How About These Creative Ice Cream Flavors? Mackerel, Anyone?

July 1, 2025 at 5:59 pm · Filed under Food Facts - Food History, Food Fun, Food Holidays, Ice Cream-Sorbet-Yogurt, The Nibble

July 1st is National Creative Ice Cream Day—and all of July is National Ice Cream Month. That’s plenty of time to try new flavors.

In the U.S., artisan glaciers (French) or gelatieri (Italian, singular gelataio), like to offer their customers rotating new and different options. Avocado, blue cheese, corn, booze/wine ice creams and sorbets, goat cheese, and olive oil ice creams have been around for some time (check out these recipes).

Birthday cake with sprinkles or cereal milk (e.g. with Fruity Pebbles or Lucky Charms) captivate the young at heart, while black (charcoal) appeals to the adventurous and the Goth.

International inspirations include black sesame, halva, kulfi, matcha, red bean (adzuki), tahini, ube (purple yam).

Here are some ice cream favors we’ve come across recently: beer and pretzel, Bourbon with candied bacon, cornbread, everything bagel seasoning, taro root, and Thai iced tea.

But these are tame compared to flavors from Lithuania. Lithuania Travel, the country’s national tourism development agency, has put together some distinctive Lithuanian ice cream flavors that may encourage cutting edge ice cream fanatics to schedule a trip.

> The year’s 50+ ice cream holidays

> The different types of frozen desserts: a photo glossary.

> The history of ice cream.

EXOTIC ICE CREAM IN LITHUANIA

Sure you can get the basic flavors, but how about these? It’s a glimpse into the world of unexpected flavors that you can taste in Lithuania. A map with other ice cream flavors dreamed up in dozens of different ice cream parlors and restaurants all over the country can be found here.

Buckwheat ice cream. While most grains remain on the sidelines as accompaniments to the main course, the Višta Puode restaurant in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second-largest city, has given it a starring role in this dish. With its deep, nutty flavor and a tangy assortment of berries, buckwheat ice creamcombines the country’s culinary heritage with a modern outlook on what dessert can be.

Cricket ice cream. While insects have been an important part of African and Asian diets for centuries, they have made their way onto Lithuanian dining tables only recently. The CENTRAL grill & lounge restaurant in the southwestern city of Marijampolė, has mixed crickets with the rich flavors of vanilla and black sesame for a protein-packed and unique treat.

Dill ice cream. Used to top many of Lithuania’s beloved savory dishes, dill is an extremely versatile herb with a fresh, grassy flavor. Found at the restaurant Džiaugsmas, which gives new life to classic Lithuanian ingredients with innovative cooking techniques, dill ice cream offers a palette of expertly blended herbal flavors. (Editor’s note: Why no smoked salmon mix-ins?)

Mackerel ice cream with bread crumbs. While the pairing of seafood and dessert may not sound like a pleasant experience at first, the subtle smokiness of the mackerel combined with fresh notes of mulberry and lime makes for a balanced palette of sweet and savory. Those willing to try this flavor at the Apvalaus Stalo Klubas restaurant in the medieval town of Trakai will be rewarded with an unforgettable symphony of flavors.

Nettle ice cream. Feared by small children across the country, the fierce stinging nettle is transformed into a creamy and fragrant frozen treat at the Velvetti restaurant in Lithuania’s capital of wellness Druskininkai. A mellow taste with a pop of refined grassy and earthy notes make the ice cream suitable for those who enjoy the subtle sweetness and peculiar dessert concepts.

Seaweed ice cream with lobster caramel crunch, hazelnut oil, and black sturgeon roe (caviar!). Found in the bustling seaside town of Palanga—the unofficial capital of the summer—this flavor is suitable for travelers fascinated by the idea to see, touch, and taste the sea. The historical boutique hotel of Vila Komoda offers a distinctive concoction of salty roe, earthy oils, and a sweet-buttery caramel crunch for the adventurous traveler.

