Dondurma Is a Turkish Ice Cream That Is Eaten with a Knife and Fork

The dense, stretchy and robust dondurma is unlike any other ice cream, and the epicenter of its production is still recovering from the massive earthquakes that devastated the country.

On a warm and windy evening in early summer in Istanbul, it's worth taking the metro to the Bayrampasa neighborhood west of the Old City in search of Maras's dondurma, the best ice cream in the country.

Dondurma is made in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaras (short for Maras) and translates to "ice cream," but this frozen Turkish treat is unlike any other gelato, sorbet, or ice cream that people usually eat in the heat.

Dessert master Mehmet Vanli, who runs the Hacihaliloglu store in Bayrampasa, has been making dondurma for half a century. He learned the craft with Osman Canbur, the older brother of the family that runs Mado, Turkey's best-known dondurma chain with more than 300 outlets across the country. (The name Mado is an acronym made up of the words "Maras" and "dondurma.")

The neon-lit Mado store has a vast counter where Vanli, in order to prepare a delicious dondurma, pulls bulky cylindrical slabs from a box, slices three weighty pieces with a huge butcher's knife and sprinkles them with pistachio dust.

Offering visitors a slice, he explains that traditionally the only ingredients in dondurma are milk (in this case a mixture of goat, sheep and cow's milk), salep (flour made from orchid bulbs) and beet sugar.

"If you want the original, make it with pure goat's milk. We use quality salep from the mountains for consistency. It is dried in arid conditions for a year. The only enemy of dondurma is the wind. It doesn't melt in the sun, but in the wind it does," explains Vanli, adding that the Marash climate, with its hot, dry summers and cold, dry winters, creates optimal conditions for making dondurma.

Even on a sweltering Istanbul evening, a plate of dondurma won't melt quickly. This Turkish ice cream tastes more delicate and sweet than regular ice cream. Refreshingly creamy, dondurma somehow manages to be both heartier than regular ice cream and at the same time softer and silkier thanks to the salep.

For many years, Vanli made dondurma himself, but since it is best to produce dondurma as close as possible to where the ingredients are mined in the mountains, Vanli now buys it from a reputable manufacturer in Marash.

"I think what makes the Marash dondurma special is Mount Ahir for two reasons," said Dr. Kubra Yuzunchil, a food and agriculture researcher. "First, this high mountain in the southeastern part of the Taurus mountain range is characterized by high biodiversity. Goats grazing among this richness, such as those feeding on thyme, crocus and hyacinth, produce very nutritious and tasty milk."

"Second is a salep from an orchid called Dactylorhiza romana, which grows in the natural flora of this mountain. This species of salep contains high amounts of glucomannan (dietary fiber). It is this particular species of orchid salep that gives Marash ice cream its consistency and allows it to stretch continuously without breaking. It acts as a stabilizer," adds Yuzunchil.

However, production of the beloved homemade ice cream was threatened in February 2023, when two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6, whose epicenters were located in the Mazsha regions of Elbistan and Pazarc?k, devastated parts of Turkey, killing some 53,000 people. Despite the tragedy, dondurma producers have been able to maintain and even increase production. In 2022, the province produced 100,000 tons of dondurma and exported it worth $2.5 million, and in 2023 these figures increased to 120,000 tons and $3 million.

"When Marash was coming out of the earthquake, some of our facilities were destroyed or damaged, but we mobilized to get back on our feet. We kept working," said local resident Erdal Kanbur, president of the Marash-based restaurateurs' association.

"I think one of the most important factors that makes Maras Province the leading ice cream producer in Turkey is that ice cream from Maras does not melt, thanks to its high glucomannan content. Due to this feature, it can be shipped to all cities," says Yuzuncil. "In addition, confectioneries that produce ice cream in Marash have invested in creating their own ice cream brands to increase competitiveness. They have obtained internationally recognized certifications, packaged and shipped it across continents without compromising the taste and consistency of the ice cream."

In Vanli's store is a photo of him in his younger days, smiling next to a coworker and holding a massive dondurma the size of a giant boa constrictor. Outside his store is a cooler with several dozen flavors of traditional ice cream, and inside is a fridge full of products from the 30-year-old Marash Company, from which Vanli gets all of his dondurma.

Istanbul's busiest and most iconic street, the pedestrianized Istiklal Avenue, is home to talented magicians who twist and turn huge slabs of dondurma, putting on real shows that include repeatedly reaching out and taking dondurma from unsuspecting tourists who pay exorbitant prices for the spectacle. As any Istanbul local will tell you, these places are tourist traps to be avoided, and those looking for the best ice cream in Turkey should head to Vanli's store for the real thing.

With Mado now operating in more than 20 countries and small producers in Maras increasing exports, Dondurma is well on its way to giving Turkey international recognition for its ice cream. It is well-deserved recognition, and the Turks believe it has been waiting for them for a long time.

"I really love the dondurma ice cream from Marash," says Yuzunchil. "It leaves its special mark on the palate."