History

Salt and Straw opened on Alberta Street in Portland in 2011, founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek, with a manifesto to source 80 percent of dairy and produce from Oregon farms. The pear and blue cheese flavour was on the opening menu and became the chain's signature. The pairing draws on the Pacific Northwest's combined strength in pears (Comice and Bosc from Hood River) and blue cheese (Rogue Creamery in Central Point, founded 1933). Salt and Straw now operates 36 locations across six US cities, but the original Alberta Street scoop counter remains canonical.

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Common allergens: Dairy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 1Hands-on 40 minTotal 12 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • For the pear base: 4 large ripe Bosc or Comice pears (about 700g), peeled, cored and diced
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 60g granulated sugar (for the pear cook-down)
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
  • For the ice cream custard: 500ml heavy cream
  • 250ml whole milk
  • 150g granulated sugar
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 150g Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue (or Caveman Blue, Crater Lake Blue), crumbled into small pea-sized pieces
  • 1 tbsp pear brandy or pear eau-de-vie (optional, for depth)

Method

  1. Combine the diced pears, lemon juice, 60g sugar and vanilla seeds in a wide saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the pears break down to a thick chunky compote.
  2. Cool the pear compote; puree half of it in a blender to a smooth puree, leaving the other half chunky. Combine both portions and chill thoroughly.
  3. Make the custard: warm the cream, milk and half the sugar (75g) in a heavy saucepan to a steaming-not-boiling temperature.
  4. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining 75g sugar and the salt in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened.
  5. Temper the yolks: stream about half the hot dairy into the yolks while whisking, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
  6. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens to coat the back of a spoon (about 82 degrees Celsius). Do not boil.
  7. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, stir in the optional pear brandy, cover with cling film touching the surface, and chill 6 hours or overnight.
  8. Fold the cold pear compote into the cold custard base.
  9. Churn in an ice cream maker per the manufacturer (20 to 25 minutes), about 5 minutes before the end add the crumbled blue cheese in pea-sized pieces; it should be distributed throughout, not melted in.
  10. Pack into a chilled freezer container and freeze hard at least 4 hours before scooping. Soften 5 minutes at room temperature before serving for the canonical Salt and Straw scoop texture.

Tip from the editors. The blue cheese must go in cold and be distributed at the very end so the pieces stay intact in cold pockets; if it melts in, the ice cream tastes muddy. Rogue Creamery Smokey Blue is the canonical choice; a quality French Roquefort or Spanish Cabrales also works.

Where to eat salt and straw pear and blue cheese ice cream

Salt and Straw Pear and Blue Cheese Ice Cream in Portland

Salt & Straw Alberta ★ 4.6

$ BakeryFarm-to-cone ice creamAlberta ArtsWalk-in only

Cousins Tyler and Kim Malek's farm-to-cone ice cream counter on NE Alberta in Portland, the 2011 shop that grew into the Pacific Northwest's defining brand.

Worth the queueSea salt with caramel ribbons

TipFive Portland scoop counters. Alberta is the original. The rotating monthly menu is the draw.

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