# Turkish ice cream

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 11, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834 "2001-09-11T06:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834/1 "2001-09-11T06:18:14Z")

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Apparently there’s some herb or something that Turks put in their ice cream which makes it elastic. Would anyone happen to know what the name of that herb is? It’s worth two points extra credit in my Employment Law class.

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834/2 "2001-09-11T06:48:29Z")

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I would wager that it might be mastic.

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834/3 "2001-09-11T06:51:46Z")

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Or orchids?  
[Google.com](http://Google.com) is your friend.

[http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/11/17feature2.html](http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/11/17feature2.html)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turkish-ice-cream/80834/4 "2001-09-11T06:54:52Z")

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“The national refreshment concession in Turkey is a unique ice cream with a stretchy consistency that is dispensed by vendors on street corners throughout the country. Originally developed at the turn of the century, this ice cream is made by mixing boiled milk and sugar together with the pulverized residue of an indigenous root, saleph. Repeated stretchings of the congealed mixture improve its flavor and texture.”

[http://www.stormpages.com/eurodelite/mission.htm](http://www.stormpages.com/eurodelite/mission.htm)