dondurma — Kahramanmaraş, Turkey

Dondurma is an ice cream distinguished by its dense, elastic texture, achieved by adding ground mastic resin and salep, a flour made from dried orchid tubers, to a base of milk, cream and sugar. Because salep gelatinizes the mixture, the ice cream stretches when pulled with a spoon or paddle and resists melting quickly in warm weather. The dish is reported from the city and surrounding region of Kahramanmaraş in southern Turkey, and it is often labeled Maraş dondurması, or sometimes dövme dondurma - meaning “beaten ice cream” - for the pounding it undergoes during churning. It is now sold across Turkey, frequently by vendors who perform a theatrical serving routine with long metal paddles. To prepare it, milk is heated with sugar, then ground mastic and salep are whisked in and the mixture is cooked gently until it thickens into a custard-like base. Once cooled, the base is churned slowly while being repeatedly beaten and stretched with a long paddle, a process that develops the chewy, taffy-like body characteristic of the ice cream, before it is frozen. What distinguishes this version from a standard churned ice cream is precisely that elasticity: it can be sliced with a knife, holds its shape at room temperature for longer, and is often eaten with a knife and fork rather than a spoon. The mastic also lends a faint resinous, slightly piney aroma that is not present in plain vanilla or fruit ice creams.