Why stretchy Turkish Ice Cream never melts

Can you think of an ice cream that never melts and is stretchy like a dough and cold as ice? Well, an amalgamation of all this might not sound like an ice cream, but this is the speciality of Dondurma popularly known as the Turkish ice cream. But what makes the texture of this ice cream so different and why does this ice cream never melt? Here’s all you need to know about this unique ice cream!

Chewy, stretchy and cold, this ice cream can be relished with a fork and knife. Unlike other ice creams, Turkish ice cream is cut with a butcher’s knife, but what makes it so chewy and stretchy? Well, the ice cream is prepared with goat milk and to make this milk aromatic, the goats are fed plants like Thyme and Tragacanth. These plants are grown in local farms and the goats are left to feed on them, this gives the milk used for the ice cream a distinctive flavour and aroma.

The second ingredient used to make this ice cream is a sweetener/sugar. Lastly, the most essential ingredient that gives this ice cream a unique texture is Salep, which is basically a root of Wild Orchid. The use of Salep gives the ice cream a stretchy, chewy texture along with accentuating the aroma of this ice cream.

It is believed that this traditional ice cream originated from the bylanes of a Turkish region called Kahraman Maras, which was later known as the ice cream capital of Turkey. It is believed that the origin of the ice cream dates back to approx 300 to 500 years as per regional digital platforms.

The chewy and stretchy texture of the ice cream was achieved by hand churning of the ice cream. Apart from the use of Salep as an essential ingredient, the extensive churning and stretching of the ice cream makes it so special. Not only the taste and texture, the ice cream is sold in a fun way, wherein the vendors wear a traditional Turkish attire and ring a bell to invite the guests to their store and the ice cream is served after an intersting presentation.