Chocolate chip ice cream

Today I write in defense of something that has no defenders.  In fact, it has many detractors, people who would take its noble essence and embellish it beyond recognition, while still trying to capitalize on the history of its good name.  I submit, dear readers, that it is time for chocolate chip ice cream to take its rightful place among ice cream flavors.

I'm not here to argue that chocolate chip ice cream should be everyone's favorite.  Speaking selfishly -- because in reality, that's all this post is about, my selfishness -- I don't want it to be the most beloved flavor, because then I'll have to compete with everyone to buy it.  As it is, it appears so rarely on cooler shelves that one would think it was being rationed.  I merely ask that like its brethern, it be left alone to exist in its simplest form, its truest form, the way God through man intended it.

Go to any store now and you can find any variation of chocolate chip ice cream you'd like:  Mint chocolate chip, chocolate chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookie dough.  I defy anyone to find a normal-sized container of just straight chocolate chip ice cream, though.  It's as if it's been banned for being more tasteful than other flavors.

What's the big deal?  Consider, for a second, the three primary flavors of the ice cream world:  Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.  Sure, they've been lumped together with the o-so-cosmopolitan name of Neopolitan.  They've had fruit put in them, chocolate chips put in them, caramel and fudge drizzled over them.  But one can still find containers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, standing alone by themselves without any adornment, right there on the shelves with the bastardized containers of chocolate chip married with unnatural ingredients.  Why must chocolate chip suffer these indignities?  Why can't it be left alone like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry?

For whatever reason, chocolate chip has fallen into disfavor.  There used to be several brands that offered straight chocolate chip ice cream.  No more.  The only straight chocolate chip that I can find is made by Haagen Das and even then it's not in every store.  Breyer's also has one, but again some stores only offer it on a limited basis.

It seems the trend in ice cream is to offer designer flavors, with candy bars mixed in or exotic fruits blended in.  I'm all for diversity, even with ice cream flavors.  But enough is enough.  There are standards to be maintained.  Chocolate chip ice cream offers the perfect blend of the traditional flavor of vanilla with the crunchiness and unique flavor of the chips.  Its virtue is in the perfect blend of textures and flavors that can't be overcome by any other compounded ice cream flavor.

So the next time you get a chance, ask your grocer or the ice cream vendor for straight chocolate chip ice cream.  You'll be doing the world a favor by restoring balance to our dessert options.

(c) 2013 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles