Turkish Ice-Cream : No Egg, No Cream

who doesn’t like ice-cream?

it’s winter so we don’t indulge ourselves too often with ice-cream. however we were hanging out at qanat al-qasba in sharjah when we came across this distinct turkish ice-cream kiosk, and was very tempted to try.

turkish ice-cream is called ‘dondurma’ which in turkey means ‘freezing’. also known as ‘maras ice-cream’.

turkish ice-cream doesn’t melt as easily as other ice-creams as they contain a thickening agent called 'salep' which is some kind of flour. this gives it a chewy stringy texture mcm melted cheese. it’s even referred to as ‘turkish GUM ice-cream’. even when we take a small scoop, a string of ice-cream will follow until we cut it out with the spoon.

 

we can see from the picture that the texture of the ice-cream differ from normal ice-cream

 

so many flavors, but my favorite has always been choc or pistachio!

• khaleef absolutely loves strawberry
• kahfi likes chocolate and strawberry
• mr. khairul will eat any flavor – though he prefer it not be boring or normal like choc, or vanilla. the more unique, the better!

 

 

what’s interesting about turkish ice-cream is the way it is ‘kneaded’ or ‘churned’ to create the elasticity texture.

ice-cream is put in containers. the mixture is then churned regularly with long-handled paddles to keep the texture. this dude would press and press and pull and press and pull and press.

 

 

other than the fetching turkish traditional uniform (the white t with embroidered vest), the staff at a turkish ice-cream kiosk is also famously known to ‘tease’ their customers with funny acts as entertainment.

sometimes they would serve the ice-cream in a cone ‘stuck’ to the long paddle, and when the customer tries to reach for it, they would turn the paddle around so that the cone is upside down, but would not fall off the stick! this is because of the structure of the ice-cream that is elastic and glue-like!

the impatient customer may get restless with this ‘cheeky’ act, but it surely would amuse others who are watching. click the youtube clip below to see a really funny presentation from the turkish ice-cream vendor, and the bewildered japanese customer. definitely will make you smile. or tensen. hihi.

 

 

we didn’t get any of the free-of-charge ‘entertainment’ – probably because i was buying the ice-cream in a cup instead of in a cone. *frust betul!* haha.

 

 

turkish ice-cream is said to be natural ice-cream - no eggs, no cream, no coloring. still taste so good, so creamy n so yummy!

i love the finishing touch on my 3-scoop ice-cream – a sprinkle of pounded pistachio on my pistachio-flavored ice-cream. i took the one in the waffle bowl, but unfortunately, the ‘bowls’ had been prepared for quite some time, so it was already quite lemau. not crunchy anymore.

it spoiled the whole experience, but the ice-cream itself was delicious, thank goodness.