The image of a motorboat carrying a crate of ice cream sandwiches on the river is probably very familiar to those who were born and raised in riverside areas. Whenever they were at home, the children would go down to the riverbank to watch the ice cream sandwich vendor's boat pass by.

To give an example, this ice cream and bread boat, which has been operating for nearly 20 years, belongs to Ms. Tu Loan (Dang Thi Loan, Nha May B hamlet, Khanh Hung commune, Tran Van Thoi district). Even at almost 55 years old, her life remains full of hardship, from her youth to the present day. Every evening, Ms. Tu makes her own coconut ice cream in a stainless steel container, then the next morning she takes the bread and carries the container of ice cream down to the boat to prepare for a day of selling. To keep the ice cream from melting in the sun, she places the container of ice cream inside a Styrofoam box, using it as a makeshift refrigerator. The boat carrying the ice cream and bread container then travels along the rivers, canals, and waterways in this way.

Ms. Tu Loan keeps her coconut ice cream in a stainless steel container, with a styrofoam box on the outside to prevent it from melting. When selling, she scoops the ice cream into bread, and drizzles it with peanuts and sweet, creamy condensed milk.

Ms. Tu recounted: “My husband and I are from Bac Lieu , and to make a living, we bought a motorboat to sell salt all the way down here. Seeing that business was doing well, we decided to settle down here permanently. We don't have any land for farming, but I learned how to make ice cream before, so we bought the boat to sell it. My husband continues selling salt. We sell more in the dry season than in the rainy season. The kids love it. We have to take a break on days when it's too rainy or windy. We travel over 20 kilometers around the villages to sell. On a good day, we sell 150 loaves of bread and 6 kilos of ice cream; on a slow day, we sell 70-80 loaves of bread and ice cream. The leftovers are used by my husband, children, and grandchildren. Every day, we spend 150,000 dong on bread, 120,000 dong on gasoline, and another 150,000 dong on ice cream, so after deducting all expenses, we're very happy to make a profit of 150,000 dong.”

Back in the countryside, ice cream sandwiches were the kids' favorite snack. If they got 5,000 dong from an adult, the kids would stand by the river and wait for the ice cream sandwich vendor to come by in her boat. Besides ice cream sandwiches, Ms. Tu Loan also sold ice cream in cups, meat sandwiches, and sausage sandwiches, offering a wide variety of choices for the kids to enjoy.

Mr. Nam An (Tran Van An, Sao Luoi hamlet, Khanh Binh Tay Bac commune, Tran Van Thoi district) is over 60 years old and has several grandchildren who ask him for money every few days to buy ice cream sandwiches. He often shares them with the children for fun.

"If you buy ice cream sandwiches for the kids, they're so happy. We live way out here on the Sao Luoi dike, so the ice cream sandwich vendor only comes by boat around noon. Especially during summer vacation, as soon as they finish their lunch, before their stomachs are even full, the kids are already waiting eagerly for them."

On hot summer days, for adults, eating a cool, refreshing ice cream sandwich brings back memories of childhood.

Cream-filled bread rolls are a long-standing, popular snack in Ca Mau . Nowadays, this childhood treat is still sold from motorbikes along the connecting concrete roads. But somewhere along the rivers, the sight of these ice cream-filled bread roll vendors remains, a testament to the passage of time.

What's special about this dish is that it can be enjoyed in any season, because the combination of ice cream and bread is not too cold but pleasantly cool, and not too sweet either. In this modern age, with so many new ice cream varieties available, ice cream bread is no longer widely sold, and is even quite rare. Therefore, enjoying this dish again after a long time will make you appreciate the delightful and precious taste of your childhood even more.

Thao Mo

Source: https://baocamau.vn/xuong-banh-mi-kem-a1522.html