Dondurma, sweet or dessert from Turkey: what it is and how it is eaten

Dondurma is a Turkish ice cream known for its chewy, dense texture, made with milk, sugar, salep (orchid tuber flour), and mastic resin. Originating from Turkey, especially the Kahramanmaraş region, it is enjoyed as a street and shop treat and is famous for its resistance to melting and playful serving style.

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Made with salep (orchid tuber flour) and mastic resin for chewiness
Originates from Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
Vendors perform tricks when serving dondurma
Maraş dondurması is so firm it can be eaten with a knife and fork
Booza is a related stretchy ice cream in the Levant

What is Dondurma?

Dondurma is a type of ice cream from Turkey, notable for its dense, chewy, and stretchy texture. This comes from two special ingredients: salep, a flour made from orchid tubers, and mastic, a plant resin that adds chewiness. The mixture also includes milk, cream, and sugar. Dondurma is much firmer than most ice creams and resists melting, sometimes even needing to be eaten with a knife and fork. Its texture is strand-like and elastic, making it stand out from other frozen desserts.

Where does Dondurma come from?

Dondurma is closely tied to the city of Kahramanmaraş in Turkey, where the version known as Maraş dondurması uses extra salep for even more firmness. The exact origins are unclear, but the earliest known recipe using salep dates to 1882 in an Ottoman cookbook. Unlike Italian ice cream, which uses eggs as a thickener, Turkish dondurma relies on salep. The tradition of pounding and stretching the mixture, rather than churning, is shared with booza, a similar dessert from the Levant.

How is Dondurma made?

To make dondurma, milk, cream, sugar, salep, and mastic are combined and heated. The mixture is then beaten or pounded, sometimes in a freezer drum, to develop its unique texture. In Turkey, the process involves regular churning with long paddles to keep it workable. In the Levant, the mixture is pounded and stretched, resulting in a dense, creamy dessert. Sometimes, flavorings like orange flower water or rose water are added, especially in booza.

Ice cream at Bakdash ice cream parlor. Photo: Graham van der Wielen, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How and when is Dondurma eaten?

Dondurma is enjoyed as a snack, often bought from street vendors or ice cream shops. Vendors are known for playful tricks, using long-handled paddles to serve the ice cream and entertain customers. The chewy texture means it can be shaped and even served with a knife and fork, especially the Maraş variety. In the Levant, booza is sometimes rolled and served with qishta, a type of clotted cream. Dondurma is eaten year-round and is a familiar treat in Turkey and neighboring countries.

Kinds of Dondurma

The Maraş dondurması from Kahramanmaraş is the most famous Turkish version, using extra salep for added firmness. In Greece, similar ice cream is called dudurmas or kaimaki, especially in the north. Booza, the Levantine version, is made with the same key ingredients but may include floral waters for flavor and is traditionally pounded and stretched. Booza is popular in Syria, Jordan, and the West Bank, and has spread to places like Australia and the United States.

What Dondurma means

Dondurma is a staple of Turkish street food culture, with vendors performing tricks to attract and amuse customers. The popularity of this ice cream has led to environmental concerns, as the demand for salep has caused a decline in wild orchids and led to export restrictions. In Damascus, the Bakdash shop is famous for its booza and draws visitors from across the Arab world. Dondurma is a symbol of local pride in Kahramanmaraş and is recognized for its unique preparation and serving style.

Questions people ask about Dondurma

What is dondurma made of?

Dondurma is made from milk, cream, sugar, salep (a flour from orchid tubers), and mastic resin. These give it a chewy, stretchy texture that sets it apart from other ice creams.

Where does dondurma come from?

Dondurma comes from Turkey, especially the city and region of Kahramanmaraş. Similar stretchy ice creams are also found in the Levant and northern Greece.

Why is dondurma so stretchy?

The stretchy, chewy texture comes from salep, which is a flour made from the tubers of wild orchids, and mastic, a plant resin. These thicken and bind the ice cream, making it dense and elastic.

How is dondurma served?

Dondurma is sold by street vendors and in shops. Vendors often use long paddles and perform tricks while serving. The Maraş variety is so firm it can be eaten with a knife and fork.

Is dondurma vegetarian?

Yes, dondurma is vegetarian. It contains milk and cream but no eggs or meat products.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Dondurma", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Thali rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes, and it is not dietary or allergy advice: recipes differ from cook to cook. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.

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