Paris, Sustainability and Ice Cream :

NEW HOURS

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:01:00 -0700

We are changing…

Due to the overwhelming demand of our ice creams and sorbets at local farmer’s markets, we have decided to focus on local sales outside of our retail store. We have also been working hard to get our ice creams in local grocers around the area. If you would like to see Perfect Flavor in your fine neighborhood grocery store, either contact us or share your suggestion with your grocery manager directly. Local markets love to hear feedback from their loyal customers, and suggestions are encouraged.

Because of all these changes, we have decided to close our retail store during the week. We will now be open on Saturdays only, however we still gladly welcome our by-appointment guests, as well as those interested in tours and tastings. We love showing people around our store, and with our retail shop closed, we can now offer you and your family a more personal tour of our kitchens. We invite you to be our only guests as we show you how we pasteurize our milk, freeze ice cream, and bake the brownies that go into a batch. How often do you get the royal treatment in a food kitchen??

Again, our new hours are as follows:

OPEN

Saturdays 11 am - 9 pm

CLOSED

Sunday - Friday, by appointment only

*Please note that there will be an upcoming date in which

we will be closed on Saturday: Saturday, September 27th.

Colin and Lynsie are getting married, and since this is a family business,

our family will be with us and not at work.

synchronize your life

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:03:00 -0700

So, how often is it that you find yourself sitting down to a nice magazine read, only to find that you -surprisingly- read about yourself? Not very often I imagine, unless of course you’re Britney Spears. Well, it happened to me recently.

I was dining at my local Charlottesville Chipotle with some much-needed time on my hands, and so I decided to use my precious interlude to read the newest edition of Edible Chespeake magazine. I did have a few motives behind my avid reading: Perfect Flavor, thanks to our friends at Edible Chesapeake and Dyan Carlson, just appeared in this Summer’s issue. As always, I was anxious to see how the article came out. I’m proud of the result, and more importantly, of this little business Colin and I have created. However, as I read on, something strange happened.

I stumbled upon an article about Polyface Farm. Not too unsual these days-I’m so glad folks are getting more and more information on this amazing farm. However, what was unusual is that I began reading about the very thing I was eating at the time: Polyface pork. Not too surprising given Charlottesville’s locavore craze, but did you know that the Charlottesville Chipotle is the very first store in the chain to source its pork locally? That’s why I go–in case any of you were wondering;)

So, here I am, enjoying my absolutely delicious pork (which comes from Swoope, VA, just 20 minutes away from Perfect Flavor), reading about the farm responsible for its cultivation, when I begin to think about Polyface’s eggs. Funny, since just earlier that day I had been cracking these very eggs, 250 of them to be exact, to go into a batch of ice cream base. Can you imagine how good it felt to be affirmed with what I’m doing through a magazine? I thought it couldn’t get any more synchronized, when I turned the page and stumbled upon yet another article pertaining to my life.

Square One Vodka, an organic vodka company based in California, had a wonderful article about locally-sourced summer drinks, written by the owner herself. Not only do we have our eyes set on using Square One Vodka in our sorbets and ice creams, but the owner and her family are, in fact, from Waynesboro! How did I know this? Oh, because they stopped by and visited with us not long after we opened. And to make matters even more unsually ironic, a member or two from this family had attended Sweet Briar College, my alma mater.

Trapsing through the magazine some more (I do not read articles consecutively), I discovered quite a wonderfully flattering mention about Starr Hill Brewery. This is, for my out-of-towners, the best brewery in town! We’ve always loved their beer, but now I love it even more…in my ice cream! That’s right, we had just had a meeting with Mark Thompson, the Master Brewer, in which we discussed a beer & ice cream relationship between our two businesses. We’ll be creating flavors like Cocoa Stout with their Dark Starr Stout brew, and Amber Caramel Ice Cream, made using warm sweet wort that is extracted during the beginning of the brewing process just for us.

At this point, I had to sit back and sort of take this all in. What did it mean to read so much about my very actions through the stories of those I’m so closely connected to? My life to this moment had never felt so synchronized. With my mind and heart buzzing, and a smile slowly creeping across my face, I realized that this can’t happen very often to anyone. The stars had alligned, and if I had to guess, they’ll be staying that way for some time. It really is strange to read about one’s life in such a real way.

