Museum where you can chill with a glow in the dark ice cream
THIS is the first look inside a Willy Wonka-style museum of ice cream where dessert lovers can enjoy glow-inthe-dark gelato, experience a sub-zero ice chamber and learn about the science of a brain freeze.
SCOOP: A Wonderful Ice Cream World is opening tomorrow at Gasholders, King’s Cross, promising a tantalising tour of frozen desserts.
Visitors walk through an ice chamber into an exhibition of more than a thousand pieces of paraphernalia, such as moulds, glass bowls and vintage adverts — all taken from the 14,000-strong collection of enthusiasts Robin and Caroline Weir — which have never been displayed to the public before.
From there, visitors will journey down a timeline corridor detailing the first time certain flavours were recorded, including peach in 1691. They can also learn to make ice cream, following the lessons of Victorian food writer Agnes B Marshall, dubbed “Queen of Ices”.
The exhibition even explores the “dark side” of the dessert, telling the story of the Eighties Glasgow Ice Cream Wars where rival criminal organisations operated from gelato trucks.
Another section, created with Ben & Jerry’s and design group Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, brings to life the physiology behind the brain freeze. The gift shop sells ice cream in flavours such as all-day breakfast and cucumber.
It is the latest launch by the British Museum of Food, from event company Bompas and Parr. Sam Bompas said: “As this year marks the 300th anniversary of the first printed ice cream recipe, we thought why not … a celebration of the British love of ice cream.”
⬤ Advance £12 tickets at bmof.org