Sweets are so popular among Iranian people and a reason for having them is always found, especially on feasts and certain occasions. They
offer each other sweets, saying: “sweeten your mouth!”. So, whether in ceremonies
or funerals, big gatherings or close ones, different kinds of sweets have their
own place. There are different kinds of sweets, baked and prepared in every
city or even town, according to the climate and local substances available. For
example, in southern areas like Khuzestan or Kerman, where date trees are
available, cookies are made with this nutritious fruit and local spices, while in
Isfahan the famous sweet, “Gaz” is made of a wild herb with the same name, found
on the deserts around.
Iranian Ice-cream or the
traditional ice-cream is a very popular sweet because of the hot and sunny
climate. Many years ago in Iran people used to mix snow with syrup (especially
grape’s syrup), homemade jams and honey to have a sweet and cold desert. This
can be counted as the first type of ice-creams, prepared in Iran. Iranians
still enjoy having this homemade and instant ice-cream during snowy nights.
During hot summer days, with no snow, they had used the ice piled in ice houses in cities to make this simple ice-cream, which gave them a great
pleasure. My grandfather has a memory written in his diary about the first time
he had an ice-cream as a little boy: “wow! I couldn’t believe that something
can be sweet and cold at the same time!”
Iranian ice-cream is prepared with organic and
fresh rich milk, salep (herbal substance essential for making ice-cream), sugar,
rose water, rich cream, pistachio or walnut and especially saffron for the
pleasant taste and color. The result is so moderately sweet, creamy and delicious
that sometimes people stand in a long line in front of an ice-cream shop to buy
the great sensation of frozen cream pieces melting on tongue. Yum… this really
tastes like a bite of heaven!! Sometimes Iranian ice-cream is mixed with carrot
juice or “Faloodeh” (another Iranian cold sweet made with frozen starch and lemon juice) and sometimes cherry
syrup is added on top.
So, I guess that you have
chosen one of your delicious options during your travel to Iran.
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saffron makes Iranian ice-cream taste wonderful! |
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