But wait, it gets better. You see, Perfect Flavor is not with out its own problems. Since we’re doing what no one else is, it can sometimes be very difficult to even exist. From creating never-before used ice cream recipes to pasteurizing milk and our ice cream base, it’s not easy to keep going everyday in the face of adversity. So imagine my surprise and great joy when, after arriving to work and receiving deliveries from a few of my favorite suppliers, I sat down to check my email, and who had written? Joel Salatin. As if I hadn’t had a big enough affirmation about what we’re doing at Perfect Flavor, this was the beautiful, fluffy, creamy buttercream icing on the cake!

Joel said simply that what we’re doing at Perfect Flavor is something that is not being done anywhere else in this country. That he knew it was hard. And that he would do anything he could to help us.

I swear, I could not have planned this wonderful coarse of synchronization myself.

So, I’ll tell you this: I have made decisions filled with integrity, stubbornness, confidence, and humility. I don’t have the answer to a happy life, but I do know that when you do the right thing, you get the greatest reward of all…a nice big pat on the back.

To find a copy of this season’s Edible Chesapeake, go to any Whole Foods store near you. If you can’t find it there, check them out online and ask where they distribute. www.ediblechesapeake.com

what's in this?

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:48:00 -0700

Upon waking this morning…after working a very late night full of ice cream-making, I turned on the TV, and to my surprise (or horror, as fate would have it) entered head-on into a Today Show segment entitled, "What’s In This?"

Images of Crisco, Cool Whip, and Doritos bags abounded, and I thought for sure that this show, which often only barely scratches the surface of real issues, big smiles all awhile, was actually going to do some heavy lifting. I was really wrong. No big surprise, I know, but what I was about to see was in fact disgusting and completely revolting!

Two of the show’s anchors along with a researcher/columnist from Wired Magazine were disecting a few choice mainstream foods like Red Bull, Carnation Non-Dairy Creamer, and of course Cool Whip. However, instead of examining each unpronouncable ingredient and being appalled by its inclusion, they were instead revelling in the chemical miracles involved in each product’s creation and existence. Each subject was standing on its own, with a bundle of other questionables next to it. This of course, made it oh so much easier for the hosts to explain to us simple-minded folk about what each ingredient is, or at least what each ingredient is most closely related to.

For example, Red Bull sat next to a package of red meat, NoDoz, corn syrup, and vitamins. Yum.

The Non-Dairy Creamer I won’t even get into for fear of making myself sick.

The Cool Whip-now here’s where it got interesting. This trendy, "all-in-one" product sat next to Anti-Freeze. The Wired correspondent exclaimed, with what I believe was sheer excitement and joy, that in order for Cool Whip to stay in place on top of your favorite slice of peach pie, it needed "special" ingredients in it that kept it solid, even when warmed. So, my friends, aren’t you glad to know that Cool Whip contains chemicals (his word, not mine) that are the food (?) equivalent to Anti-Freeze, and oh wait—personal lubricant?!?!?!

As if it couldn’t get any worse, the Wired correspondent, with great pride, stated this simple fact, "We use chemicals to make this food. It’s a miracle of science! Since we use certain chemicals, however, we have to add counteractive chemicals that will help our bodies digest the already-added chemicals."

Now, it might seem as though I’ve just made this whole thing up. I mean-who says that on national television with a contented smile on their face? Sadly, though, it’s true. It happened. And what’s more, it happens all the time.

How is it possible that we have allowed our food production to stoop to this level?

At the very beginning of the segment, the hosts pointed out these foods, probed the audience to question what was in the foods they eat, but then added, "All of these foods are just fine for you. Don’t stop buying them." Pair that back-and-forth with a proceeding commerical about "fresh fruit" in an Edible Arrangement and then a Splenda commercial. That’s got to make for a very confused individual.

shrinkage

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:29:00 -0700

I love it when I’m driving home, listening to NPR, and they begin talking about my favorite subject: ice cream. What I love EVEN more is when they’re on my side. Such was the case earlier this week, as I was driving over the big mountain heading to my humble home. According to www.consumerist.com, there’s been some direct correllation between our country’s current financial crisis and food-WOW, you say, how on earth could that be? ;) Read on…

Big food corporations, like Kraft, Unilever, and others, who represent products such as cheese, soap, toothpaste, and yes, ice cream, have recently been caught red-handed! They have been slyly decreasing the size of many of their packaged goods without changing the copy on their packaging to alert the consumer to this new product size! The Consumerist is calling it "shrinkage," and aptly so. Apparently, Kraft’s once 11 slice package of Swiss cheese is now 10. And to make matters worse, the company is dressing up this new packaging choice as healthy, instead of calling it what it is: a response to cheap food prices that are now not so cheap anymore. In fact, the front of the package now exclaims, "sensibly sized portion." Excuse me, but AS IF!

