Delacrem Obrador Ice Cream has opened a second location on the leafy avenue of Passeig de Sant Joan. Early in the evening, when the sun is low enough that the city is painted a rich pink colour, locals set out of their apartment and head to Delacrem. Whereas the original shop has outside seating, this new location is a small shop front in which fewer than 10 people can squeeze in.
Delacrem Obrador is a takeaway shopfront on Passeig de Sant Joan from the much loved Barcelona brand, serving seasonal artisanal ice cream.
Flavours are written up on a blackboard or on little cards that are placed close to the covered ice creams. You don’t see the ice cream at Delacrem. It is stored in cylindrical tubs and sealed with a top. When a flavour is ordered, the top is removed, the ice cream scooped out and then the top replaced. Delacrem makes artisanal ice cream minus the various industrial stabilizers that will guard the ice cream against temperature fluctuations and the like. The diligent replacement of the top speaks towards the quality of Delacrem ice cream.
Then there is the colour, all pastels, not one primary colour amongst the bunch. I can’t tell the apricot from the peach. The basil my sister gets is a pale green. Some of the flavours are combined with herbs, the flavour of which tear through the fruit, as is the case with the apricot and rosemary.
The ice creams and sorbets are pale in colour and full of flavour.
They take a seasonal approach and have created a Delacrem Ice cream flavour wheel that illustrates what flavours you are likely to encounter during what month. An indication only, you might find the plum and Ratafia flavour that was to die for, gone by the next week. All the more reason to make a daily walk to the shop and then stroll and people watch on Passeig de Sant Joan.
I tried the coconut flavour recently and it was a revelation. So smooth with that telltale blue-white colour that creamed coconut often posses. The balance of the sugar such that it bordered on the savoury. The judicious application of sugar serving to make it all more decidedly coconuty, the savouriness conjuring up surf and palm trees.
The stand out flavour for me was the coconut. Creamy, coconuty and with a savoury accent.
I plop down on a street bench and scrape at the quickly melting ice cream. Eventually discarding the spoon and tipping the liquid contents into my mouth. A perfect way to end the day in Barcelona.
Delacrem Obrador Ice Cream
Passeig Sant Joan, 59
facebook.com/delacremobrador
or
Delacrem Ice Cream
Carrer d’Enric Granados, 15
facebook.com/delacrembcn
www.delacrem.cat
More superlative ice cream shops in Barcelona:
Gocce di Latte
Natas
Parallelo
Swiit
Leave a Reply