In celebration of National Ice Cream Day, Filipino ice cream businesses get the spotlight
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
July 16 is National Ice Cream Day and the choices for this most loved dessert now includes Filipino flavours.
“National Ice Cream Day serves as a reminder of the joy and nostalgia that ice cream can bring. It’s a time to celebrate the craftsmanship and creativity of ice cream makers across Canada, and to share stories and memories that have been made over the years while enjoying a cool cone or scoop. National Ice Cream Day is observed annually on July 16th,” according to wincalendar.com.
Filipino food business owners have brought ice cream, gelato and the local sorbetes to different Canadian provinces to cater to the Filipino-Canadian and the local market as well and are gaining much attention.
In Edmonton, couple Jason and Aileen Wong operates Yelo’d Ice Cream & Bake Shoppe at 10324 82 Avenue NW, #101 At the Dominion Hotel.
It’s name is from the Tagalog word for ice and they added the “d” to make it a verb “iced” since aside from ice cream, the shop has been featuring iced cakes and sweets for 10 years now.
The ice cream flavour choices include–calamansi, ube, buko pandan, keso and champorado–with no English translation.
“That’s something that non-Filipino customers asked about in the beginning, and Wong went back and forth about the decision. We’ve reverted back to just being like, no, this is who we are. And it’s a talking point. And we’re here to talk to you about it,” Wong told cbc.ca.
While Wong believes in the need for Filipinos to assimilate to the Canadian way of life, her business wants to instill in them a source of pride in our food and that there is no need to hide behind other cultures.
For Abby Ulanimo, who is half Filipino and was born and raised in Canada, she brought the sorbetes to Edmonton to pay homage to her Philippine roots.
She visited the Philippines for the first time in 2019 and had her initial encounter with a sorbetero (ice cream street vendor) and decided to start her own pop up ice cream carts in Edmonton.
Calling her business Drty Ice Cream, the Sorbetes carts feature local flavours with her “desire to bring the experience of traditional Filipino Sorbetes to Canada by sharing our Filipino culture in a fun, new, and innovative way” since 2020. The products are also available in pints.
“We are paying homage to our Philippine roots – bringing it back to the roots, the culture, the importance of the Sorbetero, and are reviving the experience of dirty ice cream,” she added. Her products include “As In Asin” which is a mix of the Fillipino coconut jam and salted caramel and “Mangga Gala,” which replicates a common cake-like dessert.
In Victoria, British Columbia, Keem Herrera’s craving for ice cream flavours back home gave her the determination to start her ice cream business called Ice Keem.
The ice cream is made locally in Langford, BC and includes flavours like Ube, Durian and Milo. The shop is located in 2455 Millstream Road #103, Victoria, BC.