Behind the scenes at Indie Ices

This is the first in what I hope to be a series of behind the scenes noseys at a whole range of local food and drink producers.

Mike Tattersall kindly invited me to see what goes on at Indie Ices. I quizzed him as he did some preparation work in his EHO certified home kitchen. Mike is in the process of developing new flavors for the summer as well as making samples for some exciting new restaurant ventures. As well as Manjit’sKkitchen and Mango in Wetherby, Mike is in the process of supplying Prashad in Bradford.

I was a technical manager working in food factories in London dealing with things such as labelling, hygiene, supply and quality. Products ranged from sausages to sandwiches and then eventually fruit salads. The job I then got in Leeds had a little pay and little rewards in comparison to my previous roles. I decided to step out of it as at the same time my wife had just had a baby so I became a house husband while she went back to work.

I wasn’t keen on the idea of going back to work in food factories once my son was older. I looked at a number of business ideas and through this I ended up getting in touch with the people who organised the Oakworth farmers market. I was keen to be involved and I ended up on the committee.  We didn’t have an ice cream supplier and we were looking for a local producer.

My in laws are from the Punjab in India. Twice I had  tried  kulfi at their house, I didn’t believe that they had made it themselves. My father in law gave me the recipe I realised that producing kulfi was the business idea that I needed.

Mike told me that the kulfi is made in small batches of 4-16 litres at a time. Juices are squeezed and spices are ground by hand. The kulfis contain nothing but milk, cream and the flavorings. Its all fairly labour intensive, but I think its well worth it as the quality is exceptional and Indie Ices have awards to prove it.

Kulfi differs to ice cream as the milk is boiled down to condense it and then the cream is added, making it dense and creamy where as ice cream tends to be whipped with air to make it lighter. As well as the traditional mango, flavours include pistachio & almond and champagne which Mike admits to be one of his favorites.

You can find Indie Ices at the Oakworth farmers market as well as at the aforementioned restaurants. You might also like to read the Leeds Grub review and visit the Indie Ices website.

Photo credit Phillip Shannon