
Palestine's unique stretchy ice cream [video] - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180815-palestines-secret-stretchy-ice-cream
======
js2
It’s stretchy due to the addition of mastic gum. I had to look that up.

 _Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus). In
pharmacies and nature shops, it is called "Arabic gum" (not to be confused
with gum arabic) and "Yemen gum". In Greece, it is known as the "tears of
Chios," being traditionally produced on that Greek island, and, like other
natural resins, is produced in "tears" or droplets.

Originally a sap, mastic is sun-dried into pieces of brittle, translucent
resin. When chewed, the resin softens and becomes a bright white and opaque
gum. The flavor is bitter at first, but after some chewing, it releases a
refreshing, slightly pine or cedar-like flavor._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastic_(plant_resin)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastic_\(plant_resin\))

~~~
majos
There's also a similar stretchy ice cream in Turkey called dondurma. It uses
both mastic and salep, a flour made from orchid tubers.

~~~
patates
Dondurma just means "ice cream". What you mean is "Maraş Ice Cream" (Maraş
Dondurması). It takes a lot of patience to get it from a traditional shop:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYNhiv5FJ9Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYNhiv5FJ9Q)

------
CydeWeys
There's an ice cream shop of this style in Williamsburg, Brooklyn (because of
course there is) if anyone wants to try it out first hand. It's called
Republic of Booza.

It was worth it for the experience but I prefer normal ice cream better. The
texture is ... unusual.

------
forvelin
Gum-added ice cream is something you can find around Aegean Sea -Turkish or
Greek coast-. Especially around Chios and Izmir it is quite common and tasty,
so you can try that out without going all the way to Palestine ;)

~~~
patates
Also popular as "Maraş Ice Cream" in Turkey:

[https://www.google.de/search?q=mara%C5%9F+dondurmas%C4%B1&tb...](https://www.google.de/search?q=mara%C5%9F+dondurmas%C4%B1&tbm=vid)

It is of middle-east origin, as far as I can tell. It also comes with its
traditional show, as you can see in the videos.

------
dogma1138
Gum Ice cream like Booza (iirc the oldest "ice-cream" in the world) or
Dondurma Maras is prevelant all around the region it's common in Cyprus,
Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and the entire Levant and Aegean region.

------
dehef
Not into politics, but what is the point? I neither understand BBC nor HN to
publish a story like this one? It's notorious that Ramallah has shops like and
other city, so in Israel, and people have normal life here. Just 2 month ago I
got a interview for a company (freightos) which has both branch in jerusalem
(west) and ramallah, so I suppose that people success to get their things
together somehow?

------
nadavami
Unrelated, but am I the only one surprised that bbc.com is not not served over
https?

~~~
Keres
Not surprised at all, especially since the news site has only recently made
the switch to https [https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/bbc-news-on-
https-...](https://medium.com/bbc-design-engineering/bbc-news-on-
https-182b45ef60c)

------
dbatten
Random observation: I'm always fascinated by how poverty and development can
co-exist in a lot of places on earth. During conflicts between Israel and
Palestine, you always see photos of the insides of Palestinian hospitals and
the lack of sanitation and equipment is heartbreaking. But then this ice-cream
shop has high tech equipment, high sanitation standards, and a seemingly
relatively wealthy client base. And the street looks like it could be any
street from any other relatively stable, developed nation in that area.

I suppose it's also all a matter of the point that the media are trying to
make with the article... A travel article is going to highlight the cool
parts, while an article on the horrors of war is going to focus on the
disasters.

~~~
shim2k
You are mixing the Gaza strip with Ramallah, which is where this ice cream
shop is.

Ramallah is actually a pretty developed and secular city in the west bank.

~~~
dbatten
Interesting. I knew Gaza and the West Bank were geographically separate, but I
didn't know conditions on the ground were so different. Thanks!

