A Secret Ingredient Threatened with Extinction Makes Ice Cream in Turkey Irresistible.. What Is It?

- Not all types of ice cream are alike, as the light-textured ice cream in America has a rich creamy flavor, while gelato in Italy is whipped more slowly and served at a higher temperature, and kulfi in India has a dense texture. In Turkey, the "Dondurma Maras" ice cream has a chewy texture similar to toffee, and is almost melt-resistant.

This remarkable consistency is due to a flour made from an orchid plant known as salep, which is a product produced only in Turkey. Visitors often first experience the unique properties of this ice cream through street vendors in popular tourist areas such as Istiklal Street or Ortakoy Square in Istanbul, Turkey.

These vendors wear embroidered jackets and a red fez, traditional attire from the Kahramanmaras region in south-central Turkey, where "Dondurma" ice cream was born. They combine the skills of a magician and an ice cream vendor at the same time.

Above their ice cream carts, there are long metal rods for kneading and whipping the "Dondurma" ice cream as if it were colored dough, and they enthusiastically spin it like a traditional pizza maker in Naples. The show begins when customers approach, finding themselves in a playful game of give-and-take; the vendor offers the ice cream with the metal rod, then suddenly pulls it away or flips it upside down, making the customer spin around in a scene full of fun.

The moment of discovery came when Sardar Kamalli established the luxury ice cream chain "Serez Gurme Dondurma" in 2010, which today has nine branches across Istanbul, Turkey. In his shop in the "Caddebostan" neighborhood overlooking the sea on the Asian side of the city, Kamalli recounts to Ofoq News how he discovered the world of ice cream when he was in his mid-forties.

He said: "I saw a long line in front of an ice cream shop during a visit to a small town on the Aegean coast. People were happy, and adults had the expressions of children on their faces.

But the colors of the ice cream were bright blue, yellow, and green in a way that no real fruit or nuts could produce." He added: "I was unemployed, but I realized that night that I was not just looking for a job, but for something that I had lost."

After previously working in the sandwich industry, he decided to dedicate himself to making ice cream, spending a whole year experimenting and failing until he mastered his recipe before opening his first shop. Strong flavors and perfect texture; pistachio is the most popular flavor at "Serez Gurme Dondurma," as Turkey is one of the largest producers of pistachios in the world.

Tempting tubs of Madagascar vanilla, chocolate, walnuts, tangerines from Bodrum, and sour cherries line up, ready to be scooped and piled into towers of ice cream and sorbet. The ingredients are completely natural and raw, without artificial flavors or additives.

Due to its high melting point, it is served at a higher temperature than traditional ice cream, making the flavors more intense and clear. Traditional "Dondurma" ice cream is made from only three ingredients: milk, beet sugar, and salep.

Salep is extracted from the tubers of the Dactylorhiza romana orchid, which grows in Southern Europe, North Africa, and the mountains of south-central Turkey, the homeland of this famous dessert. Mastic gum is also added to the ice cream to increase its elasticity.

Since ancient times, salep has been used to prepare various drinks and desserts. In the "Serez" shop, a hot salep drink is served with a sprinkle of cinnamon, providing a feeling of warmth and comfort similar to sipping thick hot chocolate, but with the flavor of vanilla ice cream instead of cocoa.

Kamalli explained: "What makes salep extremely valuable is that it contains a molecule called glucomannan." He added that "just one gram of glucomannan can absorb an amount of water equal to two hundred times its weight.

It is one of the most water-retaining molecules in nature." Glucomannan, as an emulsifying and thickening agent, is the "scientific secret" behind the stretchy and chewy texture of "Dondurma" ice cream.

Therefore, the price of one kilogram of pure salep powder can exceed 200 US dollars. Illegal Harvesting but the overharvesting of orchid plants has brought them to the brink of extinction, prompting the European Union and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to provide legal protection for them.

The export of salep from Turkey is also strictly prohibited. Kamalli explained that the salep plant has two root tubers, and if gatherers only took one and left the other in the soil, the plant would continue to live.

It takes between 1,000 and 2,000 orchid plants to produce one kilogram of salep powder. Despite international legal protection, millions of plants are still uprooted illegally each year, as Kamalli explained: "We have asked the mountains for more than they can give."

For this reason, synthetic salep has become a popular alternative in the ice cream and salep drink industries, although it does not compare to the natural original. The "Serez" chain uses real salep in limited quantities and supports sustainable farming in the Torhal region of Turkey.

The company sources fruit directly from small farms and follows a strict policy prohibiting the use of pesticides, as they kill insects, pollute water, and harm the soil's ecological balance. In each branch of the chain, there are blue files filled with laboratory reports proving the purity of the ingredients.

In 2025, the food guide TasteAtlas ranked "Dondurma" ice cream as the best frozen dessert in the world. A spokesperson for the guide explained that "its exceptional thermal resistance and its chewy, cohesive texture that distinguishes it from any other frozen dessert makes it a must-try experience."

However, while Italian gelato has become globally recognized, "Dondurma" ice cream remains relatively unknown outside Turkey. The reason is simple: the authentic original "Dondurma" ice cream can only be fully enjoyed within Turkey itself.

Therefore, travelers should add it to their list of must-try foods, alongside kebabs and baklava.