One of my all-time favorite movies is Julia Robert’s ‘Eat Pray Love’. Being a solo traveler myself, the year-long journey Liz takes resonates with me, and the beauty of Italy and Bali strikes a chord, making me want to go there and experience those places myself too.

One of the words I Liz learns in the movie is the Italian word – ‘Tutti’ (which incidentally also happens to be the name of Wayan’s daughter, for whom Liz collects the funds to help them build a new house in Bali, remember?). In Italian, ‘Tutti’ means ‘all’.

Connecting the dots, I realized ‘Tutti frutti’ could mean ‘all fruits’. Interesting, isn’t it? Especially so because the Tutti Frutti we Indians know is indeed quite a bad representation of the actual meaning. This Italian term has become a part of the Anglo-American vocabulary to such an extent that it often gets mistaken for being an English word, which it is not. Today, we have Tutti-Frutti ice cream, candy, nail polish, lipstick, juice, chewing gum, show colors, paint swatches. Despite that, one thing almost all of us can agree upon is that tutti-frutti is a distinct food memory for all of us, with those brilliant bright colors, that typical colors and flavors which enticed us big time as kids (and even does as adults).

Originally, the traditional Italian tutti frutti is a colorful confectionary that has chopped and usually candied fruits. In Western countries outside of Italy, the most common association with tutti frutti is the tutti fruity ice cream. Commonly used fruits to make tutti fruity are cherries, raisins and pineapples, and this mix is sometimes augmented with some nuts. Different countries have their own version of tutti fruity. For instance, in Netherlands, tutti frutti is a compote of dried fruits, typically served as a dessert, or maybe as a side-dish to the meat course. In Belgium, however, tutti frutti is always seen as a dessert dish containing a mix of raisins, currants, apricots prunes, dates and figs. In contrast to these version, in the United States, tutti frutti is generally used as an ingredient for other dishes rather than a standalone dessert. Here, tutti frutti refers to fruits soaked well in brandy or other spirits like rum, or maybe even fermented in a liquid containing sugar and yeast. Completely different from this is the Indian tutti frutti, which by a standard, is generally always candied raw papaya, cut into a small cubes and available in bright colors. The most common color of Indian tutti frutti is red, though you can find it in greens and yellows too. Here too, it is used as an ingredient for other dishes like bakery products, ice creams, sundaes, sweet pans, etc.

Originally, the traditional Italian tutti frutti is a colorful confectionary that has chopped and usually candied fruits. In Western countries outside of Italy, the most common association with tutti frutti is the tutti fruity ice cream. Commonly used fruits to make tutti fruity are cherries, raisins and pineapples, and this mix is sometimes augmented with some nuts. Different countries have their own version of tutti fruity. For instance, in Netherlands, tutti frutti is a compote of dried fruits, typically served as a dessert, or maybe as a side-dish to the meat course. In Belgium, however, tutti frutti is always seen as a dessert dish containing a mix of raisins, currants, apricots prunes, dates and figs. In contrast to these version, in the United States, tutti frutti is generally used as an ingredient for other dishes rather than a standalone dessert. Here, tutti frutti refers to fruits soaked well in brandy or other spirits like rum, or maybe even fermented in a liquid containing sugar and yeast. Completely different from this is the Indian tutti frutti, which by a standard, is generally always candied raw papaya, cut into a small cubes and available in bright colors. The most common color of Indian tutti frutti is red, though you can find it in greens and yellows too. Here too, it is used as an ingredient for other dishes like bakery products, ice creams, sundaes, sweet pans, etc.

A little research showed me that tutti frutti ice cream has been served for at least 160 years, as it has appeared on the bill of fare for an 1860 dinner in England. Recipes for tutti frutti ice cream have been found in cookbooks from the late 19th century. An 1874 cookbook Common Sense in the Household: A manual of proactical housewifery mentions a recipe for tutti frutti ice cream that calls for usage of actual tutti frutti, and does not carry any fancy names. This recipe combines a basic custard base with half a pound of cyrstallized peaches apricots, cherries and limes. The 1883 cookbook, The Chicago Herald Cooking School also mentions the recipe for a tutti frutti ice cream. In 1888, one of the first gum flavors that got sold in vending machines, that were created by the Adams New York Gum Company, was also tutti frutti. The New York Public Library that holds a collection of restaurant menus from the 1900s, also mentions tutti frutti ice cream listed on the menu. The renowned The Italian Cookbook mentions a recipe for tutti frutti ice, which it clearly states is not the typical American tutti frutti ice cream. A 1928 cookbook Seven Hundred Sandwiches by Frances A Cowles, published in Boston, includes a recipe for a Tutti Frutti sandwich. This sandwich, it says, is made with a spread made of whipped cream, dates, raisins, figs, walnuts and sugar.

Growing up in the 90s, for me tutti frutti was something sold in the ‘nukkadwala kirana shops’, in those clear glass jars that were more often than not a prime attraction for greedy flies. Those colors staring back at me from those jars were always enticing. And they were a go-to ingredient for all home bakers then, even now actually, being an easy way to liven up plain cooker cakes and humble biscuit puddings. Almost always when my ice cream or cake had tutti frutti in it, I would lick the bits of the cake or ice cream around the tutti frutti and keep the tutti fruttis aside to eat at last. The delicious lassis and faludas and desi sundaes were always loaded with this colorful delight, and I have greedily stared at the tutti fruttis in my parents’ glasses of lassi almost always, especially because when they would be having the lassi, I would be sipping a glass of lemonade or spooning through a double scoop of simple butterscotch ice cream. And the fruit bread from the local baker (Everfresh Bakery, to be precise) was a favorite, but not often bought due to its sweet nature. Such is my love for tutti frutti that the ‘Fruit toast’ from Everfresh Bakery still continues to be my favorite, though I have moved to another city now. It is something I always stock up at my place. And it goes without saying, the only fruit it has is candied papaya, the bright red tutti frutti. Working in a dairy for over a year, which manufactured the tutti frutti ice cream for the AMUL brand, I spent a few months testing the tutti Frutti ice cream mix, calculating ingredient quantities, participating in the freezing and manufacturing process, etc. The tutti frutti essence had this pungent aroma, but the final product, was always delicious. Couple of years back when I relished the Puneri Mastani, a delightful, refreshing milk-based beverage, the tutti frutti on the top were something I still like to save for the end.

But let’s not limit our horizons. Let’s explore some more. Here’s a recipe for the original tutti frutti ice cream from the Common Sense in the Household: A manual of practical housewifery:

Ingredients

1 pint of milk

1 quart of cream

5 egg yolks – beaten light with sugar

3 cups of sugar

1 lemon – both juice and zest

1 glass of pale Sherry

1/2 lb of chopped crystallized fruits (peaches, apricots, cherries, limes)

Method

• Heat the milk almost to boiling
• Pour the milk over eggs and sugar mix, beating everything together well
• Return back to the fire, then boil for ten minutes, until it sets into a good custard
• Once it cools, beat in the cream, then half freeze before stirring n half a pound of crystallized fruit
• Beat in the lemon and wine, cover and freeze to a hard consistency
• Make sure the custard is beat hard and thorough to get a soft, smooth ice cream

Do you have any colorful tutti frutti memories? Tell me in the comments or email me at bhavi.irma@gmail.com