Tilapia ice cream, anyone?
By Henrylito D. Tacio
“… Everyone knows that ice cream is worth the trouble of being cold,” wrote Brandon Sanderson in The Rithmatist. “Like all things virtuous, you have to suffer to gain the reward.”
Ice cream is a frozen delicacy that can be prepared using milk or cream, enhanced with a sweetener such as sugar or a substitute, and infused with spices like cocoa or vanilla, or fruits including strawberries, mango, durian, or melon. Stabilizers and food coloring may be added.
Lately, ice cream comes in different flavors. “Have you ever spent days and days and days making up flavors of ice cream that no one’s ever eaten before?” asked English author Neil Gaiman in The Sandman (Volume 7: Brief Lives). “Like chicken and telephone ice cream? Green mouse ice cream was the worst. I didn’t like that at all.”
Now, here comes tilapia ice cream, which received the highest accolade at the National Symposium on Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resource Research and Development (NSAARRD) several years ago. This innovative creation achieved first place in the Development Category.
The Laguna-based Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resource Research and Development (PCAARRD) of the Department of Science Technology (DOST) led the NSAARRD, which showcases the most outstanding contributions of individuals and institutions in the field of agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources research and development.
“Tilapia ice cream is the recent addition to the growing trend of unique and interesting flavors of ice cream in the market,” said the press release circulated by the S&T Media Service.
Food scientists and researchers at the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Muñoz have reportedly created tilapia ice cream. “The tilapia ice cream is an enjoyable way to maximize the benefits of tilapia,” they said.
This innovative food technology provides consumers with a rich source of protein while eliminating the typical fishy taste and odor associated with tilapia.
The concept of tilapia ice cream originated from Dr. Tereso A. Abella, the current president of CLSU, who was inspired by a shrimp-flavored ice cream he encountered during a visit to Taiwan several years ago.
The actual development of the tilapia ice cream, which successfully removes the fishy flavor and smell, was carried out by Dr. Diana G. Vera Cruz from CLSU’s College of Home Science and Industry. Dr. Vera Cruz holds a diploma in hotel and restaurant management from Ashworth University in Georgia, United States.
Although it gained significant popularity among students, it was not until 2015 that the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), a division of the Department of Agriculture (DA), granted approval for funding the commercialization of tilapia ice cream.
The grant “paved way to the process optimization of the product to improve overall product quality.” As part of product optimization, chemical, physical, and microbial tests were conducted.
“In addition to the scope of the project funding, packaging selection and shelf-life determination were also addressed,” the source of information said. “Towards commercialization of the product, the consumer test shows a positive response from the consumers.”
For its part, the PCAARRD funded equipment and machinery for the tilapia ice cream production.
The product name is known as Daerrys, the combination of the proponents’ nicknames, Dana and Terry. Daerry’s Ice Cream is the primary product of VeraBella Enterprise, a registered company incubating under the CLSU Agri-Fisheries Technology Business Incubation Program.
In 2016, the Daerrys Tilapia Ice Cream made news when it received the Gold Award at the Salon International de L’Agroalimentaire (SIAL) Innovation event held at World Trade Center in Pasay City. It won over 350 exhibitors from 25 countries.
Because of the recognition, tilapia ice cream was brought to other countries, which captured the curious tasters in France, Canada, China, Indonesia, and the Middle East.
Today, there are now different varieties of the tilapia ice cream, according to the daerrys-tilapia-ice-cream.business.site. The best-selling tilapia ice cream was originally made using cream, condensed milk, carabao’s milk, cheese, nuts, and tilapia flakes.
To share the taste of tilapia ice cream with more Filipinos, Vera Bella Enterprises Ltd. created the Daerrys tilapia product lines. Aside from ice cream, they also created other products such as tilapia cookies and ice cream sandwiches.
According to Dr. Vera Cruz, who is the managing partner of Vera Bella, the motivation to pursue tilapia ice cream was to provide another option for addressing malnutrition and undernourishment in the country.
“The problem that we intend to solve here is the declining fish consumption of children. Incorporating fish into the children’s diet, and even those individuals who don’t eat fish, is an innovative way to provide them with the protein and other health benefits of eating fish,” said Dr. Vera Cruz.
In the Philippines, fish is the staple food of Filipinos along with rice. Fish provides more than half of the protein requirement of almost all people. But in recent years, the average annual consumption has declined from 37 kilos to just 30 kilos.
Tilapia is now the country’s second most popular fish – after bangus. Tilapia was very popular during Biblical times, as it was a symbol of rebirth in Egyptian art. It was also one of the three main types of fish that can be found in the Sea of Galilee.
Tilapia has gained popularity among Filipinos, who cooked the fish in different ways: either grilled or fried. Tilapia can also be made into a sinigang (a sour soup using tamarind, santol, guava or calamansi as a base) and paksiw (like sinigang but uses only vinegar).
“Tilapia farming started in the Philippines in the 1950s with the introduction of the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) from Thailand,” recalls Dr. Rafael Guerrero III, an academician with the National Academy of Science and Technology. “But it was only in the 1970s that our tilapia industry took off with the propagation of the Nile tilapia (O. niloticus). This is a much better fish than other tilapias in terms of growth rate and consumer acceptance.”
It was Dr. Guerrero himself who developed the so-called transsexual tilapia. “Tilapias are very prolific,” said the former executive director of the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development.
Studies have shown that the male tilapia grows faster and bigger than the female tilapia. The logical choice was to grow all male tilapias. But could male tilapias be selected and separated from the females? Was it physically possible to select the fish for stocking in the ponds?
Yes, it could be done – through manual sexing. In manual sexing, the male is distinguished from the female tilapia by looking at an organ called the urogenital papilla, which is found near the anus of the fish. There are two openings in the female fish and only one in the male fish.
“Manual sexing is cumbersome and time-consuming,” said a DOST publication. “Sometimes, the openings are not easy to see. The technique is only 80% accurate because of human error. Another disadvantage is that you can only sex fish when they are 3 months old. By then, they are almost fully grown.”
Dr. Guerrero, who has devoted more than three decades of his life to laboratory and applied science, knew that there was a more practical, effective, and economical method of solving the problem. After almost two years of research, he was able to convert all tilapias in a pond to male.
For his laudable work, he is regarded as the “Father of Tilapia Sex Reversal.” In 2004, he was conferred on the Mgr. Jan D. F. Heine Memorial Award by the International Tilapia Foundation for his study.
But what’s in a tilapia? Nutritionists claim that 100 grams of tilapia provides approximately 93 calories, with one gram of fat (0.5 grams saturated), 55 milligrams cholesterol, 37 grams sodium, 0.5 milligram iron, 19.5 grams protein, and 90 milligrams Omega-3 fatty acids.
