Ice Cream Cravings and Camel Cones

tidbits that tantalize

Who Knew?

The Sahara Desert

The temperature has soared to 129 degrees and the shade - the shade is but a fleeting figment of your water-starved mind, which now creates bizarre delusions in a desperate attempt to survive. You long for the frozen fields of northern Minnesota and vow to never again leave home in pursuit of the exotic. Then...

In a flash it all comes into focus. There! Just over that next dune. You rush - well, yes, it's more likely you plod or crawl - to the top of the dune and, "Hallelujah!" A sight that soothes your sore eyes and sends shockwaves of hope through your soul. Under a lone palm sits a single camel and a weathered Tuareg nomad. Though you read no Tifinagh (who does?) the sign sitting next to the nomad is famous and needs no translation in this region. Yes, your salvation is nigh - you have indeed stumbled upon a Clyde's Camel Cones...

While unfamiliar to westerners, the milk of the camel is on the move in Africa and Europe. Widely touted for its health benefits, camel's milk is now being offered as a low fat ice cream in flavors ranging from saffron-pistachio to strawberry-vanilla. The camel's milk variety of the frozen dessert packs a mere one-third the fat and offers three times the vitamin C of ice cream made from cow's milk. Some preliminary studies have even indicated the camel's milk ice cream can reduce the blood sugar levels of patients with diabetes.

But, science be damned! You are on a quest of survival.

You slide down the dune, summon your last ounces of energy and make your way to the smiling nomad. In a raspy voice you ask for a double - no, make it a triple - Clyde's Saffron-Pistachio Cone. A slight smile tugs at your parched lips as you - What?!!

Shaken to your soul by the news that Clyde has only strawberry-vanilla today, you trudge on. He said his cousin has the saffron-pistachio today at a Clyde's just a short distance away - "It's only twelve dunes down, then take a left for two more dunes" - Is it worth it? Your mind wanders, recapturing your first taste of the luscious treat, the bite of the saffron, the surprise of the pistachio breaking through. Your pace quickens...

To read more about the developing treat, see this report in Dairyreporter.com.