For Turks, summer is the season to eat ice cream, in fact, many people are not even willing to eat this cool food in winter. But summer is a completely different story, because all of a sudden, there are vendors selling ice cream everywhere, most of them selling traditional ice cream from Turkey.
Turks love their ice cream and it's truly unique. But they also have some particular favorite flavors that you may not have thought of. Well, here are the most popular ice cream flavors in Turkey.
Honey Almonds
A survey of 10 different ice cream shops in different Aegean destinations brought me the same answer. What is the most popular taste of ice cream for Turks? That is: bal badem. This flavor translates to Chinese "honey almonds", which are made up of a cream base with honey and chopped almond chips, which are the favorite of the Turks whenever they can be bought.
Cream
Kaymak is translated as "coagulated cream" and is actually equivalent to the basic vanilla flavor of Turkey, but in this case does not contain vanilla. And surprisingly, you'll find that vanilla-flavored ice cream is actually rarely encountered in Turkey. Still, Kaymak is basically the original flavor of Turkish ice cream, and you're sure to find it anywhere, it's rich, sweet, and creamy.
Drop Gum
Not to be confused with the former, Damla sakızı is a more intensely flavored frankincense ice cream, one of the favorite flavors of the Turks, and also a pure white creamy blend that looks like a lighter kaymak flavor.
Chocolate
Chocolate lovers should note that although çikolata in Turkey, that is, ice cream in chocolate flavor is abundant, it does not have any chocolate chips. Çikolata ice cream in Turkey is simply, creamy, deep chocolate color. If you're lucky, you might come across a version with chocolate chips, especially at the larger ice cream stalls.
Caramel
Honestly, it's a mash-up between chocolate and caramel, as Karamel is a classic flavored golden cream and not-so-sweet version that is also popular in Turkey.
Melon
It is worth mentioning that Turks actually like the taste of fresh fruit as well, and according to the suppliers I surveyed, their favorite happens to be melon, which in Turkish is kavun.
Pistachio
When you come across a green ice cream, I can pretty much guarantee that it's pistachio-flavored Anep fıstığı, which has nothing to do with ice cream that others might inadvertently mistake for a green mint flavor. If you try this, you'll love the nutty, sweet and smooth pistachio flavor like the Turks.
Cherry
Black cherry, vişne in Turkish, has always been a favorite and one of the core flavors of any ice cream stand.
Lemon
Similarly, Limon, which can be understood as the word "lemon" in Turkish, is a delightfully refreshing and slightly stimulating taste that is almost always available and is the favorite fruit flavor of many Turks in the summer.
Strawberry
Strawberry ice cream, or çilek in Turkish, is of course also popular, but many ice cream stands offer a number of different berry flavor options such as raspberry (ahududu), mulberry (karadut) and blackberry (böğürtlen).
Turks love their fruity taste!
While the above 10 flavors topped my survey of local traditional ice cream suppliers in Turkey, many also offer a lot of other fruit flavors that have long been a favorite. These include peaches (şeftali), apricots (kayısı), oranges (portakal), bananas (muz), and even figs and walnuts (ıncirli cevizli).
Specially formulated Turkish ice cream
While Turkish ice cream may seem simple, it's not, and that's what I learned from Tekin Usta Keçi Sütü, a company with branches all over the Aegean. It was they who shared with me the unique recipes of most Turkish ice creams, which are also essential recipes for Marash ice cream and any goat milk (keçi sütü) ice cream, which makes up the vast majority in Turkey. The special recipe of traditional Turkish ice cream goes like this: fresh goat's milk is boiled with frankincense and grated orchid roots (i.e. sahlep).
Turkish ice cream is known for being able to cut with a large knife. It is also more elastic and relatively less likely to melt, due to the large amount of agitation and stretching carried out during preparation. This is especially true in the case of Marash ice cream, and many people will know that buying Marash ice cream is prone to stretching ice cream performances by ice cream shop assistants, which is a magical performance technique.
Great Turkish ice cream movie
Turkish Ice Cream is a 2019 film based on the true story of two Turkish ice cream vendors trapped in Australia during the Gallipoli Campaign. In the film, they sell ice cream on the streets of a country that promotes opposition to turks.
I Love Ice Cream is more about the art of cinema than about ice cream, and in fact, it was Turkey's film that went to the 2007 Academy Awards. Directed by Yüksel Aksu from the region, the film tells the life story of an ice cream peddler in Mugla, southern Turkey, especially when his bicycle was stolen and his life was challenged.