What Makes That Viral Turkish Ice Cream So Stretchy? This One Ingredient Makes All The Difference

If you've ever encountered street vendors selling Turkish ice cream, you've undoubtedly seen their playful displays as they serve up their uniquely stretchy frozen treat. Videos of vendors selling it have even become a viral sensation on TikTok, affirming its status as an international street food everyone should try. Turkish ice cream, called dondurma, has become a hit, and not just for the theatrics. The taste and texture of this ice cream are a desirable blend of creamy, taffy-like refreshment, made possible by its combination of goat milk, mastic, and salep.

The main ingredient responsible for the stretchy texture is salep, a flour made from orchid tubers harvested in the wild from the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Though a few countries played a role in the invention of ice cream, Turkish ice cream has roots in the city of Maraş, made with salep harvested from the Ahir Mountains. When combined with goat milk, sugar, and mastic, a pine resin which contributes to the stickiness and flavor of Turkish ice cream, the result is a cooling yet less-melty ice cream with a consistency that, when served in a restaurant, allows you to eat it like a custard.

Dondurma Maraş is made by blending sugar and mastic and grinding it into a powder. Sugar is added to heated milk, then the sugar-mastic blend and salep are added. The mixture is heated on low for about half an hour, and whipped up while off the heat. This is the part of the recipe where you may see vendors pounding and stretching the dondurma, serving it cold instead of frozen.

While salep gives this Turkish ice cream its signature texture, it's also used in booza, a Lebanese ice cream similar to dondurma. Additionally, salep is seen in the popular Turkish beverage, also called salep, made with milk and sugar, salep powder, and often with cinnamon. This drink is served in coffee houses, especially consumed during winter for its perceived health benefits. Salep powder is sometimes difficult to obtain because the orchid species is in decline, so the powder can be expensive and can often be replaced by guar gum when making ice cream.

Ice cream in the U.S. is often made by combining heavy cream, milk, sugar, flavorings such as vanilla, and salt, but it is churned rather than whipped or pounded. This can be done using an ice cream maker, though there are numerous techniques for making ice cream without a machine. While gelato and soft serve treats are known for their softness, dondurma is remarkable for its malleable stretchiness, which makes it a specialty of street vendors who have access to all the necessary ingredients.