A dish of black caviar ice cream
[7] Caviar lovers, here’s your frozen fantasy: sturgeon caviar ice cream topped with more caviar (photo © Petrossian).

EXOTIC ICE CREAM IN THE U.S. & ELSEWHERE

Note that ice cream doesn’t have to be sweet, it only has to be frozen!

There are numerous sweet-and-savory flavors that include cheese and fruit or savory herbs (Blue Cheese & Fig, Rosemary Cheddar & Passion Fruit, Goat Cheese & Guava. The cheeses add richness and cheesy notes (in the best sense). They can be made with honey or maple syrup instead of refined sugar.

However, ice cream can also be sweetener-free. Check out these completely savory ice cream flavors, with links to recipes including blue cheese, Cheddar cheese, goat cheese, and Parmesan ice creams; and more recipes here, including cream cheese and Stilton.

Charlie Trotter’s goat cheese ice cream recipe is especially versatile, enabling you to add anything from cracked black pepper to citrus zest to candied cherry tomatoes.

And for The Nibble’s 10th anniversary dinner, we had the chef make Ferran Adrià’s Parmigiano Ice Cream Sandwich On Parmigiano Tuiles.

There’s lots more, but here’s a sampling of the savory flavors that caught our eye.

Cauliflower Ice Cream With Salmon Caviar (photo #5). Just tell your nutritinist that you’ve combined fish protein with cruciferous vegetables.

Caviar Ice Cream. Keep it all salty or salty-and-sweet (photo #7, above). You can use any caviar you like, although start with the more affordable caviars.

Potato Skin Ice Cream (photo #4). This fully loaded savory ice cream bar is a base of mashed potato and sour cream ice cream with a Cheddar-bacon-crispy-fried-potatoes shell, topped with freeze-dried chives. Not to mention a scattering of dried chives for garnish.

Squid Ice Cream. Squid ice cream has appeared in soft-serve and hard ice cream formats (photo #6). In East and Southeast Asia you can find squid ice cream with tiny pieces of salty dried squid. Don’t confuse its appearance with charcoal ice cream (see footnote*).

Tomato Ice Cream. Freeze gazpacho into sorbet, or make tomato ice cream—sweet or savory. Here’s a recipe for Bloody Mary Sorbet with Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, the works!

So…what works for you?

[1] Herbal and pretty: dill ice cream. You can find it in the U.S. too, as well as basil, garlic, rosemary, tomato, and other flavors (photos #1, #2, and #3 via Lithuania Travel).

A dish of cricket ice cream
[2] That’s not black sesame, it’s cricket ice cream.

[3] Seaweed ice cream with lobster coral.

Potato Skin Ice Cream Pop
[4] Potato skin ice cream fully loaded is just one of the groovy flavors at Pretty Cool Ice Cream in Chicago (photo © Pretty Cool).

A Dish Of Squid Ink Soft Serve
[6] This is not charcoal ice cream, popular for the past few years, but actual squid ink soft-serve. Here, it’s given a crunchy Corn Flakes garnish. There’s more about charcoal ice cream below (photo © Mobius 6 | Wikimedia).

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*Charcoal ice cream is a relatively new flavor made with activated charcoal, giving it a dramatic black or deep gray color. Activated charcoal is typically derived from coconut shells or hardwoods and processed at high heat.

The ice cream is usually vanilla- or coconut-flavored. The charcoal itself is nearly tasteless, although some people detect a subtle earthy or smoky note. It can be enhanced with colorful toppings. People like it for the novelty—and Instagrammability—of the color, not for any novel flavor.

The history of charcoal ice cream: One of the earliest documentations of charcoal ice cream was from a Bangkok blogger in October 2015. It was pitch-black charcoal soft-serve at a trendy parlor (photo #6).

From there, charcoal ice cream flew over social media. Morgenstern’s Finest in New York City introduced coconut-ash black ice cream in April 2016, triggering U.S. interest. In the spring of 2017 Little Damage in Los Angeles popularized almond-charcoal and vanilla-charcoal soft-serve.

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