Ben And Jerry Talk About More Than Just Ice Cream

It all began when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield met on the school track in seventh grade, the last two to finish the mile race.

Their friendship endured, and in 1978 they decided to open an icecream shop in a leaky old Vermont gas station that they renovated themselves.

Next thing they know, they’re employing 600 people, manufacturing 32 flavors of ice cream and 11 frozen yogurts, doing $150 million a year in sales, and sitting here with me answering weird food questions.

The comfortably rumpled pair of ice cream mavens settled their blue-jeaned, T-shirted, worn-tennis-shoed selves into the overstuffed love seats of the pristine hotel lobby and talked for nearly two hours while hovering over extra-large cappuccinos and brownies.

Ben is the more outgoing of the two, and more apt to introduce his palate to international flavors, while Jerry contents himself with old-fashioned comfort foods that seem to fit his laid-back persona.

In fact, I kept looking down at his feet, fully expecting to see an Old Yeller-type dog lying there snoring as we spoke.

Me: If you could jump into a swimming pool filled with any kind of food, what would it be?

Ben: I think a fresh fruit salad made with watermelon, mangoes and papayas would be refreshing.

Jerry: Could you repeat the question?

Me: If you could jump into a swimming pool filled with any kind of food, what would it be?

Jerry: Chocolate mousse. It would be a soft landing and somewhat supportive.

Ben: Well, I think you’d plummet right to the bottom.

Jerry: You’re probably right. But what a way to go.

Me: As a child, what was your worst food nightmare?

Ben: When the school hot lunch was “piggy pot pie.” It was really mushy. And I would have nightmares about liverwurst.

Jerry: I have none. My parents were tolerant, loving people who never made us eat anything we didn’t want to.

Me: They never made you sit there until you finished your vegetables?

Jerry: Nope, never. I had a great childhood.

Me: What kind of food were you raised on?

Ben: Ice cream, spaghetti, halvah, potato pancakes, cottage cheese, English muffins, ketchup, butter and veal Marsala.

Jerry: Standard fare like meatloaf and spaghetti, and Dad made hamburgers and French fries every Saturday night.

Me: Who’s the better cook?

Ben: Me. When we started with an ice cream parlor, we also served food and I was the cook. I made homemade crepes, soups, brownies and coquilles St. Jacques for $4.50.

Jerry: Ben, by far.

Me: Describe one of the finest meals you’ve ever prepared.

Ben: Coq au vin with baby pearl onions, salt pork and lots of mushrooms, a delicious white clam chowder and one of my favorites: eggs Blackstone from “The Joy of Cooking.”

Me: That’s more than one.

Ben: Sorry.

Jerry: I have made no fine meal, but once I made vegetable gado gado with rice and peanut sauce from a book. It was pretty good.

Me: Describe a disaster.

Ben: I don’t have a good sense of smell, so I have a tendency to burn things.

Jerry: Once I made baked Alaska, and while it was baking, the meringue slid off the top and coated the entire oven.

Me: You’re marooned on an island for a month. Name four food items or dishes you wouldn’t mind eating for that long.

Ben: Watermelon, eggs Blackstone, Dungeness crab, Cubanstyle black bean soup with rice and matzo ball soup.

Me: That’s five.

Ben: Sorry.

Jerry: Barbecued spareribs, cheesecake, mangoes and baked potatoes.

Me: What do you think of vegetarians?

Ben: Actually, I’m a meat-eater with vegetarian leanings. In fact, I was recently in a restaurant and ordered a veggie burger - and had them put bacon on the top.

Jerry: I admire vegetarians. I think it’s a great way to eat.

Me: What foods do you hate?

Ben: Not too many. Okra and Spam.

Jerry: I have a hard time with Brussels sprouts and scallops.

Me: If you could throw a pie in anyone’s face, who’s would it be and what flavor?

Ben: Bob Dole. Whatever flavor he likes best, because if you’re going to throw a pie at someone, they may as well like it.

Jerry: Wavy Gravy (the master of ceremonies at the original Woodstock concert). A nice cream pie. I think he’d like it.

Me: What are your favorite beverages?

Ben: Thai iced tea, Mt. Gay rum with tonic, and whatever Jerry’s wife is drinking.

Jerry: Ginger ale.

Me: Build me a salad.

Ben: Romaine lettuce, homegrown tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, mushrooms, black olives, cucumbers with seeds, croutons, grilled sweet peppers, sunflower seeds and a few thin slices of red onion - topped with Food From the Hood-brand creamy Italian dressing.

Jerry: Pass.

Me: Pass?

Jerry: I wouldn’t be good at this one.

Me: What are the weirdest foods you’ve tried?

Ben: Chicken feet, and this gelatinous, mucous-like soup with green things in it, when I was in the Brazilian rain forest. You can’t imagine how awful it was.

Jerry: Fried crickets in a sweet sauce. Very crunchy. Not bad.

Me: Of any woman in the world, whom would you like to have over for dinner?

Ben: Jonnetta Cole (the president of Spellman College), because I think she’s really interesting and really intelligent. I’d serve grilled salmon.

Jerry: Susan Sarandon.

Me: What are your secret splurges?

Ben: Caviar, and Nutty Buddybrand ice-cream cones. You know, like you always used to get in the school cafeteria.

Me: Your school cafeteria had caviar?

Ben: Very funny.

Jerry: Candy is my splurge. Especially Tootsie Rolls, Bit ‘O Honey and Twix bars.

Me: If you were going to be in a food fight, what would your ammunition be?

Ben: Mashed potatoes.

Jerry: I’d use something a little softer. Like banana cream pie filling. Without the shell, of course.

Me: What do you usually have for breakfast?

Ben: I usually don’t eat breakfast, but occasionally I like bagels with lox and cream cheese or pastry and coffee.

Jerry: Cereal and milk. I like to mix Grape Nuts, Crispix and All Bran together in the same bowl.

Me: Tell me a food story.

Ben: Back in the early ‘70s, some friends from college came over to my house where my parents were having a party with this absolutely lavish spread. I was carrying this giant bowl filled with shrimp, and everyone was oohing and ahhing - and suddenly I dropped it. Then, to make matters worse, the dog ran over and ate all of it before anyone could stop him.

Jerry: I have an interesting food tradition. For about the last five years, every New Year’s Eve I go to Al’s French Fries in Burlington, and a few minutes before midnight, I buy the very last quart of fries of the year. They’re hand-cut, skinny ones with the skins left on. They’re great.

Me: If you could be manufacturers of any food product other than ice cream, your company would be called …

Ben: Ben & Jerry’s Wood-Fired Pizzas.

Jerry: Ben & Jerry’s Ready-To-Eat Ribs. I love good ribs. You know, Ben, I really think we could do this. This is a realizable dream.

Ben: Yea, we could cook them and have them already in the sauce so all people would have to do is heat them up. I think you’ve got something there, Jerry. Or maybe you could have Ben & Jerry’s Invisible Food, and just sell neat-looking empty bags for 50 cents each.

Me: Would you share a favorite recipe with me?

Ben: I would recommend coq au vin, eggs Blackstone and brownies Cockaigne - all from “The Joy of Cooking.”

Me: That’s three recipes.

Ben: Sorry.

Jerry: I’ll tell you about Jerry’s Famous Recipe, which got me through college. Heat up one can condensed cream of mushroom soup and add it to a bowlful of Cream of Wheat cereal. Season to taste with either domestic or exotic spices and melt one slice American cheese on top.

Me: That’s disgusting.

Jerry: No, it’s good. You really should try it.

Me: How could a mixture of warm cereal and condensed soup possibly be good?

Jerry: Trust me. You’ll love it.