A “Dirty” Treat: Pinoy Sorbetes

Happy Holidays!

Few more days to go and it's Christmas! Do you have plans for this upcoming yuletide season? Well, my family and I would probably have a simple feast at home. Just like what Jose Mari Chan's song Perfect Christmas' says,

“My idea of a perfect Christmas

Is to spend it with you

In a party or dinner for two

Anywhere would do.”

Simple pleasures spend with your loved ones will be special, extra special if it will be well spent with them. If you have no plans yet, let me share with you this tasty dessert perfect for simple occasions, the Pinoy Sorbetes. If you're a Filipino, I bet you have tasted this sweet-savory ice cream which you brought from the vendor or often called“mamang sorbetero”. If this word is new to you, let me introduce to you this “Philippine’s very own ice cream”, the Sorbetes.

Sorbetes

Sorbetes is a popular Filipino ice cream. It has lots of flavors with ingredients such as mango, chocolate, cheese, coconut, and purple yam (ube).

Are you familiar with it? Some people have often mistaken that sorbetes came from the Spanish' sorbet, it isn't sorbet, but instead, it's dirty icecream. Oops! Don't get me wrong, this isn't dirty literally, but we Filipinos call it that way because sorbetes are commonly sold along the streets. This yummy ice cream can usually be found at numerous street carts throughout the country.

So how did Sorbetes originated in the Philippines?

The history of sorbetes or what is commonly known as “dirty ice cream” starts with the importation of ice to the Philippines. This ice cream was first served during the feast during the 1898 proclamation of Independence when Aguinaldo won the election for the presidency in the country, this has captured the hearts of many Filipinos and slowly became everyone’s favorite.

The Garapiñera

Garapiñera is an ice cream freezer in Spanish was really just a primitive bucket with a manual grip that could churn the ice cream mixture. It was used to make the first sorbetes in the country.

Dirty Ice Cream's Ingredients

Okay, here are the ingredients of the mixture found inside the garapiñera, the recipe that makes the dirty ice cream. Unlike in the traditional ingredients of making ice cream of the Americans, Pinoy Sorbetes contained carabao milk, crushed ice, eggs, and ube or whatever flavor was desired such as mantecado and queso. And to keep it from melting, salt was sprinkled on the mixture too.

You will eventually know if there's a sorbetes coming on your way, by the tingling sound of the bells of “manong sorbetero”, all children and the sweet-toothed adults will get out of their houses and go to the roadside to wait for the sorbetes to pass. The colorful sorbetes cart with three metal canisters with different flavors of ice cream is artistically painted like Jeepneys, truly Pinoy!

Enjoying the Sorbetes

Almost all of the Filipinos have grown with this kind of refreshment that childhood wouldn’t be complete without the experience of shouting to mamang sorbetero while rushing towards him excitedly to get a cone of Sorbetes. Even I have experienced it. It was purely precious moments of my childhood.

Filipinos have creative minds, with wider imagination and sorbetes can't escape from this. There are a lot of ways how. Filipinos enjoy this “dirty ice cream”. Take a look and you'll surely say, it's very “Tatak Pinoy”.

Common Icecream in a cone

So here's the most common and the cheapest way to enjoy your sorbetes. Actually, sorbetes is an “abot-kaya” dessert, it is cheap. The icecream was scrapped or scooped in sugar cones or “apa” in Tagalog. The cones may be different in colors to attract more customers most especially the kids who loved their ice cream to be colorful.

Icecream in a plastic cup

If you have enough little penny in your pocket, you'll probably buy this one. Unlike in the sugar cones, it has more scoops of ice cream and less messy. Ice creams when exposed to the air will melt faster, so this cup will protect your hands from the melted ice cream.

Icecream in a bun

Have you tried it? Pinoys have very playful minds, and they've come up with the idea to make this icecream a filling in a bun. But, I haven't tried it yet.

Icecream in a mug (Bring your own mug)

Here's what I usually do when I buy sorbetes. Every time manong sorbetero passes our way at home, we will get our mugs and ran faster towards him. Then, the ice cream was scooped inside our mugs with the same cheap price but double in size. Manong sorbetero often give large. scoops in our mugs and that's pure happiness. ☺️

Flower Icecream

Of course, mamang sorbetero will show his artistic skills too by making the ice cream itself fancy. He likes to scrap it and form it into flowers, making your icecream more attractive, colorful, and enjoyable to consume.

Sorbetes will be forever one of my most enjoyed foods in life. And recently, when my son turned four last month, instead of buying ice-creams from the supermarket, we chose to buy 1 canister of sorbetes, so the kids will enjoy wan-to-sawa their dessert. And not only the children enjoyed it so much but from the youngsters to the old ones too.

Sorbetes has made their mark in our culture and history. It made my childhood extra special too, but sadly here. in my locality, there are only a few of them to be found. As convenience stores that sell icecreams took over the place, today's generation chose to stay inside a cool place while enjoying their dessert. Unlike us during our childhood where we enjoyed our dirty ice-cream under the blazing heat of the sun, so hot but a lot of fun.

Hoping in the future more generations can enjoy this treat, this “dirty ice cream” treat.

Written by: @eommaZel ✍🏻🥀