The Unique Way Germany's Spaghetti Ice Cream Sundae Was Invented

Foreign tourists who walk into a German ice cream parlor might be confused at first, as they're likely to see what looks like spaghetti with tomato sauce being served. The German ice cream sundae called spaghettieis – "spaghetti" plus "eis" (ice cream) – is made of spaghetti-shaped vanilla ice cream covered with strawberry sauce and sprinkled with white chocolate "cheese." This eye-tricking dessert that's popular in Germany but mostly unknown outside the country was created thanks to a teenager's moment of inspiration during a ski trip.

German 17-year-old Dario Fontanella was at an Italian ski resort cafe in 1969 when he ordered a Mont Blanc, a French pastry made of chestnut puree swirled on meringue with whipped cream. He asked how they made the puree long and thin, and was told they pushed it through a press used to make German noodles called spaetzle. Fontanella, whose Italian immigrant father owned an ice cream parlor in Manheim, wanted to try it with ice cream. After some failed efforts, Fontanella got the "spaghetti" right after realizing the spaetzle press had to be very cold.  He experimented with using strawberry, lemon, and pistachio in tribute to the Italian flag's colors, but settled on vanilla when his father said he'd never seen different colored spaghetti. 

Spaghettieis was a big hit when the Fonatanellas' Manheim shop, Eis Fontanella, began selling it in the 1970s, although children would cry at first, thinking it really was spaghetti. Its popularity spread, imitators copied it, and spaghettieis became a German favorite.

Making ice cream spaghetti isn't as hard as it might seem, and you can attempt your own spaghettieis at home. Use creamier ice cream – gelato is the standard in Germany – for a better spaghetti shape and let it soften a little before pushing it through a cold spaetzle press or an easier-to-find potato ricer. Puree fresh strawberries (use color to choose the most delicious ones) in a blender with sugar for the sauce, then refrigerate it to get very cold. Sprinkle shaved white chocolate, shredded coconut, or almond pieces as the Parmigiano cheese topper over the sauce-topped ice cream. 

A hidden spaghettieis component is a dollop of homemade whipped cream on the plate under the ice cream spaghetti. The outside of the whipped cream freezes under the cold ice cream and becomes crispy-crunchy, giving the sundae a textural contrast.

Try different variations of ice cream and sauce from the classic. Dario Fontanella himself sells other versions, like a "carbonara" topped with vanilla cream sauce or eggnog, and a "bolognese," which mimics the meatiness of bolognese pasta sauce with nuts in a caramel or chocolate sauce. His father may not have liked colorful spaghettieis, but many shops in Germany use different-colored ice cream flavors to make it, and you can experiment with them too. Add "meatballs" by using chocolate truffles (make them with just two ingredients!), malted milk balls, rolled brownie pieces, or another sweet brown-and-round imitator.