Do you like ice cream? Have you ever tried the Persian ice cream? They are so special and have become my favorite ice creams now.
Long time ago, when an Iranian King did his trip to Europe, he enjoyed French ice cream in Paris. Afterwards, ice cream was introduced to Iran. As we all know, Iran is home to the world’s most expensive herb: saffron. In Iran, saffron is much cheaper than the rest of the world and saffron is used pretty extensively in Persian Cuisine. Almost all the rice I ate is cooked with saffron in Iran. So I guess then why not make ice cream with it too.
- Bastani Sonnati
Saffron ice cream is sold everywhere in the country, from upscale restaurants to the street vendors or convenient shops, all of them delicious. At first I didn’t even know it was saffron ice cream (lol) as I wasn’t so familiar with the saffron flavor. I only thought “wow, this special flavored ice cream actually tastes not bad.” and started eating it a few times every day until one day someone asked me “Do you also like our saffron ice cream?”
- Faloodeh
Iranians’ creativity about ice creams is not limited to the nation’s pride, saffron. Another interesting ice cream is the famous Faloodeh. When my Iranian host introduced this to me, he referred it as the “Persian noodle dessert”. I couldn’t believe it until I saw it. This very traditional dessert contains It some thin vermicelli-sized noodles that soak in rosewater-syrup-made sorbet, normally you get an ice cream ball on top of the noodles. Faloodeh originated in Shiraz, I was eating it the whole time in Shiraz. I liked it but if you are used to the Japanese ice creams, you might find it slightly too sweet.
- Ab-Haveej Bastani
This one is even cooler, ice cream with carrot juice on the bottom. The Iranian can really make ice cream healthy and refreshing. If you think Faloodeh is too sweet for you, definitely give Ab-Haveej Bastani a try. The name is difficult to remember, I always told them “with carrot juice”. Carrot is a very popular ingredient in Iranian kitchen too, I like the carrot jam the host family made for breakfast.
In Iran, dessert shops can be found everywhere on the street, this was taken close to the Afif Abad Garden in Shiraz.
Do these tasty ice creams make you want to visit Iran now?
今天外面冰天雪地，忽然很想念伊朗的冰淇淋，想特地介绍一下伊朗的美味冰淇淋。似乎除了日本的抹茶冰，也就是伊朗的冰淇淋让我觉得真有特色真好吃。其实冰淇淋当然是个舶来品，波斯历史上的一届国王有一次出游巴黎，在那里吃到了好吃的冰淇淋于是久久不能忘怀，从此伊朗人开始发明自己的冰淇淋。现在冰淇淋店在伊朗随处可见，可以说是人们生活不可缺少的一部分了。
伊朗人做冰淇淋挺有创造力的。伊朗菜运用各种香料，包括昂贵的番红花（伊朗是番红花的最大产地国，在这里买番红花比其他地方便宜好多）。虽然在当地其实也不算便宜，但伊朗人运用番红花可以说非常奢侈，我在伊朗吃到的每个米饭都加了番红花，他们还用来做冰淇淋。
于是在伊朗，番红花冰淇淋算是最出名的。我去之前虽然也是听说过这个，但是我对番红花味道不是很敏感。吃了好多天以后菜发现一直在吃番红花做的冰淇淋，只觉得这个没尝过的味道挺好吃的，为什么不在比利时也卖卖？而且不用专门找，从路边摊到高档一点的饭店都有，味道都差不多 T.T
还有种特别好吃，我很喜欢的冰淇淋叫做Faloodeh，这也很有名，是设拉子的特产，我在设拉子的朋友介绍时说那个“面条形状的冰淇淋”，我当时还觉得很奇怪，怎么会？ 看到以后，真的是细面条浸泡在玫瑰水里面的冰淇淋。我觉得挺好吃的，好喜欢玫瑰的味道。但是如果吃习惯抹茶味冰淇淋的可能会觉得有那么一点点偏甜。
觉得Faloodeh偏甜的可以尝尝另一种神奇的冰淇淋，算是一半冰淇淋，一半胡萝卜汁。这个就特别好吃了，胡萝卜汁非常爽口，又中和了冰淇淋的甜和腻，混在一起超好吃，我在伊朗吃的不少，一天两个吧，通常我都用谷歌翻译 “胡萝卜汁” 给店主看，他们就明白了，哈哈（真不知道比利时哪里可以找到伊朗冰淇淋，写到这里很想吃）。伊朗人也很喜欢运用胡萝卜这个食材，还喜欢把它做成果酱早上夹在面包里吃，也很好吃。
怎么样，看了伊朗的冰淇淋，有没有对伊朗这个奇妙的国家动心了？
