Last summer, I prioritized trying as many offbeat ice cream flavors as possible. From dark chocolate tinted with chile pepper to boozy mint chocolate to wasabi, this experiement concluded with a whole-hearted embrace of this summertime staple’s versatility. However, even that experience couldn’t have prepared me for the unorthodox flavor I stumbled across this year.
Van Leeuwen is an ice cream company with roots on the streets of New York City. For almost 15 years, the company has been churning high quality, forward-thinking flavors for the masses. They now have shops in 5 states and counting, and their products can be found in many stores (including, of all places, Wamart).
Van Leeuwen specializes in French-style ice cream; meaning it begins its life as a egg yolk-laced custard before being churned. Many of their flavors: honeycomb, earl grey tea, Sicilian pistachio; are simple but alluring. They gained significant attention last year with their mac and cheese flavor, something I never got around to trying but nevertheless heard consistent positive feedback about.
Fast forward to 2022, and Van Leeuwen has a new trick up their sleeve. This time, they’re taking everyone’s favorite affordable luxury, Grey Poupon mustard, and swirling it into ice cream with bits of salted pretzels mixed in. According to Food and Wine, CEO Ben Van Leeuwen spoke of the inspiration behind the flavor, stating “”Grey Poupon elevates any meal to something worth savoring, so why not ice cream, especially French Ice Cream?”.
As someone who holds Grey Poupon in high regard, this was a must try, even if it meant wandering through the ethically-challenged hell that is Walmart. Instead of hoarding this yellow-tinged delicacy, I brought it into the restaurant where I spend my days and coerced each of my comrades to take a spoonful and provide me with their honest thoughts.
The result? A wide range of opinions varying from pure disgust to unrestrained delight to utter confusion.
“I’m sure there’s worse flavors…like dirt”, remarked one server, who preceded to give it a score of 2.5, the second lowest score. He was bested only by another server who, upon tasting a teaspoon’s worth, winced harder than I had ever seen before and proceeded to slide the remaining tablespoon left on the spoon into the trash.
For every taster who expressed dismay, there was another who was delighted. My boss found the oddball flavor delicious and awarded a nearly perfect score. Another server, who unlike my much older boss, was a similar age to the previous two servers, also enjoyed his spoonful. “That’s amazing; 9/10. Add walnuts, and it’s a 10/10.”
Overall, however, the flavor garnered middling reception. “It’s not bad, but I couldn”t eat more than four spoonfuls of it.” was a common reaction. Our prep cook was perhaps the most perplexed of everyone. After a careful analysis, he gave the analogy, “It tastes like someone spilled mustard into butter pecan ice cream”. Somehow that translated to a 7/10. Later that day, another server gave an almost identical comparison.
I found the dijon flavor miraculously well-balanced, bold enough to know what you’re eating (even though a couple tasters struggled to place the flavor), but timid enough to work in the context of ice cream. The rich and creamy texture of the ice cream itself was robbed by the soggy, inconsistently distributed pretzels. The ice cream felt like an afterthought toward the middle of the pint amid an onslaught of softened pretzel bits.
Despite that, I believe this flavor deserves a 7/10 due to the mostly successful merging of two very different food groups. My peers were less impressed, with an average overall score of 5.67 (back of house had a generally more positive impression than front of house).
This, unsurprisingly, is not for everybody. With less sugar than most premium ice cream flavors and more savory notes, an adventurous palate is required to get any enjoyment out of this. Based on the general impression I received in addition to my own experience, Van Leeuwen’s Grey Poupon ice cream is as good as mustard ice cream could ever possibly be. Whether that’s an endorsement or a veiled precautionary measure depends on how much you buy into the idea of experimental ice cream flavors.
Find Van Leeuwen ice cream on their website or use their grocery locator to find a pint at a store near you.
References
https://vanleeuwenicecream.com/our-story/
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/grey-poupon-ice-cream-van-leeuwen