“I will have the watermelon sorbet,” my friend says as I look excitedly at the range of flavours. We are at Fun Stick, a newly opened joint at Nehmath Plaza, Manacaud - Attakulangara road that specialises in handmade pops. Think gelatos and sorbets on sticks; a fun and cool way to beat the heat.
Everything inside the ice cream display looks inviting. The range of fresh fruit based sorbets include the standard pineapple and watermelon. As for the milk based gelato, the options include all time favourites such as chocolate and vanilla and unusual flavours such as coconut and cream and cookie n’ cream. Should I have the passion fruit sorbet or the orange sorbet? The hazelnut and the peanut butter gelato sound promising too. Unfortunately, as everything is in pop stick form, there are no sample tastings to be had. After much deliberation I finally decide on a hazelnut gelato. You can choose to eat the creamy confectionery on its own or add some toppings. While my calorie conscious friend decides to forego dipping her watermelon stick in chocolate sauce, I choose to dunk mine in a rich dark chocolate sauce and jazz it up with some crushed peanuts.
Although I enjoy the crunchy chocolate and nuts texture, I think it overshadows the gelato a bit. If I try it again next time, I'll probably have my gelato stick sans topping. My friend, who is slurping on her sorbet reluctantly shares a lick. I feel as if I was biting into a piece of juicy watermelon.
As my friend enjoys a peanut butter gelato dipped in milk chocolate and topped with slivers of almond, calories forgotten, I talk to Zeenath Ismail and Jabeen Shahida, the duo behind this handmade pop joint. In fact, Zeenath’s inspiration for starting the store was drawn from the family’s business of selling ice candies in Alappuzha.
“We used to experiment with flavours when making ice lollies and I have used some of the recipes for my sorbets,” says Zeenath, who adds that Jabeen is her sister-in-law. Their family is their strongest critic, she says. “Especially our children; they provide us feedback whenever we experiment with flavours. In fact, it is only with their thumbs up that we have recently added fig and honey and milk and dates to our menu,” grins Jabeen.
Fun Stick is open daily from 12 noon to 10.30 p.m. Contact: 9995889191
