“Ice cream formed from liquid right before your eyes, curled into the most perfect mouth watering scrolls with bits of caramel fudge, toffee popcorn or lemon meringue sticking out in a delicious tease.” It sounds like destiny, doesn’t it?
They are called Short & Curly’s, and they are indeed something special: handcrafted designer ice cream, created by combining an ice cream base with delicious ingredients using a carefully executed technique. This requires the skills of a trained Curly maker. The ice cold plates used in the process reach well below -20°C, while specially designed spatulas are used to combine your selection of a base and two delicious mixes in a way that ensures each mouthful is a tantalising as the last.
After investigating this peculiar business, we found that the presence of Short and Curly’s at KAMERS 2016 Cape Town is, in fact, quite a thing of destiny. One of the owners, Herman Wallis, explains why:
“The Castle of Good Hope as a venue has a particularly special place in my heart, as it’s where my grandfather was the commander when he served as Colonel. He put a lot of effort into upholding the ‘flair’ of this special building and hosted a number of incredibly special functions here over the years. I remember as a child admiring my parents’ wedding pictures that were taken inside the Lady Anne Barnard, that 120-seater dining table not to mention the ‘cool factor’ of having a postal address as PO BOX 1 Cape Town. I look forward to spending the week inside the special place and having our first market here with KAMERS.”
The Short and Curly’s story started with Herman and Marlese (KAMERS regulars will know her well as the lady behind Mies Body Products) and their friends Nico and Christi Panagio on a trip to Phi Phi, Thailand. In the heart of the bustling island village, tucked snugly between a tattoo parlour and a lounge bar, stood a contraption of the kind none of them had seen before. They had happened upon their first ever freeze pan, handcrafted ice cream kiosk!
“After our first taste,” Herman says, “we all looked at one another with a unanimous understanding that we had discovered something seriously special and that this was an experience we had to take home with us. Right there and then, in that sweet, caramel fudge and crushed almond moment, Short and Curly’s was born.”
The best part of the Short and Curly’s experience is that due to the chopping, mixing, spreading and curling, every single mouthful has an equal measure of mix, so each bite is as perfect as the last. It’s an experience guaranteed to linger long after you had your last bite, and to have you coming back for more – another reason to visit KAMERS Cape Town this weekend.
UPDATE: Short & Curly’s will be back at KAMERS/Makers Stellenbosch, 1-6 November, with more of their ice cream crowd pleasers.
Watch these treats being made in a Facet video by @charlddp. It’s quite hypnotic!
Photos: A Burst of Life
Thank you for the beautiful write-up on Short & Curly’s!