Mardi Gras Ice Cream

Extraordinary flavors on Columbus’s Northwest Side
 

Whatever I eat—new fruit, new anything—I always think in ice cream form,” says Mita Shah while we stand in Mardi Gras Homemade Ice Cream, the Hard Road shop that she and her husband, Dilip, have owned for 18 years.

After purchasing the store, the Shahs decided to keep the shop’s original name and concept while adding their own spin to the menu offerings.

Mita, a once frequent visitor, approached the original owner with a recipe for mango ice cream, a dish she had fine-tuned in her home kitchen. Impressed with the results, the owner asked if she’d like a job.

“No,” Mita said. “I’d like to buy the business.”

Global Flavors

Columbus has a reputation as an ice cream town. In this hectic landscape, the Shahs have cemented their status as purveyors of exceptional handcrafted, flavorful and imaginative treats with the only Indian-influenced ice creamery in Central Ohio. Mardi Gras’ ice creams are made fresh in-house, contain real ingredients like hand-blended spices and are predominantly eggless and gelatin-free.

Walking into the store, one is welcomed by a brown board above the ice cream case noting Mardi Gras’ flavors. With staples like vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and mint chocolate chip, one is sure to find a scoop they know. By turning around, however, to view the “international board” above the shop’s tables, guests will find Mardi Gras’ real pleasures in a list of 20 or so globally inspired options.

“Seventy percent of our customers choose to buy the Indian ice cream,” Dilip says regarding the handwritten list on the international board surrounded by a montage of photos of smiling customers. With flavors like a fig-based anjeer, ginger, green tea, sweet rose and lychee, there are a United Nations of options.

The inventory also includes Mita’s house-made kulfi, a frozen Indian dessert. A sugary and creamy indulgence, kulfi is like ice cream but made by boiling and reducing the components rather than whipping and aerating them, making the final product denser.

“Kesar pista is our highest seller,” Mita says regarding option number 14 on the international board. The saffron, almond, pistachio and cardamom dessert is sought after by the shop’s various clientele who hail from all corners of the globe.

While Mardi Gras generally features 48 ice creams in its cases Mita has experimented with over 250 options over the course of her business’s history. Sometimes guests offer ideas, recipes or even tips on where to access fruit or other ingredients.

“I had a customer bring me pawpaws this past year,” Mita says. “I knew cinnamon and honey would go well with them. I made a batch and it was sold out in three to four days.”

Mita says that in 2019 she hopes to locate more pawpaw fruit, an Ohio native, and feature the flavor as a seasonal item on the menu. She also plans to fine-tune several ice cream recipes, including jasmine and lavender. She yearns to feature jamun, a plum-like fruit native to India, on her international menu as well.

“I made it this past year and it was sold out in a few days,” she tells me. “It was hard to get the fruit, so I made only one or two batches. This year I’m hoping to import more jamun.”

Mardi Gras owners Mita and Dilip Shah

Mango and Kesar Pista

Mita and Dilip were raised three miles from one another in the Indian state of Gujarat. Their hometown, Ahmedabad, is an ice cream mecca and houses some of India’s largest and oldest ice cream companies. Ice cream is deeply embedded in Gujarat’s culture and the state’s residents consume vast amounts of it year-round, especially during the region’s long, sweltering summers.

From a family of self-proclaimed “foodies,” Mita enjoyed spending time in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother while a child. She says that they made ice cream at home—the hard way.

“We did not have an ice cream machine. We had to hand crank,” she remembers warmly.

Dilip emigrated to the U.S. in 1969 and Mita followed in 1975 after the two were married. When she arrived, Mita encountered her first electric ice cream machine. With her in-laws slated to visit, she spent days preparing meals from scratch and her father-in- law greatly appreciated her inventive homemade dessert.

“Every night he had to have ice cream,” Mita says. “So I was always making ice cream when they were visiting.”

The Shahs raised two sons in Columbus. The boys developed a strong work ethic alongside Mita at the shop. In those days, Dilip was often on the road, busy with his career as a chemical engineer.

Sometimes Mita would join Dilip on trips abroad. On excursions to Brazil, China and Taiwan she found sweet inspiration.

“I went to London and had a chocolate and orange ice cream,” she tells me with a smile on her face, remembering the flavor. “I came back and made that for the shop.”

Dilip says his favorite flavors are pistachio, kesar pista and butter pecan. Mita’s are cheesecake, kesar pista and mango, the one that started it all.

“I love to do this,” she says fondly. “I love to cook and create.” Mardi Gras is open from mid-March to mid-November and is located at 1947 Hard Rd. in Columbus. In addition to ice cream, the store sells a variety of handcrafted cakes and ice cream cookie sandwiches.