The land of frozen custard
Two things have me thinking of Indiana this week. One is of course the impending Democratic primary on May 6. News reports have North Carolina and Indiana (both of which have primaries next week) linked in a way that almost makes them sound like a engaged couple ready to show up at the altar Tuesday.
The second is today’s review in relish of Kernel Kustard, a modern, shiny version of vintage walk-up frozen custard stands. Their neon signs are vivid in my memory.
Obama in Indiana:
Clinton in Indiana:
Frozen custard in Winston-Salem:
My mom is from northwestern Indiana, an unbroken swath of openness so big and wide it almost made me hurt as a kid. On visits to my grandparents’ farm, I was always astonished by how flat everything was (until I spent one summer during college in Iowa). You could stand among the blackberry bushes there and see two or three thunderstorms going on at the same time miles away, miles from each other. The same thing happened with firework displays on the Fourth of July, except the lightning was man-made.
Those summer visits tasted of raspberries and blackberries, tomatoes, and corn-on-the-cob picked from a nearby field seconds before it was dropped in a pot of roiling water.
And it was Lindy Freeze, a tiny little frozen custard shack in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Linden, population 700, not far from my grandparents’ farm. There were other stands in nearby Lafayette and its twin city, West Lafayette, but Lindy Freeze is the one I remember going to the most. We licked our cones as we sat on picnic tables outside or in the neighboring park.
It’s hard to find frozen custard outside of the Midwest. It’s similar to ice cream (but don’t you dare call it that, or you might incite violence among normally mild-mannered Midwesterners) but usually denser, creamier and served at a higher temperature, frozen custard has the texture of a meltier gelato. You have to eat it fast, especially if you are outside (which I think of course tastes better than eating it in some chilly air-conditioned dining room).
Kernel Kustard’s frozen custard stands up to the dessert of my memory, but I definitely prefer the chocolate. I think the vanilla’s too sweet and not true vanilla-y enough.
The primary will be over Tuesday (though who knows if that will decide anything). We have an entire summer of prime frozen custard weather in front of us.
Addendum: Michael Hastings just clued me into Kohl’s Frozen Custard in Wrightsville Beach. I mentioned in today’s review that I hadn’t ever seen a frozen custard stand in NC, and it’s truly not a pervasive part of our culture like it is in the Corn Belt. But CustardList.com also points to a handful of stands in Asheville, Charlotte, Cary and Raleigh. This has got to be the work of transplants...
