# Neapolitan ice cream: what do you eat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 27, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096 "2012-04-27T02:34:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/21 "2012-04-27T16:54:08Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > So when you buy Neapolitan ice cream, which flavors do you eat and which do you leave alone? If only someone would sell the flavors individually, so we wouldn’t have to buy Neapolitan just to get our favorite! Maybe someday some innovative ice cream company will think of this. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/22 "2012-04-27T17:08:36Z")
As a kid, I ate the strawberry first, to get it out the way, (if there was still ice cream left, so far as my parents were concerned, there was no need to get more) then the vanilla, and finally the chocolate, glorious chocolate… Now I just buy chocolate. So yes, I answered ‘all of them’, but reluctantly. ---
**Author:** ![Kasper1014](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@Kasper1014](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kasper1014)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/23 "2012-04-27T17:28:29Z")
As a kid, my mom bought the Neapolitan ice cream. My sister ate the chocolate and I ate the vanilla. When only strawberry was left, we threw it away. Lather, rinse, repeat. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/24 "2012-04-27T17:33:30Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > I never buy Neopolitan, but if I were at a party or something, as you describe above, I’d take a reasonable share of each, let them melt slightly, and then swirl them all together. You _freak_! ---
**Author:** ![secretsmile36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@secretsmile36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretsmile36)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/25 "2012-04-27T17:51:35Z")
Eating only 1 type would not be too smart unless that’s the only kind of ice cream you have. Don’t people buy Neopolitan ice cream because they like ALL the flavours in it? ---
**Author:** ![secretsmile36](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@secretsmile36](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/secretsmile36)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/26 "2012-04-27T17:57:15Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > If only someone would sell the flavors individually, so we wouldn’t have to buy Neapolitan just to get our favorite! Maybe someday some innovative ice cream company will think of this. That will NEVER happen :D:cool: ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/27 "2012-04-27T18:03:17Z")
I’m not a big fan of neapolitan, I like all three flavours but the version that is usually found in neapolitan are almost but not quite edible. ---
**Author:** ![BigDadWolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@BigDadWolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigDadWolf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/28 "2012-04-27T19:53:47Z")
My wife gets Neapolitan pretty regularly; I really enjoy a vanilla/strawberry blend and don’t worry about the choclate 'cause I know the rest of the wolfpack will finish it off soon enough. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/29 "2012-04-27T20:00:00Z")
Why would anyone buy Neapolitan ice cream if they only planned to eat 1 or 2 of the flavors? That’s a waste of money when you could just buy an entire thingie of chocolate (or whatever you like) ice cream. Anyway, I like vanilla bean ice cream the best of those flavors, but I suspect the vanilla in Neapolitan is subpar. So I’d throw away the container and eat some butter pecan or oreo or peanut butter ice cream, instead. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/30 "2012-04-27T20:15:42Z")
For those asking why anyone would buy Neapolitan ice cream if they don’t like all three flavors: 1. Maybe we didn’t buy it. My parents bought it when I was a kid but I’ve never bought it myself. 2. Maybe more than one person is eating it and the preferences balance out. When I was a kid I liked chocolate and strawberry best. My brother liked vanilla. Between us, we’d finish the carton. 3. Preferences aren’t absolute. A person might like all three flavors even if chocolate is his favorite. He’ll eat the chocolate first but he’ll also eat and enjoy the vanilla and the strawberry. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/31 "2012-04-27T20:38:09Z")
The Neapolitan ice cream I grew up with came in four-liter pails, with all of the flavors swirled together. I liked it; IMO each serving should have all three flavors even when dealing with “segregated” Neapolitan. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/32 "2012-04-27T22:10:02Z")
I’d eat 'em all. But separately. If I didn’t have a knife to separate them, I’d pass. I like all three flavors, but not _together_. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/33 "2012-04-27T22:11:38Z")
Going to slide this over to Cafe Society. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/34 "2012-04-27T22:13:41Z")
When I was a kid, my Grandpa served Neapolitan ice cream by opening the end of the carton and cutting off slices (that looked [something like this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n2QbmtghG4U/R6xvKWNmBAI/AAAAAAAAAN8/QWh8JI8MAbM/s320/ice-cream.jpg)). ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/35 "2012-04-27T22:27:55Z")
I don’t buy Neapolitan ice cream (don’t eat ice cream much these days and when I do, I always buy Smores) but when confronted with it, I always eat the chocolate first, then the vanilla if it’s not too melty. Strawberry ice cream is icky. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/36 "2012-04-27T23:10:33Z")
I favor the strawberry, but I like to blend them all together. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/37 "2012-04-27T23:26:38Z")
I like all the flavors. When I was a kid, though, strawberry was my favorite, so I would go for that first. What I liked better than Neapolitan was Hopscotch ice cream, which was a checkerboard pattern of vanilla and raspberry sherbet, or vanilla and chocolate. To get the full effect it was best served in slices rather than scooped. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/38 "2012-04-27T23:48:09Z")
I don’t like chocolate flavoured anything. Except chocolate itself, which is yummy. So I always picked out the strawberry and vanilla. It has been about twenty years since I had neapolitan. And that word always reminds me of Napoleon, and the three colours of the Italian flag. I guess the latter is the point, though. ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/39 "2012-04-27T23:54:52Z")
I wouldn’t eat strawberry anything as a kid, and still don’t much like anything but fresh strawberries now. Neopolitan ice cream was ok if you got to pick the flavours you liked, but a total rip-off if an unsympathetic adult wouldn’t give you just the vanilla and/or the chocolate and got strawberry cooties on the only edible part of the ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096/40 "2012-04-28T00:39:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I like all the flavors. When I was a kid, though, strawberry was my favorite, so I would go for that first. > > What I liked better than Neapolitan was Hopscotch ice cream, which was a checkerboard pattern of vanilla and raspberry sherbet, or vanilla and chocolate. To get the full effect it was best served in slices rather than scooped. We used to get the vanilla and orange sherbet. Yum! And my mom always served it in slices. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neapolitan-ice-cream-what-do-you-eat/620096.md?page=3)