The initial notes of Sogno Gelato’s tear gas ice cream are spicy peppercorn that hit the roof of the mouth and continue down the throat. It’s not itchy, but neither is it a comfortable sensation. It’s not a flavour one would choose over something like pistachio or plain chocolate.
And yes, after finishing the gelato the pepperiness lingers, much like tear gas.
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Hong Kong shop offers ‘tear gas’ flavoured gelato to remind customers of anti-government protests
Hong Kong shop offers ‘tear gas’ flavoured gelato to remind customers of anti-government protests
Sogno Gelato is certainly living up to its tagline “more than ice cream”. The shop, in a nondescript mall in Tsuen Wan, a former industrial new town in Hong Kong’s New Territories, has romantic pink roses on the wall, yet displays fierce anti-government protest art and memorabilia for sale.
Owner Chung Yiu-wa opened the shop in the Citywalk shopping centre 18 months ago. He has been in the ice cream business for over 10 years, having previously run a shop in Stanley, a seaside village on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Dwindling tourist numbers forced him and his partner to close.Cakes with Hong Kong protest themes a hit at city bakeries
Chung opened a gelateria in Tsuen Wan because he lives in the district, and wants to educate people there about gelato. He explains that it contains more milk, and less double cream than ice cream, and has a lower fat content; three scoops of gelato have the same calories as two scoops of ice cream.
The shop sells flavours one would expect – such as pistachio, Earl Grey tea and plain chocolate, and raspberry and blood orange sorbets. But it is the tear gas flavour that gets top billing.
The flavour was created last November, months after mass protests began in Hong Kong, initially in opposition to a change in extradition law.The tear gas gelato is a dirty beige colour. Chung explains it is meant to look like the smoke from tear gas. On close inspection the gelato has lots of tiny black specks in it; they could easily be mistaken for vanilla beans, but are in fact pieces of black peppercorn.
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“We experimented with wasabi and mustard, but to make it close to the taste of tear gas, the combination would have been wasabi and black pepper. That was too much so we chose black pepper. After you eat it in the gelato it’s like having “tasted” tear gas,” Chung says.
The ratio of black peppercorn to gelato is relatively low; they tried higher concentrations but the taste was overwhelming.
“We don’t want to make it so difficult to eat that people feel uncomfortable. There’s no point,” Chung says. “When you eat dessert, you want to enjoy it.”
For the curious, a single scoop of tear gas gelato costs HK$35 (US$7); it is HK$58 for two, and HK$72 for three.
Sogno Gelato, Shop 85, UG/F, Citywalk 2, 1 Yeung Uk Road, Tsuen Wan, tel: 6098 4187.
