🍦 The Renaissance of Philippine Ice Cream AKA Sorbete

This is part of Palawan Adventure

Since Philippines is a tropical country, therefore the weather is hot. By that, the food choice is also in proportion to the climate of the location. Today, lemme provide you an information about this food where in it is already part of the Filipino’s culture and part of everyday routine. The coldness and the deliciousness of this famous food will make you understand the culture of the country.

Sorbetes is the old-style variant of ice cream made in the Philippines. It is different from the similarly named sorbet. Ice cream was introduced in the Philippines during the American Occupation when refrigerators and other cooling devices were introduced. While American ice cream was made with cow's milk, using the milk of the carabao, a kind of water buffalo, resulted in a cheaper product which became known as "sorbetes." Both kinds of milk are widely used today.

It is uniquely made from coconut milk, unlike other iced desserts that are made from animal milk.Coconut milk and cassava flour are two other ingredients used that make sorbetes unique from ice cream made in other countries. Flavors also varied from the usual natural fruits such as mango, avocado, melon, jackfruit, coconut and strawberry to flavors imitating commercial ice cream such as chocolate, cookies and cream, cheese, mocha, ube, etc.

Sorbetes is usually consumed as a snack while travelling. It can also be served as dessert. The sorbetes industry competes with commercially available ice cream from giant companies operating in the Philippines such as Arce Dairy, Magnolia, Nestlé, and Selecta, which also started peddling their product in the streets in more sanitized carts. As an innovation, many fast foods offer commercial ice cream/sorbets as part of their menu. It can be a topping for a drinks or it can be a main dessert which ever will work best for you.

Sorbetes is peddled by Mamang Sorbeteros using colorfully painted wooden carts which usually can accommodate three flavors, each in a large metal canister. Nowadays, the modern card is made of stainless steel with signal sound. Peddlers get their carts from makers scattered around the cities of the Philippines in the morning and walk the streets the whole day, calling consumers from their houses by ringing a small handheld bell.

Today, Mamang Sorbetreos with modern cart no longer using a handheld bell but they are now using an electronic sound as a signal which captured more towards the children attentions. Peddlers of sorbets (Mamang sorbetero) provide several serving options. The Sorbete may be served in a small plastic cup, a wafer cone, a sugar cone or a bread bun, at varying prices. A serving can include one flavor or, for no extra charge, a mixture of available flavors.

The wooden cart has two large wooden wheels at the front part to easily push the cart though latest carts are already attached to bicycles. The cart is stuffed with shaved ice sprinkled with salt to produce a lower temperature around the metal canisters and keep the sorbetes frozen longer.The whole sorbetes cart is also available for private gatherings when negotiated with the sorbetero. It is usually cheaper than buying gallons of ice cream to be served to guests that is why it is advisable to buy in bulk if you are going to prepare it for party