Ice cream tubs from Breyers and Edy’s have decreased in size from approximately 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts. The only thing that these food companies are required to change about their packaging is the weight. So unless you’re a savant (The Consumerist’s clever phrasing, not mine), how could you possibly be able to memorize everything you buy in the store in ounces?

Now all of this might seem moot lest I reveal the real kicker behind this new shrinkage method. All of the products are decreasing in size, but the prices are staying the same. Cereal boxes are smaller, margarine-yuck!-containers are smaller, and so on, but they all cost the same. I don’t know about you, but this pisses me off. How is this fair? Why are big corporations allowed to do this without any reprimanding?

They are trying to pull the wool over our eyes, and the sad part is, it’s just now that we’re starting to notice.

What are some ways that we can avoid being part of this shrinking trend?? Buy less at the grocery store, and more at your local Farmer’s Market. Farmer’s Markets are stronger than ever this season. In our area alone we have many to choose from each week, so there should be no excuse not to frequent many.

Perfect Flavor has just started participating in many area markets as well. In fact, this upcoming week we’ll be at Whole Foods on Tuesday, and Meade Park in Charlottesville. There are many more to come as well, so stay tuned.

For information regarding Farmer’s Markets in our direct Charlottesville/Shenandoah/Nelson area, pick up a Buy Fresh, Buy Local Guide, now available in the Shenandoah Valley as well! For much more information on D.C./Maryland Farmer’s Markets, pick up the most recent issue of Edible Chesapeake, out in every Whole Foods in the Chesapeake region, and it’s free! (We also made the issue this Summer, which we’re very proud of here at Perfect Flavor!)

Thanks for doing your part!

what defines local?

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:47:00 -0700

This question is becoming increasingly popular. And the answer, unfortunately, seems a difficult one to find depending on who you talk to. According to Harris Teeter here in Charlottesville, "locally grown" signifies (oh the horror!) anything grown in the entire United States! Even more horrifying, (as if this fact doesn’t already deter the true local eater): the flashy sign does not in any way explain where in the US the piece of produce was grown. How awfully off course this grocery store chain is in terms of local consuming.

A different approach, one could argue, would be a "local consumer" website. Better World Betty, widely known here in Charlottesville, is a shining example of this. The site’s hostess, Betty, leads us on a tour of local businesses in the area that have her blessing in terms of green consuming. She also offers advice to the visitor on how to live a greener life in general. While the site is on the right track, I have to admit that I feel like it misses what I think is the goal of the local consumer. For instance, a number of bakeries are listed on the site, encouraging us locals to support locally owned businesses. That’s great, and I think we should all support as many local businesses as possible. But for me, this does not fit into the idea of eating or buying locally that I’m going for. The cookies are made on site, yes. But does the flour come from a local flour mill? Does the fruit come from a local berry farm? That’s the question that I’m more concerned about.

Now, thank goodness, we’ve got a new site in town! Locallectual.com is a great tool for those of us who want to buy locally from businesses that buy locally. Get it? Now, not every business Locallectual lists creates its products from materials derived locally on a state level, however it goes the furthest out of any other site I know in offering up business listings that keep their business in the US. Thank you, Locallectual!

So, these are your options. And, as it happens, these were the options I was faced with when the idea for Perfect Flavor was born. It first took me asking things like: where does this come from? How do I get it? And from there, I have designed a business that is as local as possible. From grain to tshirts (which are designed and printed in Manassas, VA using cotton from the US, and it is called Brand of the Free), we are not only a local business, but instead a local business that supports local business.

lucky in life

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:10:00 -0700

Never did I imagine the many wonderful paths this business would take me on. Lately, it seems my paths have been more akin to dirt roads, filled with dusty gravel that has me thinking I’m all but lost-until all of sudden, I know I’m right where I should be.

The past two weeks have been fruit picking season. And when it comes to fresh, local fruit, I’m the first one to run to an orchard’s or farm’s opening on their very first day. Misty mornings warmed slowly by the sun welcome me to the joys of each new fruit I pick. And from blueberries to sweet cherries to raspberries, I find myself constantly in awe of the fact that these little berries were put here for our sheer enjoyment.

