254 Lygon Street
Carlton, VIC 3053
03 9041 2927
heladosjauja.com.au
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Let’s start on a random tangent. For those of you following my chuckles on twitter, here’s the houseguest I’m currently minding. He will be with me for the better part of April while his owner (my friend, Wendee) treks in Nepal. Talk about envy!
I love how unpredictably predictable cats can be. My little houseguest was a little shy at the start and kept running away, but he’s now quite a manja spider (Singlish for smoochy-kins). He’d come to me at 2am and knead my back and legs while I’m trying to sleep, and he’d lie by my side while I’m blogging. He’s also quite clumsy for a cat, and would scramble around then crash into things… and he once fell into the toilet bowl whilst trying to jump up next to me by the sink.
This entry will be short and simple. I have previously stopped consuming gelatos along Lygon St because most of the time I’d eat them halfway and throw them out. That’s how fussy I am with ice creams. But a new ice creamery has opened along Lygon and I like it. They call it “helados”, which I assume is the Argentinian equivalent for gelatos. The traditional recipe and philosophy was brought from Patagonia to Melbourne by a passionate Malaysian aunt, and she makes everything the wholesome, old-fashioned way. It’s free of additives, gelatines and preservatives.
I can’t recall what I had here on my first visit, but it was good. Fakegf had a scoop of Argentine Tea (Milk with Yerba Mate) $5.30, which she found lovely. The only flavour that wasn’t as great was the durian, which is a fruit that I discovered develops an artificial ‘essence’ taste the moment you cook it. I wonder whether durian can be added to the mixture raw before setting.
On a side note, how many of you are fans of the Ben & Jerry’s? I personally find it overrated because there’s so much extra nonsense chunks of ingredients in it that you don’t really taste much ice cream, and it’s so so sweet!
I came back for more comfort helados after a stressful public Food Bloggers’ Q&A last month. Fakegf had a single scoop of Mild Red Bean w Caramelized Black Sesame $5.30 (pictured left, half-eaten). It was delicious. I had a double scoop cone of Jauja’s Blend of Spices & Marsala + Peanut Butter Blast $7.50 (pictured right), and boy did that hit the spot! The spice blend really reminded me of really really good chai tea.
Fakegf did note that the helados are a little grainier and not as smooth as conventional ice creams, which is probably partly why I like it. They tend to taste less overpoweringly creamy and have a sensible level of sweetness that’s perfect for me.
The flavours come in two categories, classic (orange label) and deluxe (yellow label), with the deluxe scoops holding a higher price point. So a double scoop of yellow label flavours can cost you $8.60, and the triple scoop equivalent is $11.60! In my books, I’m happy to fork out more for my ice creams provided they taste great, and so far they have been. And at least the scoops doled out so far are pretty mountainous and not stingy.
For those of you who’ve tried the helados here, what are you favourite flavours? I hear they make the mint flavour using fresh mint leaves!
I’ll end this post with a picture of the same houseguest, but one year ago. He was even clumsier then… haha! Kittens are such wonderful little gems.
