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"Ice Cream Lovers Go Gaga over Sherbet"

By Nancy McCallum
Originally Published in the Tourist News
August 14-21, 2003, Vol. 46, No. 15

So far, those who have sampled it have gone gaga over it. Jim King, 41, maker of Gaga's Homemade Lemon Sherbet, says that whenever he or his father Jack, 72, have approached businesses with samples of their sherbet, named for Jim's grandmother and Jack's mother, their cool confection gets a warm reception.

"We're batting a thousand with letting people try it," King says. Since starting the business in May, the duo has landed a dozen accounts between Maine and Rhode Island. Locally, that includes Bradbury's Market in Cape Porpoise, just down the road from the King family's four summer homes at Goose Rocks Beach.

The family is from Melrose, Massachusetts, area; Jim King lives in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Lemon sherbet was a specialty of Gaga (Jessie) King, who spent summers with her clan at Goose Rocks. She would mix up milk, cream, sugar and the zest of lemons, then pour that into a 9 x 12 pan and freeze it.

"It was just a labor of love," says Jack King of his mother's summer specialty.

Jessie passed away in 1993 at the age of 86. Her family still has her recipe on a 3 x 5 card that's "very thumb worn," Jack notes.

Jim says that his grandmother was very exacting when she cooked, always seeking quality. Zesting the lemon was an important part of the sherbetter-making process, he says.

Producing Gaga's Homemade Lemon Sherbet was Jim's idea. Like his father, he has a career in television. He's currently a freelance news anchor, seen occasionally on cable channel NECN. His father worked in production, specifically, in recording the music that is used for television shows.

But Jim says he has always had an entrepreneurial streak and thought his grandmother's lemon sherbetter would sell well. It would also be a testament to the woman he had called "Gaga" as a youngster, when he couldn't pronounce "Grandma". She soon became know to all as "Gaga."

He approached his father, who is retired, and asked him to join the venture; Jack liked the idea. They were off to a great start. After giving a sample to a large Rhode Island dairy, the company asked for 500 pints for its initial run.

Jack says the new business has been a great source of enjoyment for him. He has conducted taste testing, in July.

The two make the sherbetter themselves at Bliss Brothers Dairy in Attleboro, Massachusetts, using an ice cream making machine they bought at an IRS auction.

It was a risky purchase the father notes, but if it worked, it meant getting equipment for about one tenth of the cost. The two bid $2800 and have been making Gaga's successfully ever since.

Jim King says one of the most appealing qualities of their product is its creaminess. Many expect a sherbetter to be icy, but there's just enough cream in the recipe to keep it smooth. "It tastes similar to an ice cream, but it doesn't have anywhere near the butterfat," he says.

They stick to Gaga's recipe, using all natural ingredients. And although zesting the lemons is labor intensive, it remains an important part of the process.

Their marketing plan for the moment is as simple as their product: They will approach businesses who seem a good fit, ask shop and dairy owners to taste it and hope it's a go.

Both Kings agree that their mother/grandmother would be proud of it," says Jim.

"She would just love it," says Jack. "She would think it's the wildest thing she'd ever heard."

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