The two-woman team consisting of Norwegian Anniken Sand and Danish Nina Victoria Berg Saroori were the first to open a liquid nitrogen ice cream shop in Scandinavia. The place is called Istid (Ice Age) and the idea came from Smitten Ice Cream in San Francisco, which we visited last summer. To provide money for their dream of opening a brick and mortar shop, they used the crowdfunding service Kickstarter back in 2015. Meanwhile, they did events and pop-ups all over Copenhagen. The Norwegian blogger, and a good friend of mine, Hobbykokken assisted the duo to perfect the technique and recipes.
When you order your ice cream at Istid, the girls will turn on one of their many KitchenAid stand mixers, pour in the ice cream base (made of mostly organic ingredients), and slowly add liquid nitrogen which rapidly freezes the mix into a silky smooth cream. The nitrogen holds a temperature of -196°C and takes less than 60 seconds to make cream into ice cream. Trust me, you do not want to spill any of that stuff on your hands …
The first shop was set up in a small space in Jægersborggade (one of my favorite streets) in the area of Nørrebro, and the two girls recently opened a second shop in Hellerup. I visited the original ice cream parlor shortly after the opening in 2015 with my good friend Linn Johnsen, aka Vinstudinen. We ordered only one ice cream to share and I got to choose the flavor (yay). It had to be salty caramel!
Looking for more great spots for food and drinks in the Danish capital? Check out my foodie map of Copenhagen.