Not that I am your typical restaurant buyer, meaning mostly that I work directly with my growers, but what’s more-I put myself in direct contact with the bushes and trees from which my fruit is born. (And I do have the scars to prove it!) Each morning before I begin my ice cream making afternoons, I venture out to a different farm, where I hand-pick whatever fruit I intend on using that day. Free Union Berry Farm is a favorite of mine, and quite serendipitously it is right down the street from my house. Twelve pints later, and with the help of my two diligent (and hungry) step-kids and fiance, I found myself still reaching deep into the raspberry bush for that perfectly ripe berry, each one better than the one before. It’s an incredible experience to be able to both hand-pick and work with fruit on the very same day. Needless to say our raspberry sorbet sitting in our store today won’t be there for long.

Then were the cherries. Wow. If you haven’t had the chance to visit Spring Valley Orchard yet, you’ve got 2-3 more weeks. On the drive there, it is understandable to worry that you may have, in fact, gotten yourself and your family members lost-however-push on! Through winding dirt roads and tree canopies lies a beautiful, very open valley where the cherry orchard resides The beauty alone is reason enough to get in the car and go, but the cherries are equally as sweet, refreshing and enlivening. To find out more, visit www.chilespeachorchard.com and click on the far right link: "Spring Valley Orchard" for directions and hours.

Finally, yesterday my fervent stepson and I awoke at the frightful Summer hour of 7 am to go pick what’s left of the blueberries. When we arrived, the air was cool and wet, and the bushes were shaking off their morning’s dew. As the sun began to climb over the trees that were providing us shade, we witnessed the berries ripening before our eyes, practically turning more and more blue by the minute. We picked as fast as we could, especially because I was on a deadline to get Nick to camp by 9:30. In the end we were a little late, but in my opinion picking local blueberries fresh from the farm is a fantastic excuse to be late no matter where you’re going or who you are.

Come by our store and try these delicately ripe flavors before they’re all gone. And if you miss us this week or the next, you can still look forward to huckleberry ice cream, alpine strawberry sorbet, and peach sweet cream. If that doesn’t make you want to jump in your car and pick your own, I don’t know what will!

For more information on where to find "pick-you-own" farms, contact me at lynsie@perfectflavor.com.

Recipe for Fresh Raspberry Sorbet

3 pints freshly-picked raspberries (or any in-season fruit you like!)

Simple Syrup (1 1/2 cups sugar melted with 3 cups water)

Combine sugar and water, bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add raspberries. Let sit until cool, process in a blender or food processor, and strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Freeze bright red juice in an ice cream maker, or pour juice into popsicle molds, freeze, and enjoy! For extra fun…add 1/4 cup champagne for a little extra sizzle.

soul food

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:21:00 -0700

Two nights ago, Colin and I were fortunate enough to participate in a very special dinner. The dinner, hosted by PEC (Piedmont Environmental Council-the Buy Fresh Buy Local Campaigners) and prepared by Jonathan Hayward in his restaurant, Toliver House, was an exquisite event which drew quite the crowd of locally-minded folks. Every aspect of the four-course meal was local. From the meat to the cheese to the wine to the herbs to the whiskey-local, local, local. What better time of year to enjoy the amazing things that come from Earth and are so well-nurtured by our farmers and chefs.

We got the lucky job of bringing our very own ice cream, which I must say made me quite proud. Interspersed throughout each course were the farmers and winemaker, who would discuss the origins of the food on our plates, and the struggles and triumphs that mingle together when owning and operating a farm in Virginia. There’s nothing quite like shaking the hand of the farmer who hours before pulled the very beets out of the ground that you’re happily digesting.

When it came time to discuss our ice cream and serve it around to the 50 guests, I was feeling perfectly content surrounded by such like-minded individuals. Finally, I had a captive audience that had an innate understanding of what it is we’re creating at Perfect Flavor. They understood our struggles, and rejoiced in our triumphs. And then they ate the ice cream. All of it.

When I say I’m an artist, people ask me how I feel about my work being constantly created for the purpose of destruction. I don’t see it that way. We are what we eat, so I believe my art lives on long past its shelf-life.

Visit Erika Howsare’s C-Ville Weekly blog, "This Just In" to find out who exactly was there and to learn more about how to find this local food on your own, and how to become involved in PEC. Membership is an easy $25 and goes a long way. Look for more of these dinners to come!

http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1991704080566501&act=post&pid=12031106083061366

www.pecva.org

at the back door of the Inn

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:45:00 -0700

Everyone told us our ice cream was special. So special, in fact, that we should jump ahead (light years as far as I was concerned) and take our ice cream straight to the creme de la creme of the restaurant industry: The Inn at Little Washington. After a few weeks of pros and cons, I finally realized that there was no reason why I shouldn’t go and at least take the opportunity to meet some of the peers that I look to with such high regard.

