Young British Foodie: Charlie Harry Francis

 
1 June 2012

Who:Charlie Harry Francis, 27. Lives: Wherever he’s working

What he does: Experimental ice cream creator. If it’s an event he’s planning, he’ll take a theme, experiment with flavours in the development kitchen using zany ingredients from freeze dried peas or frozen rose petals to Belgian chocolate dips. “At the moment I’m working on a liquid nitrogen ice cream buggy which will be a world first. It’s in the style of a Victorian steam engine but it’s built into a golf buggy…. Tomorrow I’m throwing ice cream on a pottery wheel to see what happens and a TV crew is coming to film…”

Signature creation: Charlie’s version of lemon meringue pie, dark port and stilton ice cream served on a crisp water biscuit – “that goes down well” – or frozen raspberry mojito using real raspberries, fresh mint and lots of white rum.

How he did it: Charlie grew up on an ice cream farm in west Wales so “I have always dabbled in ice cream and I use the original family recipe for the ice cream mix. I learned from mum and dad”. He set up on his own in March 2011 after spending a year researching liquid nitrogen and talking to “amazing people in the cryogenics industry”. After spending another six months building the contraption which can be folded up – “I’m a bit of a geek really” – he put it in the back of a van and has been travelling around the country ever since.

Why he does it: “People love ice cream. It’s just so nice giving them something that they love. And it’s fun. I love giving people something slightly different. People don’t expect that they’re going to like it but they do.”

Where you can find him: Hatching a mad plan or at private events in London (caters for 100-1,000 people), Haselstock festival in Northamptonshire (29 June – 2 July) and at Camp Bestival and Bestival festivals. lickmeimdelicious.com

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