The Ice Cream Barrel
A local initiative that turned very successful
Ana-Maria Cononovici, 08.11.2022, 14:00
His childhood memories of homemade ice-cream prepared by his mother is what determined Adrian Mengheș to rediscover the taste of genuine ice-cream, so he started roaming Romanias villages in search of old recipes. Once his quest was completed, he decided it was time for a change of trade. So Adrian gave up his career as an engineer and started his own business – the Ice Cream Barrel.
Adrian told us he started out with ice cream trucks, but soon he realized this way he was missing out on a number of events held indoors, so he figured it was time looking for something new. And then his mother recalled that someone would walk past their house carrying a barrel filled with ice-cream.
“It was very hard because I didnt master the secret behind barrel ice-cream. I wondered about Romanian villages looking for recipes and their stories, but we got turned down. Whoever was still doing it wouldnt tell. I would call mayors to tell them that we were working for a TV station, asking them to tell us if theyd heard anything, because we wanted to do a report. And so, from one mayor to the next, we ended up talking to Ion, a man from Vâlcea who knew the secret between making ice-cream in barrels. He was actually upset his own son wouldnt carry over the family tradition. He actually told us Dad, look, theres this stranger at our door, and Im gonna tell him everything if you dont”
Adrian Mengheș has been running his business for over 11 years, and he noticed a change in peoples consumer behaviors, more recently in particular.
“People have started being more mindful about what they eat. They have become more knowledgeable. We always tell them our ice-cream is homemade. The difference is huge between the ice-cream in stores and the ice-cream we make. First, its the way we make it, its a different texture, a different taste. Its less airy than industrial ice-cream. Secondly, we make our own raw materials, namely the base we use to produce the ice-cream is made from milk, eggs, whip cream and egg yolk. And we do the flavors ourselves too!”
The ice-cream is delivered using the companys own cars or via delivery apps. Most clients appeared after the lockdown period, when sales would reach as much as 1,400 EUR per day. The website displays 30 varieties of ice-cream. Popular choices include vanilla, chocolate, mango, salted caramel or peppermint. Adrian Mengheș told us more:
“We make our own flavors from frozen fruit. In the autumn season, we also have roast pumpkin, or roast apples with cinnamon. The manufacturing process is part of the family business in its entirety. We like to think of ourselves as genuine ice-cream makers, although we didnt do any special training, studying the ice-cream making process. We simply make the ice-cream as we like it, as ordinary people like it. Over the years, weve had over a hundred flavors, but its hard to always experiment, because vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or raspberry are always the top choice. In spring, which marks the peak of the ice-cream season, we usually make classic flavors, and starting autumn we tend to adapt”.
Adrian Mengheș attended this years edition of the Bărbați pe Mătăsari festival devoted to mens urban culture.
“We attended all three editions, but this was the first time we made live ice-cream demos. As a rule, we come with ready-made ice-cream, but organizers asked us to make the ice-cream on the spot. We agreed, and I must admit we were very well received. We didnt expect to have such great sales on an October day”.
The Ice-Cream Barrel has some eccentric flavors on offer, such as Koliva, mustard, lavender, basil, but also ginger, raisins, roast apples and biscuit or sugar-free vanilla. (VP)