So we went. Colin and I took the day off and drove up to Washington, Virginia, with some choice ice cream flavors in tow and a lot of courage. I had called ahead and was told that I simply needed to knock on the back door of the famed kitchen. Since I was still a little…shy, I asked the doorman again when we arrived. He said that, yes, we were to walk around to the back door of the kitchen, and simply walk in. What happened from there was pure magic.

Not only were we invited to sit down with Executive Sous Chef Rocky, but we were offered fine coffee and a chance to tell our story. I got the impression that Rocky gets his fair share of walk-in vendors, and it seemed as though every chef in the room was keeping one eye on what they were doing and the other eye on us. I think it’s safe to say that we weren’t what they were expecting. With a business so based on integrity to the land, the ingredients, and the people we serve, I got the feelng that our standards stood up boldly to those of the Inn, the very place that has become famous because of its exquisitely high standards and attention to detail. We got their attention.

By the end of the 30-minute sit down, Rocky had shared with us his trials and tribulations with wanting to make the best ice cream he could, but finding it difficult because of the stringent regulations governing local milk production and availability. By the end of our conversation, he said nothing more than what we needed to hear: "You’re doing the right thing, I’m impressed with what you’ve created and I look forward to working with you in the future."

This is a very fine affirmation that what we’re doing at Perfect Flavor is extraordinary. I am proud to run such an admirable company.

Local Food Locator

Mon, 19 May 2008 06:31:00 -0700

Just an observation…

The other day I was in the grocery store (Harris Teeter) and I noticed something odd. Over the past few years, but especially the past few months, I’ve noticed the grocery chain’s introduction of locally made food items. I’ve seen things like jams and jellies, mostly. There’s Route 11 chips, of course…and lately, there’s even been an artisanal bread maker from Richmond selling sandwich loaves. It’s pretty fantastic to see at least some locally made foods for the choosing.

Sadly, I’ve noticed something else-quite appalling, really. The locally produced food has been moving, slowly and methodically, to the back of the store. In one case, there’s even a stand of jams that’s currently sitting in a dark "employees only" entrance. (Specifically next to the fish counter, on the right hand side closest to the juices and "fresh" fruit.) If I were deciding between my cheaply priced Smuckers jam and the normally priced locally made jam, there’s no doubt that the latter’s creepy location would deter me entirely from even approaching. This, to me, is devestatingly sad. As far as I’m concerned, what the grocery store is saying to me is, "We don’t care about this local food because the markup isn’t as high, so let’s sell as little as possible so that we can drop the account and stick with our cheap ingredient-based staples." Sigh. It really does make me sad. What are we going to do when gas prices get so high that Smuckers will inevitably have to raise their prices? I don’t want our turn to purchasing local food to be one of obligatory action, but instead one of well-thought out choice in an effort to support our local farmers.

What can we do? We can start by approaching the manager of any grocery store, and requesting specific brands of food. We can ask our friends to do the same. The way it seems to go is that the manager/buyer will respond to a collective request. But be sure that if we ask for it, and then we don’t make an effort to buy it, "it" will be gone quicker than you can find it!

Food & Wine & Cornstarch

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:49:00 -0700

In the June 2008 issue of Food & Wine, Jeni Britton was featured in the magazine’s “Master Cook” section. For those of you who don’t know Jeni, she makes gourmet ice cream in Ohio. Her business is Jeni’s Ice Creams. I’m really glad to have seen her in this prestigious magazine, but not because of its notoriety and her potential fame. Instead because the article, and her recipes included in the article, epitomize the crisis we have currently in the food industry: a crisis of industrial food and sadly, some gourmet as well. It’s the use of unnecessary ingredients, like corn-based sugars, starches, etc. It’s Food Fakery, as Julia might say. Using an ingredient not intended in the use of ice cream, to replicate the smooth texture that real ingredients are meant to provide is sad. We should be angry, or at the very least, upset about this.

In the article, which briefly discusses Jeni’s use of “in-season” produce and “locally pasteurized milk,”* there are included a number of ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet recipes that, according to Food & Wine, took Jeni 75 tries to get right. Hmmmm….I guess she’s been producing her ice creams in massive quantities lately, because if Food & Wine asked me for a recipe for the home cook, I’d just use the one I use now.

