch, we asked a Leona’s waiter at the Rogers Park location, "Is the turkey organic?" He smiled and said. "Yes, It’s free-range, non-GMO, and all that good stuff." It wasn’t. A Lakeview waiter answered the same question with "It says so on the menu."

The good news is that this discovery has caused Leona’s to reconsider its ingredients and operation, according to Manriquez: "The points raised by you, have given us the opportunity to take a close look at our recipes and ingredients we use. It has given me a completely different vision of this important subject." Among other changes, he promised an MSG-free menu by the end of June 2002.

Moral of the Story: Unless you know a restaurant and its practices really well, ask the restaurant manager to show the organic certification or the wrapper for all foods advertised as organic on the menu, so you are not a victim of the allure of the organic designation without its benefits.

Ethel Hammer is a freelance writer specializing in articles with a culinary bent. Her husband, Stephen Kleiman, is a chef, entrepreneur, and food product developer.

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