It always amazes me how a taste of a food can trigger memories and transport you back in time in an instant.

As I dipped my spoon into the freshly churned ivory tub of ice cream and tasted it, I suddenly became eight years old again.  I pushed aside horrified thoughts of, Omigod, my hair! and Why am I wearing the world’s geekiest glasses?  Did I want to be bullied? and tried to figure out exactly what I was remembering…

When I was a kid, we used to get ice cream as a treat from Danny Craig’s shop in town or Cardosi’s Cafe.  To us, this was just ice cream.  There was never a range of flavours; it was just ice cream, and it was delicious.  It was only special because it came in a cone and with a flake poked in at a jaunty angle—a ‘99—and you went to a special shop for it.  Sometimes mum and dad would even order big tubs for our birthday parties and everyone loved it.

Looking back with an adult’s eye… this wasn’t just ice cream. This was gelato. Now, I didn’t grow up anywhere fancy.  Far from it.  I grew up in the very far north of Scotland, and had absolutely no idea as a small child that our special treats of ice cream from Danny Craig’s, Cardosi’s or even Capaldi of Brora were anything remarkable.  I must have been very accepting, as it didn’t dawn on me that the proprieter’s names weren’t Scottish.  (Okay, so Danny Craig was as Scottish (and as grumpy) as they came, but he still made damn good gelato!)  I should mention that Capaldi’s was the place to break your journey south at.  Everyone stopped there, and an ice cream from Capaldi’s was the real beginning of your summer holiday as well as a means of consoling yourself on the way home when your wonderful holiday was fast becoming a memory.

It is only as an adult that I realise what happened and how Italian families came to settle in Scotland and open ice cream parlours.  They left Italy in search of a new life in the United Kingdom, in the late 19th century, and settled across the country. However, after Mussollini declared war on the Allies in 1940, many Italian men—those resident in the United Kingdom as well as those captured in battle—were interred in prisoner of war camps.  Most notably, in the Orkney Islands—off the north coast of Scotland–where they were set to work building an a series of barriers to protect the British fleet from submarine attack.  These barriers are now known as the Churchill Barriers.  A more beautiful and hopeful legacy of those times is the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney.  At the end of World War II, most of the Italian POW returned to Italy or their homes in the United Kingdom, however, some settled permanently in the far north of Scotland, opening ice cream parlours.

Gradually ice cream parlours and shops were eclipsed by the dizzying array of flavours available from the supermarkets that opened in town.  Cardosi’s Cafe became Cardosi’s shop that just sold sweets and cigarettes, and Danny Craig died with no one to take over his shop and keep the ice cream churning.  The only ice cream shop that remains from my childhood is Capaldi’s of Brora, which still looks unchanged despite having very recently changed hands and become part of a much larger food company.  I hope they keep the small producer spirit going in the shop, rather than just branding their own ice cream with a famous name…

I think that’s enough history and nostalgia for one day… Back to the ice cream!

This perfectly smooth, ultra-milky ice cream has exactly the same taste and texture of the ice cream I grew up with.  Not a speck of vanilla in sight to interrupt the purity of the milk flavour, just a beautiful,smooth taste of milk that rolls off the palate so cleanly, leaving you eager for the next lick or spoonful.  You might think that milk ice cream sounds boring.  You’d be wrong.  If you use the very best milk and cream, then you’ll create your best ice cream ever with an unmistakable flavour.  You’ll surprise yourself with how good it is.

You have to eat fast, though.  As it’s just milk, cream and sugar, the ice cream melts at an astonishing rate, but since you’ll be gobbling it up, this shouldn’t be a concern!

It is beautiful served alone, however makes a wonderful partner to a chocolate cake—I served it with the chocolate decadence I made recently—and drizzled with dulce de leche it is stunning.  Ambrosial, even.

What foods lead you down your own memory lane?

Milk Ice Cream

Adapted from Made in Italy by Giorgio Locatelli

• 565g (or 1 pint) full-fat milk
• 170g double cream
• 40g skimmed milk powder
• 210g caster sugar

Whisk the milk, cream, milk powder and sugar until smooth and place it in a pan over a gentle heat until it reaches 85°C.

Remove it from the heat and cool down as quickly as possible before placing in the fridge to rest for 6-12 hours. It’s important that the mix is very cold before being placed in the ice-cream maker.  (A sink full of iced water works best here.)

Follow the instructions on your ice-cream maker and churn until thickened. Or, pour into a shallow container and place in the freezer.  Every twenty minutes or so, pull it out and blend until smooth.  I used an immersion blender, but you could tip it into a bowl and use an electric hand whisk or even your stand mixer.  Keep doing this until the ice-cream is very thick, then leave the ice cream to finish freezing.

Pour out into a container, seal and store in the freezer to set.