“Come on ice cream!” (post-jalapeño-eating saying)
Mexican (or Tex-Mex) food can be hot. After eating several jalapeños, it’s not unusual to follow that up with ice cream for dessert.
An old joke/saying goes that, the following day while sitting on the toilet, the eater of such hot food will be saying “Come on, ice cream!” as a certain burn is felt. The joke/saying dates to at least the 1980s and probably much earlier.
All Recipes
Chuck’s Come On Ice Cream (or Night of the Red Death) Chili
SUBMITTED BY: jibefan
“Beef and pork sirloin rubbed with many seasonings, marinated, then simmered with tomato, onion, garlic, salsa and the right bite of jalapeno chile peppers. Come on, ice cream! The best chili I have ever tasted. My cousin Chuck’s recipe. The secret is in the meat seasoning! A must for any chili lover!”
INGREDIENTS
MEAT SEASONING
2 teaspoons ground sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
CHILI
3 pounds beef sirloin
3 pounds pork sirloin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon bacon grease
fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
3 onions, chopped
7 cloves garlic, crushed
salt to taste
2 scoops ice cream, any flavor
DIRECTIONS
1. To Marinate: The day before preparing the chili, in a large bowl mix together the sage, thyme, basil, marjoram, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Cut beef and pork into 1/2 inch cubes and add to bowl. Mix meat and seasoning together, cover bowl and refrigerate overnight.
2. To Make Chili: Begin to heat tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa and 2 teaspoons chili powder in a large pot over medium low heat. Meanwhile, heat bacon grease in a large skillet over medium heat. Add jalapeno peppers and saute until soft, 1 to 2 minutes, then add them to large pot.
3. In same skillet fry beef and pork with onion and garlic, in small batches, about 15 to 20 minutes each. As each batch is done add to large pot.
4. When all ingredients are in the large pot, season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 3 hours.
5. After eating chili, eat ice cream and say “Come on, ice cream!”
Google Books
Rain God:
A Desert Tale
by Arturo Islas
Palo Alto, CA: Alexandrian Press
1984
Pg. 38:
“Well, there was this gringo who was in Mexico for the first time. At a restaurant he ordered a mole poblano that was real hot. I mean hot, hotter than this.”
“Impossible,” Nina said, offended.
“Well, almost, comadre. Anyway, the poor guy sat there awhile after he ate a couple of mouthfuls, flames coming out of his ears, and when he could talk he asked the waiter to come over to his table. She saw right away from his face what was wrong, and she brought him some ice cream. ‘What good will that do?’ the guy asked her. ‘It’ll help take away the burn,’ she told him.”
“It never worked for me,” Juanita said.
“Well, the next day,” El Compa went on.
“Here it comes, the corny punch line,” Tony said.
“Shut up, both of you,” Nina said,
“The next day, the gringo is sitting on the toilet, and you know what he is saying?”
“No, what?” Juanita asked, taken in once again by El Compa’s charm.
“‘Come on, ice cream, come on!’”
Google Groups: alt.tasteless
Newsgroups: alt.tasteless
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Only 13 more shopping days until Christmas)
Date: 12 Dec 90 18:15:30 GMT
Local: Wed, Dec 12 1990 1:15 pm
Subject: Re: shit list
>MEXICAN FOOD SHIT - a class all its own.
Come on ice cream! Come on ice cream!
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Chloie Parsons
Date: 1997/06/04
Subject: Re: Help! Too Hot Chili!!
I have a cute story about hot chili. My grandfather is from a rich hispanic native american background. When he went back to the reservation as an evangelist, a church member told him this story:
“A man from the North came to visit us. He was not used to our spicy foods, but loved the flavor. With one of our meals we ate whole peppers. Not jalapenos, but CHILES! He could not help but eat them. We told him that ice cream would help to soften the effects of the chiles. A few days later we heard him in the out house saying, “Ouch! Come on ice cream! Come on ice cream!”
Google Groups: rec.food.cooking
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Date: 1998/08/28
Subject: Re: Jalapeno Seeds
My husband jokes that when we have spicy food we must follow it up with ice cream. His theory is the next morning while sitting on the throne just keep hollering “come on ice cream, come on ice cream.”
Google Books
Hairdresser to the Stars:
A Hollywood Memoir
by Ginger “Sugar” Blymyer
Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris
2000
Pg. 36:
On my day off, two stunt men, Chuck Hayward and Jerry Gatlin, invited me to go to lunch with them. They decided to have some fun with me. I’d never eaten Jalapeno peppers before and they were aware of this. They took me to a little cafe where they stuffed the fresh peppers with things like tuna and olives. They were so tasty I couldn’t stop eating them. We had lots of beer and lots of those peppers and other great Mexican food. On the way home they took me for ice cream. I was puzzled at this and they explained that the next day I would be saying to myself, “Come on ice cream.”
I didn’t get it then, but the next day I did. The result of eating all those peppers was horrific every time I went to the restroom and I finally understood why they said I’d be saying, “Come on ice cream.” They laughed and laughed knowing what I was going through. I won’t explain my discomfort, but soon I began to laugh with them. From then on I was more cautious.
Google Books
Cold War Fighter Pilot
by Harold Wade
Trafford Publishing
2004
Pg. 72:
We frequently ate at a Mexican restaurant called Almond’s. The food would make us feel like we had eaten live coals and ice cream was the favored dessert. Next morning, we would be complaining and saying, “come on ice cream,” all the time swearing we would never return to Almond’s. By nightfall, we were usually there again.
Google Books
Eat This Book:
A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit
by Ryan Nerz
New York, NY: St. Martin’s Griffin
2006
Pg. 102:
When it comes to post competition elimination, Don is a purist. “I don’t use no laxatives, and I don’t throw up my food. I do the water, and I let it come out naturally.” To describe the unique aftereffects of attempting to eliminate so many jalapeños, Lerman offers up the following joke: On a dare, a guy eats a fiery jalapeño, underestimating its power. Afterward, his friends give him ice cream to cool off. Later, while going to the bathroom, it burns so bad that he yells out, “Come on, ice cream!”
Google Groups: alt.politics
Newsgroups: alt.politics
From: Raymond
Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:27:10 -0800 (PST)
Local: Sun, Feb 10 2008 8:27 pm
Subject: Re: Hillary says she eats hot peppers
> Haha. Pretty savvy way to appeal to Hispanics.
And ice cream dealers. ” Come on ice cream.”
Austin (TX) American-Statesman
COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO
Does Hillary have a primary motive for turning Texan?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I can understand why Hillary Clinton is trying to show she’s got a little Texas cowgirl in her.
(...)
Then, on “60 Minutes,” Hillary told CBS news anchor Katie Couric that she keeps up her stamina by eating “a lot of hot peppers.” As many Texans know, hot peppers put lead in your pencil. Not that I’m saying Hillary has a pencil. I’m not the kind of guy who starts those kinds of rumors. But Texans love their jalapeños, as anyone who has hollered “Come on, ice cream” can testify.