With a heat wave sweeping across large parts of the United States, I thought it might be time to remind everyone of mankind’s favorite culinary antidote to rising temperatures…ice cream.

Not just the ordinary ice cream one gets at the supermarket or at the corner store, but homemade ice cream, whether cranked by hand, formed in a ziplock, or made with the help of an electric ice cream maker.

One of the joys of homemade ice cream is that you can make any flavor you’ve ever fantasized about, from peanut-butter Nutella to fig cardamom to mango macadamia and pistachio pomegranate.

One of my fondest memories is running for our departing train in Venice with last-minute hazelnut gelatos…our final, fleeting souvenir of that beautiful city.

I’ll also never forget the sheer sybaritic pleasure of the fresh peach ice cream we had at a country church rummage sale near Waterloo Village.

Here’s a few homemade ice cream recipes to help you find inspiration as you whip up your own original antidotes.

• Salted Caramel Ice Cream from Orangette

• Manuka Honey and Orange Blossom Ice Cream from Ice Cream Ireland

• Creole Cream Cheese Ice Cream from Nola Cuisine

• Kulfi (Saffron-Pistachio Ice Cream) from Kadai Cuisine

• Rhubarb Ice Cream from Sugar Laws

• Papaya-Mango Ice Cream and Tamarind Coconut Ice Cream from The Leftover Queen

• Avocado Ice Cream from The Food Network

• Black Sesame Ice Cream from Haverchuk

Also, here’s a video from About.Com Japanese Food that shows how to make your own homemade black sesame ice cream. I came across some last week when shopping at the new local Asian market and it was wonderful!

As Voltaire once said, “Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn’t illegal.”

What was the best homemade ice cream you ever had? What exotic ice cream do you dream of making (or trying) someday?

Tomorrow, we’ll be writing about salt water taffy, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.

“Before I’d arrived at this dark, back-alley restaurant in Tokyo, I’d been told that trust was the most crucial element involved when choosing a fugu chef. It was like selecting a heart surgeon or a private pilot. ‘The fugu chef has your life in his hands,’ one of my Japanese friends had said. Which is why my first impulse, upon greeting Mr. Naohisa Hashimoto, is to turn around, in the most diplomatic possible way, of course, and run screaming back to my hotel. Hashimoto is dressed in a white chef’s coat that’s slightly stained around the pockets with fish guts. He has a spiky haircut, like the wires on a brush, and big, prominent ears, which give him a passing resemblance to Don Knotts.

His little restaurant, called Mukoujima Hashimoto, is located on a lonely residential street in the working-class Sumida section of Tokyo (’If we are in New York, this is Queens,’ my interpreter says), a tidy establishment with just three low-slung tables set over tatami matting. The chef lives above his place, like an old-time saloon keeper. Only tonight, there are no sounds of clattering pots coming from upstairs, no comforting pitter-patter of tiny children’s feet. There are no waiters, either; no dishwashers, no friendly neighbors dropping by for a cup of tea. As every food-obsessed traveler knows, the first rule when looking for a decent meal in a strange place is to choose a crowded room. But on this April Friday evening in otherwise bustling Tokyo, this curious little fugu restaurant is as empty as a tomb.”

New York Magazine writer Adam Platt lives to tell the tale of his risky experience eating fugu in Japan, of which Ruth Reichl said, “It’s like eating fluke, only you’re playing Russian roulette”.

You can read more of Adam Platt’s article here.

According to Wikipedia’s article on fugu…

“The poison, a sodium channel blocker, paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is currently no antidote, and the standard medical approach is to try to support the respiratory and circulatory system until the effect of the poison wears off. It is alleged that non-lethal quantities of the poison remain in the flesh of the fish and give a special desired tingling sensation on the tongue, which leads to the fingers.”

Most properly prepared fugu is safe. However, for more than 50% of fugu’s few victims, death occurs within the first 24 hours.

Would you fugu?

From the British newspaper, The Independent:

“For decades it was merely a slightly exotic option for holidaymakers in Spain, Italy and Greece, but a growing number of cooks experimenting with recipes involving tentacles and black ink have turned squid into a fashionable dish in British kitchens.

Although still less popular than other seafood such as prawns, the amount of squid sold in the UK has risen by 49 per cent in the past 12 months, according to the industry body Seafish.

The cephalopod’s new-found popularity owes much to the growing appeal of fruits de mer and to the promotion of a Mediterranean diet popular in Italy, France and Spain, where it is cut into rings and fried.

Among the chefs who have encouraged the eating of squid is Rick Stein, whose gastronomic tour of the Mediterranean was televised by the BBC last year. He suggested serving sautéed squid and chorizo with garlic, rocket (arugula), tomatoes and chick peas.”

You can read more of the story here:

One of the most popular ways to eat squid in America is as fried calamari, long a favorite of Italian cuisine. Squid is also commonly used in the cuisines of Spain, Japan, and China.

Here’s a recipe for fried calamari from Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network.

In Japan, shredded, dehydrated squid is a popular salty snack and sold in small bags (it’s far tastier than it sounds). You can also get squid flavored ice cream (as well as a variety of other unusual ice cream flavors) in Japan.

Here’s one more squid recipe: Andalucian Fried Squid With Alioli from Tapas Recipes Andalucia…enjoy!