This Summer, Let’s Philosophice!

'Tis the season of melty, smooth and delicious ice-creams. Natural, no preservatives, no additives. Made with lotsa love and some philosophy!

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor

Ayesha Mehra was no ordinary kid, when a kid. And now the young woman that she has bloomed into, is no ordinary woman. You could say I have seen her grow, so I know. And to be honest, as a photographer who enjoys shooting people, I did hope she would take to modelling. She has the look, the jawline, the eyes, the demeanour. Alas, lurking inside her she also has a thinker. A reserved, determined kind who took the world seriously and had her own strong views. One who went away to study psychology at Barnard in New York and then neuroscience at Davis College at the University of California.

But life has a way about it. Here was Ayesha, an undergrad, toiling away in labs in the US, probing into the study of genetics, analysing data, studying the human brain, while her own was taunting her and leading her away, astray… away from all the serious education, into the cool world of tantalising ice-creams.

Yup, you read right. From the brain to the heart is not a very long distance. She gave into her childhood dream and was soon indulging in experiments of another kind. Making ice-cream. Ayesha equipped herself with an ice-cream churner and churned away to glory.

“I can’t believe how my hobby has turned into my life’s goal. And today I am actually selling ice-cream! But this is what I always wanted to do! In fact my best friend, Sonali Kumar and I, in Grade IX, used to dream of starting our own ice-cream parlour one day. Those days we used to think that school was such a waste!,” says Ayesha shrugging her shoulders, rolling her eyes!

Well, that’s the prerogative of the youth. And as long as your confidence takes you in the right direction, it’s fine. Which I do think did Ayesha good. If not a model, I'd rather she makes super ice-cream than be sitting in Guantanamo Bay, analysing some mind data trying to figure what makes criminals tick!

So even while in her second year at Davis, Ayesha was making some super ice-creams which her friends were happily licking up in gay abandon. In her pantry, in addition to her red Cuisinart ice- cream maker she now had this big Blue Star deep-freeze. She was researching, experimenting, educating, learning, learning, learning, weaning herself into a self-taught ice-cream maker. Her friends were her happy guinea pigs, giving her genuine feedback. The most popular was her Coffee Brownie ice-cream.

Once back in Bombay, the undergrad seemed to be burnt out! She wanted to do nothing more than rest! So for three months, that’s all that she did; rested, relaxed and of course made ice-cream. That became her mainstay and a game-changer. She made so much ice-cream she had no choice but to sell it! Her parents, Sangeeta and Brijesh, became her first customers. Says Ayesha, “That was amazing, soon my friends and my parents’ friends were buying my ice-cream and then their friends and families started to buy my ice-cream! The network just kept expanding by word of mouth.”

“This was in 2018. I started with four flavours, Coffee Brownie, Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Limon-Cello. I use no eggs, no preservatives, no additives, not even any emulsifier which actually helps in making ice-cream creamy. I use only milk, cream, sugar/honey/jaggery, cocoa and coffee. I use fresh flowers like blueberry which I actually boil in the milk. For my caramel sauce, I use sugar, cream and butter.”

The young lady can never tire of doing the same thing every morning. “I am truly happiest when I am in my kitchen making ice-cream. It gives me so much joy. I don’t get even a bit bored doing the same thing over and over,” says Ayesha, smiling.

Ayesha is a person who doesn’t get carried away. She spends hours finalising flavours. Just because a few people say, “Wow, this great,” doesn't mean it is, for her. She is fastidious in that aspect. She has to be satisfied that she is doing her best. She has to get an overwhelming response to any new flavour she puts out.

Like for five years she had been thinking of making a good vegan ice-cream. She had tasted some super ice-cream in Bali which got her experimenting with vegan. She had about 60 trials before she was satisfied with her product. Imagine, being at it, making, chucking away 60 batches of ice-cream! She tried to do so with different kinds of milk, almond, cashew, soy. She used nut butter, chia and then settled with coconut cream and soy milk. It’s been on the list for two years, Vegan Chocolate Cookie.

But there is another ice-cream she worked upon that I simply must tell you about. Which she launched in December ’22. This one was a breeze, she managed to get it right in just two weeks. It was the quickest she had ever made. It was I who told her why. Because there was divine intervention. It's a sweet and sad story. Ayesha is a dog person and she lost a part of her heart when Scoop her pet died in December, just days before his birthday. In his memory she started to create a new flavour – with an ingredient he loved; banana. And like magic which her pet created in her life, the new flavour was born and became an instant success. Obviously it's called The Scoop.

Talking about Scoop and ice-cream names, how did the brand Ayesha has created come to be called Philosophice, a rather unusual name for ice-cream? Enlightens Ayesha, "When I was young and dreamed of having an ice-cream parlour, I spent hours during my literature class daydreaming of what I could name the brand. From studying Camus to Shakespeare, I was inspired to have a themed ice-cream brand, leading from the different inspirational figures, I was partial to. So I mentally trademarked the name when I was only 14 years old."

"10 years later when the dream turned to reality, I went through a host of names – from “Scoops”,  “Winter Wind”, “Cold Sky”, to “Melt”. I turned to French and Nordic  ice-cream words and many others but none fit. All I knew was I wanted quotes and messages around the brand, to uplift people mentally and give joy to their taste buds. So I dug into memory and revived “Philosophice”, my childhood dream, naming my initial flavours after the most positive philosophers and philosophies I could think of. Each flavour had a muse and a quote to encourage food for thought, thought with food. An all-round inspired ice-cream-eating experience was the hope!"

"'Philos' means love in Greek – an essential part of the ice-cream making and eating experience. 'Soph' means knowledge, which accounts for the scholarly figures whom the flavours are named after, and 'ice' for ice-cream. So came about Philosophice, and whilst the flavours and their taste remain the core focus, the love and positivity behind each flavour has helped me develop an identity for the brand. For example, “From your mind, to mirth and merriment” – the Shakespeare quote is for Salted Caramel!" 

Philosophy aside, what we are impressed with, with Ayesha, is her clear-cut dedication and single-minded zeal towards her cause. “What carries me through is the love and encouragement from my customers. I make ice-cream every day and love doing so. I know I will grow and my orders will double and triple, but I will always hope to be artisanal, always indulge in the joy of making ice-cream with my very own hands.”

Philosophice Ice-Cream

Mob: 0 98202 00905
Delivery in SoBo (Rs 100),
Bandra (Rs 150)
Instagram: @philosophicecream

Blue Flower Vanilla Honey Ice-Cream

The thematic-coloured Blue Flower Vanilla Honey uses blue pea butterfly flowers to infuse their natural blue colouring into the milk, and impart the slightest undertone to their subtle flavour to the base. It is sweetened with honey and vanilla flavouring which is added once the base has cooled. This flavour is as subtle in taste as in colour, vis-a-vis most of the other flavours which are stronger on the palate. It works well paired with cakes and fruits, or even just by itself, light as ever on the tongue.

Coffee Brownie Ice-Cream

Coffee Brownie, the most popular flavour is named after Soren Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism and faith. This quintessential ice-cream is made using: a 1:1 milk to cream ratio; a 4:1 dairy to sugar ratio – with coffee infused into the dairy itself. The mix is first cooked on the stove, chilled, and then churned in a machine, with our own brownies crumbled in at the end to finish the flavour.