After more than two and a half days of chopping, mixing, freezing, and wiping counter tops, the wait is finally over. Left on the dinner table is the final result, dishes of ice cream ranging from mincemeat ice cream containing pieces of beef in it to saki-ika shiso ice cream, consisting of a squid jerky-like substance with an Asian herb.
This has become a normal routine for senior Kevin Hughes who, since before the start of his junior year, has been experimenting and creating ice cream.
What started out as a simple impulse has developed into a passion for Hughes, who bought an ice cream maker on a whim for fifty dollars. The real interest began to develop when he began to intern at Scream Sorbet on Telegraph in Oakland, where he helps make the ice cream sold as well as occasionally work at the cash register. The owner gave him a PDF file on scientifics of ice cream making.
Owner and founder of Scream Sorbet, Nate Zurk, wanted to create ice cream from the fresh, natural ingredients of local farmers, something that appealed to Hughes when he started interning at the store towards the end of his junior year.
“Kevin’s always showing an interest in new techniques and new flavors,” Kurz said. “He’s always a joy to work with.”
Hughes is not in it for the money, however, and rather has a real passion for creating new ice cream flavors.
“The thing that drew me to ice cream is the enormous amount of creativity associated with it,” Hughes said. “I mean you’ve got people making foie gras ice cream, secret breakfast ice cream [bourbon and corn flakes], so it really appealed to my own sense of creativity.”
Hughes ran down the basics of what it took on average to conjure up these sweets.
“The first day I make the ice cream and chill it overnight, which lets the flavors develop. The second day, I put it into my ice cream maker, churn it, and freeze it. It then takes about 12 hours to firm up in the freezer so that it’s scoopable,” Hughes said.
After tinkering with his own creations, often testing them on his parents, Hughes went on to win the 2012 San Francisco Ice Cream and Hot Sauce Take Down on Oct 7 with his personal creation of Guinness Espresso.
While Guinness Espresso is his favorite, Hughes said the strangest creation yet has been the saki-ika shiso.
“I had recently been reading about strange Japanese ice cream flavors, and I thought that the saki-ika would work well because it was sweet and salty,” Hughes said. “Sadly, it turned out way too fishy tasting. I think that’s because I steeped it too long, so I’m still convinced that I can make a palatable squid ice cream.”
Hughes said that he sees culinary school in his future because of his deep interest in cooking.
“If it’s not ice cream, it will probably be something else artisanal like cheese making or beer brewing, because being a line cook is just way too intense for me,” said Hughes, adding on that he may also pursue managing a culinary business.
“I sort of just fell into ice cream making by accident. It was a great outlet for my creativity, because ice cream keeps very well,” Hughes said, in addition to it being a great source of stress relief for him. “Sure I could roast chickens all day, but that’s not exactly something that lasts a long time or that you can easily give away. I didn’t have to feel bad about wasting ingredients with ice cream, because sooner or later, someone was going to consume it.”
