The Unique Ingredient That Makes Filipino Sorbetes Stand Out

The world of Filipino street food is unparalleled: From sweet custard-based yema milk candy to the salty fertilized duck eggs known as balut, every dish prepared and sold on the streets of the Philippines carries its own rich, innovative history. Take sorbetes, for instance, the creamy frozen treat sold out of pushcarts as a cheaper alternative to regular ice cream. Rather than rely on expensive ingredients like cow's milk and eggs, street vendors hand-craft this delicious dessert with a base of coconut milk or carabao milk, and thicken it with one unique ingredient: cassava flour.

Also known as yuca or manioc, cassava is a starchy tuberous plant that grows abundantly in tropical regions around the world. A versatile staple found in many global cuisines, cassava can be used in savory dishes like South American yuca frita and west African fufu just as easily as it is used in sweet applications like chewy tapioca balls and, of course, sorbete. Since cassava has no distinctive taste, its starchy flour is an ideal, inexpensive ingredient for adding structure and texture to sorbete while allowing popular flavorings like chocolate, mango, and the bright purple yam called ube to shine.

Not to be confused with creamy sherbet or icy sorbet, sorbete is a uniquely Filipino dessert that earned the nickname "dirty ice cream" because it is commonly made by street vendors rather than commercial manufacturers. The origins of sorbete can be traced back to the 19th century, when ice was first imported to the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. The first sorbetes were made following the invention of the garapiñera, a rudimentary ice cream churn made from a wooden bucket filled with salted ice and fitted with a crank and an internal metal cylinder.

After the liquid ingredients were mixed and poured into the metal drum, the "mamang sorbetero," or ice cream vendor, would turn the crank for hours until the sorbete reached the perfect smooth consistency. Scoops of dirty ice cream were then served in small sugar cones or sandwiched between soft bread buns. Many sorbeteros today have upgraded to using more modern ice cream churns, but the tradition of preparing and selling the sweet treat from colorful pushcarts remains. However, larger commercial brands like Nestlé have begun manufacturing their own sorbete-inspired pints that are available at supermarkets across the Philippines.