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10 Global Ice Cream Treasures From Across the Globe
In the wide world of food, there are certain treats that win hearts no matter where you are—and ice cream sits at the very top. From Japan’s mochi and Italy’s gelato to India’s kulfi and Turkey’s dondurma, not to mention the classic frozen custard loved in America’s Midwest, nearly every culture has its own special spin on this frozen delight.
Ethan Collins
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In the wide world of food, there are certain treats that win hearts no matter where you are—and ice cream sits at the very top. From Japan’s mochi and Italy’s gelato to India’s kulfi and Turkey’s dondurma, not to mention the classic frozen custard loved in America’s Midwest, nearly every culture has its own special spin on this frozen delight.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the most delicious and well-loved ice creams from around the globe. To keep things focused, we’ve left out frozen treats like Italian ice or sorbet that don’t include cream or other dairy ingredients.
American Ice Cream
The United States is home to several unique ice cream styles. The most common kind, sometimes called Philadelphia-style, New York-style, or simply American ice cream, is made with milk, cream, and sugar, with no eggs added.
Other types include New England-style (think of Ben and Jerry’s), a rich, chewy blend that includes eggs and extra milk protein, and frozen custard—a soft, creamy, high-fat ice cream that started in New York but grew popular in the Midwest after the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.
And let’s not overlook soft-serve: an egg-free, relatively low-fat dessert (with 3 to 6 percent fat, compared to 10 percent or more in regular ice cream) that’s mechanically whipped to give it its light, fluffy, swirled texture.
Fun fact: The tradition of serving frozen desserts in an edible cone goes back to the 18th century, most probably in France.
Gelato
Gelato is Italy’s take on ice cream, and it’s much denser than American ice cream. This is because it has less butterfat than regular ice cream and is churned more slowly. It’s also a bit sweeter.
Otherwise, gelato and ice cream are quite similar: both are made from frozen milk, cream, and other ingredients, sometimes with egg yolks and sometimes without. Thanks to its density, gelato’s flavor tends to be more intense than that of ice cream. It’s also served a little warmer than ice cream, which helps bring out its flavors even more.
Semifreddo
Another Italian frozen custard creation, semifreddo (which means “half frozen” in Italian) dates back to the 19th century. Unlike ice cream and gelato, which are made by slowly churning milk, cream, and sugar before freezing, semifreddo is made by quickly whipping its ingredients into a mousse-like texture. This makes the final product much lighter and airier than ice cream. Semifreddo is frozen in molds and served by slicing it, just like a cake.
Mochi
Though widely enjoyed in Japan, mochi ice cream was actually invented in the early 1990s by a Japanese-American businesswoman in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. (That said, a similar treat filled with red bean paste instead of ice cream has been a Japanese delicacy for centuries.)
Mochi ice cream is made by wrapping balls of ice cream in a sweet dough made from glutinous rice flour. Popular flavors for the ice cream filling include vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, as well as green tea, red bean, black sesame, plum wine, and mango.
Dondurma
Dondurma is a Turkish frozen dessert made with goat’s milk, which gives it a unique taste and aroma. But what really makes dondurma stand out is its firm, chewy texture, its elasticity (allowing it to be stretched and twisted like dough), and its resistance to melting. These traits come from two thickeners: salep, the root of a wild orchid native to southern Turkey, and mastic, a plant resin from an evergreen shrub that grows on the Greek island of Chios. The ice cream is kneaded with a long metal pole to give it its signature stretchiness.
Dondurma is so thick that it’s often wrapped around a spit (like a doner kebab) and served by slicing it with a knife, rather than scooping. Flavors include chocolate, vanilla, pistachio, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and mulberry. A similar treat, called pagoto, is enjoyed in neighboring Greece.
Kulfi
Kulfi is a dense, creamy frozen dessert popular in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other parts of South Asia and the Middle East. It’s made by cooking sweetened milk with nuts and spices until the mixture is reduced by half, which thickens it and gives it a caramelized flavor. The mixture is then frozen in narrow metal molds that are submerged in a mix of ice and salt, turning the sweet liquid into a solid shape. It’s often served on a stick.
Unlike many other ice creams, kulfi doesn’t involve churning or whipping—only gentle stirring as the milk mixture slowly reduces. Popular flavors include rose, pistachio, mango, and saffron.
Spaghettieis
This playful creation was invented in the 1960s by a whimsical Italian living in Germany. Spaghettieis is made by pressing ice cream through a potato ricer or spaetzle press (a tool used for making a type of fried noodle), squeezing it into thin strands that look just like spaghetti. The “spaghetti” is then topped with a strawberry sauce that mimics tomato sauce, and sprinkled with white chocolate shavings to resemble Parmesan cheese.
I-Tim-Pad
Also known as rolled ice cream or stir-fried ice cream, I-Tim-Pad is a Thai frozen dessert. It’s made by mixing milk, cream, sugar, and other flavorings, then pouring the mixture in a shallow layer onto an extremely cold ice pan. The ingredients are stirred together until they freeze into a thin layer of ice cream, which is then scraped off with a spatula—simultaneously rolling the ice cream into hollow, spiral-shaped logs. These logs are served in a bowl or cup, garnished with toppings like fruit, chocolate sauce, cookies, and whipped cream.
Sorbetes
Sorbetes is a beloved frozen street food in the Philippines. Traditionally, it was made with milk from the carabao, a native water buffalo, but modern versions can use either carabao milk or cow’s milk.
Popular flavors include mango, melon, coconut, avocado, and strawberry, as well as chocolate, cookies and cream, and even cheese. Sorbetes is sold by vendors called sorbeteros, who travel through cities with colorful carts. It’s served in cones, cups, or even bread buns.
Fried Ice Cream
Fried ice cream is enjoyed in many culinary traditions, including Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, and North American, but its exact origin is unclear. The idea is simple: ice cream is coated in some kind of batter and then briefly submerged in hot oil, which turns the batter golden and crispy while keeping the ice cream inside frozen. The result is often dusted with powdered sugar, drizzled with chocolate, caramel, or custard sauce, and finished with other garnishes.
In Japan, fried ice cream uses tempura batter, while in Mexico, the ice cream is coated in crushed Corn Flakes before frying.
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