Living: An Eternal Verity

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Not everyone swoons over Haagen-Dazs' Rum Raisin or rushes out to get Baskin-Robbins' flavor of the month (last month's offering: Condorman Crunch). Some gourmets prefer to make their own, some prefer what they find in the supermarket. TIME asked several notable ice-cream addicts to reflect on their favorite flavors. The answers:

By Gael Greene, food critic for New York magazine

For me, it's not the least bit excessive to rank the quality ice cream explosion with the sexual revolution, the women's movement and peace for our time. Great ice cream is sacred and brave, an eternal verity. And the passionate appetite for quality ice cream gives me hope for the survival of our civilization.

Though I am a fool for swirls and toasted nutlings in 16% butterfat, and fresh peach or berry can make me weep with joy, unreformable junk food cravings still linger. As a wantonly spoiled New Yorker, I could enjoy a sublime birthday cake prepared by any of a dozen master patissiers. But for the last three birthdays I have insisted on a Baskin-Robbins Mickey Mouse with blue eyes and an orange necktie cloaking layers of English Toffee, Pralines 'N Cream and Jamoca Almond Fudge. And they have to tear me away at midnight to keep me from devouring Mickey's last leftover ear.

Of course if you are serious about these things, you must inevitably discover homemade ice cream—silken and voluptuous. A dozen supernal ice creams have passed through my life, notably the mythic chocolate almond chip fudge swirl created on Christmas (two quarts for company, one quart for me and my then husband to eat by the light of the freezer at 1 a.m.).

I shall never trust anyone who doesn't love ice cream.

They probably hate the beach because of the sand, sleep in pajamas, never eat spareribs and kiss with their mouths closed. What deprivation. Give me rum raisin, give me butterscotch excess.

By Julia Child, star of the television series The French Chef

I think that Haagen-Dazs and those other new ice creams are all terribly amusing, but I always feel that they are more expensive because of their names.

I like Sealtest. It's very good—especially the vanilla and the chocolate, and a wonderful mixture called Heavenly Hash.

It is certainly easy to make your own ice cream, especially with the new Waring Ice Cream Parlor. It used to be such a hassle to chop up the ice and to find the coarse salt, but now you can use plain ice cubes and table salt, and it only takes 20 or 30 min. to freeze. I have a very nice sour cream recipe that features whole eggs, sugar, vanilla, and sour cream in place of fresh cream. I also do a fresh fruit sherbet. When Bartlett pears are in season, they have the best flavor. Fresh strawberries and raspberries are easy to do because you just have to sieve them and beat them up with some sugar and lemon juice. I'm also fond of pink grapefruit, but that's a little more complicated.

If you have too many flavors, then they mask each other and you end with a mishmash. But there was that very simple recipe that we did on television. You spoon a little bourbon whisky over vanilla ice cream and sprinkle on some finely powdered instant coffee. That makes a delicious dessert.

By James Beard, master chef and author of a score of cookbooks