Sorbetes
Encyclopedia
Sorbetes is a Philippine version of ice cream
usually peddled from street carts in the Philippines
. It is distinct from the similarly named sorbet. It is usually served with small wafer or sugar cones and recently, bread buns. It is made from coconut milk, unlike other ice creams that are made from cow's milk or any other animal milk.
, a kind of water buffalo, resulted in a cheaper product which became known as "sorbetes." Both kinds of milk are widely used today. 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
to flavors imitating commercial ice cream such as chocolate
, cookies and cream
, cheese
, mocha
, ube, etc.
The sorbetes industry competes with commercially available ice cream from giant companies operating in the Philippines such as Magnolia
, Nestlé
, and Selecta, which also started peddling their product in the streets in more sanitized carts.
.
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 that buying gallons of ice cream to be served to guests.
, at varying prices. A serving can include one flavor or, for no extra charge, a mixture of available flavors.
Sorbetes is usually consumed as a snack while travelling. It can also be served as dessert.
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
usually peddled from street carts in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. It is distinct from the similarly named sorbet. It is usually served with small wafer or sugar cones and recently, bread buns. It is made from coconut milk, unlike other ice creams that are made from cow's milk or any other animal milk.
History and formulation
Ice cream was introduced in the Philippines during the time of the American colonial period when refrigerators and other cooling devices were introduced. While American ice cream was made with cow's milk, using the milk of the carabaoCarabao
The carabao or Bubalus bubalis carabanesis is a subspecies of the domesticated water buffalo found in the Philippines, Guam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and various parts of Southeast Asia...
, a kind of water buffalo, resulted in a cheaper product which became known as "sorbetes." Both kinds of milk are widely used today. Coconut milk
Coconut milk
Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
and cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
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
Mango
The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...
, avocado
Avocado
The avocado is a tree native to Central Mexico, classified in the flowering plant family Lauraceae along with cinnamon, camphor and bay laurel...
, melon
Melon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
, jackfruit
Jackfruit
The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family . It is native to parts of Southern and Southeast Asia. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh, . The jackfruit tree is believed to be indigenous to the southwestern rain forests of India...
, coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
to flavors imitating commercial ice cream such as chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
, cookies and cream
Cookies and Cream
Cookies and Cream is a variety of ice cream and milkshake based on flavoring from chocolate cookies. Often called the "King Kong of Ice Cream" because it immediately rocketed to the top of the World's Favorite Ice Cream Flavor list. The "Cookies and Cream" ice cream uses sweet cream ice cream ...
, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
, mocha
Cafe Mocha
A caffè mocha or café mochaAs elsewhere in coffee naming, the Italian caffè and French café are commonly found, as are the hyperforeignisms caffé and cafè, which confuse the accents. Also, in Italian, the correct spelling is Moka, used both for the city and the Moka pot. "Mocha", by contrast, is...
, ube, etc.
The sorbetes industry competes with commercially available ice cream from giant companies operating in the Philippines such as Magnolia
Magnolia Ice Cream
Magnolia Dairy Ice Cream is a Philippine brand of ice cream sold domestically in the Philippines and in other markets such as Thailand, the United States, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore....
, Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
, and Selecta, which also started peddling their product in the streets in more sanitized carts.
Peddling
Sorbetes is peddled by sorbeteros using colorfully painted wooden carts which usually can accommodate three flavors, each in a large metal canister. 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 bellBell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
.
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
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
to produce a lower temperature
Temperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
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 that buying gallons of ice cream to be served to guests.
Serving
Peddlers of sorbetes provide several serving options. It may be served in a small plastic cup, a wafer cone, a sugar cone or a bread bunBun
A bun is a small, usually sweet, bread. Commonly they are hand-sized or smaller, domed in shape, with a flat bottom. A bun can also be a savory bread roll similar to a bap or barmcake....
, at varying prices. A serving can include one flavor or, for no extra charge, a mixture of available flavors.
Sorbetes is usually consumed as a snack while travelling. It can also be served as dessert.