This new, immersive experience means visitors can get the inside scoop on the past, present and future of ice cream.
It’s the British Museum of Food‘s first major exhibition, and it’s certainly the coolest one to ever hit London. We’re talking daffodil-flavoured ice cream dating back to 1750, and other innovative recipes, including fizzy ice cream and ? GLOW-IN-THE-DARK ICE CREAM ?, which you’ll taste as you walk through a luminescent, futuristic cave. [See more: the best museums in London.]
Wander down an aromatic corridor of flavour, walk through a cloud of vanilla “fog” in a sub-zero ice chamber, discover 60,000 year old glacial ice, and learn all about the science of ‘brain freeze’. There’ll even be an over 18s room where you’ll learn about the dark side of ice cream in Scotland and how, in the 80s, rival criminal organisations would operate from ice cream vans. It was, somehow comically, known as the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars.
SCOOP: A Wonderful Ice Cream World has been curated by Bompas & Parr, who are known for their weird and wonkaful ways. You’ll be taken on a journey through three centuries of European and British ice cream history, and have the chance to discover items from the world’s largest collection of ice cream paraphernalia, taken from a massive 14,000 objects. The exhibition launches on July 3rd and will be open to the public until the end of September.
Before you leave, be sure to taste some extraordinary flavours of ice cream at the museum’s café, Conehenge. There’ll be furniture inspired by the frozen dessert, and you’ll also get the opportunity to try out the world’s first hundreds and thousands fountain. HELL YES.
Location: Gasholders, 1 Lewis Cubitt Walk, King’s Cross, NIC 4BY. Find it on Google Maps.
Opening hours: 3rd July – 30th September (Monday to Friday 12pm – 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am – 6pm)
Price: £12 (+ booking fee). You can book tickets here.
More information: visit the British Museum of Food website.
Also published on Medium.