Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1373686
106 ice cream culture runs deep—Somerville businessman Steve Herrell is widely credited with launching a national craze for gourmet ice cream back in the 1970s, with his innovations in high butterfat content and mix-ins. We still have some of the top frozen treats in the country, with proprietors all over the North Shore proudly crafting their own—from cones of classic coffee to Beef Three Way (yes—you read that right). But no place can stake a claim to ice cream history like Richardson's Farm. With a milk pedigree dating all the way back to the 1600s, and nearly 70 years of experience freezing it into a dessert, Richardson's has an undisputed hold on the market. In fact, chances are that if the ice cream stand in your neighborhood doesn't churn its own, it offers a selection from the giant's line up of a startling number of flavors. "We try to keep our list down to about 80, but every year we test new flavors," says Ned Bolth, who works at the Middleton company that produces hundreds of thousands of gallons of ice cream each year. "Even with all that testing and tasting, our focus remains on making sure we do the simple, time-tested flavors as perfectly as we can." Today, the farm is run by the ninth generation of Richardsons. "It is all about wholesome tradition [and] spending time with family and friends," Bolth says. "Ice cream on a sunny day brings back memories of post-game treats with the team, slow afternoons with family, and first dates." While every neighborhood of the North Shore has its own favorites, the past decade has seen a renaissance of exotic flavors, rich textures, and local partnerships. We caught up with three ice cream innovators to talk frozen treats. Scoop Shop Destiny Holy Cow Ice Cream Café, Gloucester and Peabody Mike Schifino was always into ice cream. "My family used to make fun of me because I would literally have ice cream in my eyebrows, pretty much into my teens," recalls Schifino, owner and Lynnfield native. So it's perhaps no surprise to his family—although it's a bit of a surprise to him—that he wound up making the sweet treat for a living. Schifino bought his original location, in a building on Pleasant Street in Gloucester, intending to be a landlord. As he was renovating the apartments, neighbors kept asking if he was planning to reopen the scoop shop that had been in the building in the early 2000s. So he decided to give it a whirl. Flash forward just a few years, and Schifino has taken home multiple awards for his decadent 16 percent butterfat treat from the National Ice Cream Retailers Association—basically the Oscars of ice cream—for flavors like The Charleston, a pecan coffee ice cream with homemade pralines, and Millionaire Shortbread, a buttery shortbread ice cream mixed with "Millionaire Shortbread" made by Gloucester bakery Cake Ann. While Schifino prides himself on baking most of the mix-ins for his decadent flavors in-house (try the Easy Peasy, with chunks of house-made lemon bar), he also thrives on collaborations like the one with Cake Ann. So much that he is currently working with Jaime's Roast Beef in Peabody on a North Shore Beef Three-Way ice cream, with a beef fat ice cream base, deep-fried sesame buns, James River BBQ Sauce caramel, and cheesecake. We're not sure what to think about that—but we are sure of another flavor we'll be scooping up this season. Our own "The Northshore"—a rum butter–based ice cream with salt caramel, shortbread and chocolate chunks—is going to be divine. holycowicecreamcafe.com