### Spaghettieis
Germany — It looks exactly like a hot, savory plate of pasta, but it’s actually a brilliant ice cream illusion.
To the eye, it’s a steaming bowl of spaghetti bolognese. In your mouth, it’s purely sweet and frozen: long strands of rich vanilla gelato, a tart strawberry "tomato sauce," and a dusting of white chocolate "parmesan," all hiding a secret dollop of frozen whipped cream.
How It's Made
A traditional German Spätzle press (a metal noodle maker) is placed in a deep freezer until it is ice-cold. Next, slightly softened vanilla gelato is loaded into the freezing press and squeezed with brute force, extruding perfect, noodle-like strands directly over a dish of cold whipped cream. Finally, the dish is draped in strawberry sauce and dusted with white chocolate.
The Story
This iconic optical illusion was invented in 1969 by Dario Fontanella, a 17-year-old boy whose father ran an ice cream shop in Mannheim, Germany. After seeing a dessert made by pushing chestnut purée through a noodle press on a ski trip to Italy, Dario decided to try the trick with gelato. His first attempt used strawberry, lemon, and pistachio ice cream to mimic the Italian flag, but his father scolded him, saying real pasta isn't multi-colored! Dario smartly switched to plain vanilla, added strawberry purée, and grated a white chocolate Easter egg on top to look like parmesan cheese. At first, kids served the dish would burst into tears, thinking they were being forced to eat dinner instead of a treat—but today, Germans eat over 23 million bowls of Spaghettieis every single year.