In Jeni’s recipes I found the material that really got me heated. She suggests using ingredients like cornstarch, gelatin, and corn syrup in her creations because she doesn’t like the taste of eggs in her ice creams, and also because the gelatin “gives an appealing whipped texture” to the yogurt. Stop the bus! Since when did gourmet belong in the same sentence as factory food??? I am here to prove to all of you that you need none of the above to make incredible, dare I say, healthy ice cream and sorbet. How do I get around the great puzzle that is ice cream making?

Easy. I use real ingredients and let them speak for themselves. In fact, my recipe for french custard contains the same ingredients as Thomas Jefferson’s. He was, after all, the person who introduced ice cream, the ice cream maker, and the vanilla bean to America. As for corn syrup? Yes, there are recipes that I use that call for corn syrup…my solution? I use my homemade simple syrup instead. I combine organic evaporated cane juice and water to form a pure, unadulterated syrup that works as a perfect substitute. Check out my recipe for simple syrup, as well as my recipe for strawberry rhubarb sorbet. I just made some today and it was the best one yet!

Lynsie’s Simple Syrup (use, by weight, as a substitute for corn syrup in any recipe)

2 cups water

1 ½ cups organic cane sugar

optional: a vanilla bean, scraped. (All parts-the caviar (black tiny dots) and the shell-can be added.)

Bring the water and sugar to a boil, whisking occasionally. Boil for 5 minutes and remove from heat. Cool and place in an airtight container. The syrup will keep for up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

–note: this recipe can be doubled, tripled, whatever you like. Just remember, it’s two parts water, 1 ½ parts sugar. To tone down the sweetness of the sugar while maintaining the syrup’s viscosity, add fresh rhubarb juice, 1 tablespoon at a time. To make rhubarb juice, which is much better for the environment than lemons shipped from across the country and world, simply macerate chopped rhubarb with 1 tablespoon salt and three tablespoons sugar. Let sit in the fridge for at least one day and up to three. Remove, blend and strain. Leave the pulp behind and take the juice.

In-season AND Local Virginia Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet

2 ½ cups strawberries, hulled and halved

2 ½ cups fresh rhubarb, chopped

Simple Syrup recipe (yields approximately 2 cups)

Combine all and let sit overnight in the fridge. The next day, blend in a blender or food processor, strain, and freeze juice according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. If you do not have an ice cream maker, freeze this sorbet in popsicle molds, or pour unfrozen sorbet in a container, cover and repeat this process until frozen: freeze for one hour, remove from container and blend, refreeze for one hour, remove from container and blend. Repeat until lighter in color and mostly frozen.

*As an aside, Jeni neither sticks to the use of local, in-season produce nor is she really capable of controlling the pasteurization process of her milk. I know she’s not using in-season, local produce because I receive her email newsletter and in December, her customers were encouraged to purchase ice creams with ingredients like strawberries, figs and cherries, none of which are in-season in Ohio at this time.

Also, regarding her mandate that her milk be “gently pasteurized” according to the article, I really don’t see how she can have any say into how her milk gets pasteurized. We pasteurize our own at Perfect Flavor, which means we know and understand the rules and regulations regarding pasteurization in the state of VA backwards and forwards. Pasteurization is pasteurization. The only difference is what kind of machine is used. At Perfect Flavor, we have a batch pasteurizer, which pasteurizes our milk in small 15 gallon batches for 30 minutes at 145 degrees Fahrenheit. The alternative would be a flash pasteurizer, which pasteurizes milk for two minutes at a temperature of 175 degrees or more. This, in our opinion, damages the milk, so we don’t do it this way, not to mention the fact that using a machine this large would be cost prohibitive to us. For Jeni or anyone else to say, however, that their product is “gently pasteurized” is bending the truth, because what they really mean is that they’re using a batch pasteurizer instead of a flash. Doesn’t it seem unfair as a consumer to be fibbed to?

On one more note of worth, my guess as to the reason why Jeni does not use eggs in her recipe for ice cream is simply because she would have to pasteurize them, and she doesn’t have a pasteurizer. Interestingly enough, in her press kit for the last two or more years she has stated her imminent purchase of a pasteurizer as “news” for the business. Somehow I have a feeling we shouldn’t hold our breaths. It costs A LOT to do things the right way, but for Perfect Flavor, the right way is the only way.