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Comment by can16358p | Hacker News Reader

Dondurma literally means "ice cream" and it's just like regular ice cream like the rest of the world: served with a cone with scoops of it. So the word "dondurma" doesn't directly translate to the particular kind in question, it just translates to regular ice cream.

The ice cream in question is a special traditional form of it from a particular area. In rest of Turkey, dondurma (ice cream) is just like rest of the world, not like this. This one is lovely though, I'd recommend it especially for the texture.

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When you say "literally" i understand "word for word", and dondurma does not match "ice cream" in this sense, I think. It is a noun produced in a transition form like "don-mak (to freeze, passive) -> don-dur (to freeze sth-active) -> don-dur-ma (noun)".

Yeah I didn't mean the word by word translation but the actual ubiquitous meaning of the word. Otherwise I agree though.

it used to be so that in order for a product to be called "dondurma" (ice cream) it had to have salep in it. all other regular ice cream had to be sold under the name "buz" (ice).

i wonder if this is still the case.

When was this? Afaik (35-year old Turkish) this is not a custom.

On the West Coast (Izmir, Dikili, Cesme, Bodrum) it is custom. It is sometimes called Italian or Roman ice cream, even though I never ate this ice cream in Italy. My two little girls picked this one even up, so it is custom right now, and I think since at least 30 years.

I have lived in Izmir 4+ years, never heard it.

I live in İzmir and I've never heard it either.

never heard of the 'buz' really.

> Dondurma literally means "ice cream" and it's just like regular ice cream like the rest of the world: served with a cone with scoops of it. So the word "dondurma" doesn't directly translate to the particular kind in question, it just translates to regular ice cream.

This is true generally of most foreign terms. Americans believe "gelato" is supposed to be something different from ordinary "ice cream".

Of course it's the Italian word for "ice cream".

Sure, but also Italians make ice cream somewhat differently than Americans (at least, different proportions of the ingredients are more widespread).

"Gelato" can be both the Italian word for "ice cream" and be something different from what is typically referred to as "ice cream" in the US, no?

Gelato is not the same thing as what Americans typically call ice cream. American ice cream is less "smooth" and heavier.

This is true only in the sense that pain is "not the same thing" as what Americans typically call "bread". Or in other words, complete nonsense.

No American would hesitate to call Italian ice cream "ice cream", nor would any Italian hesitate to call American ice cream "gelato". Each term includes the other one.

They are different things and anyone that has eaten both would agree. They aren’t just different words for the same thing. The difference is more akin to Neapolitan pizza and New York pizza: both fall under the category of “pizza” but they are different things.

Gelato is different from ice cream, and it's the Italian word for "ice cream" https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=ice+cream+vesus+gelato

And what the rest of the world thinks as ice cream, in US they call frozen custard ...

I have never actually heard that term, and it makes me think of a custard that's been frozen, which appears to be wrong. Freezing a custard would ruin it.

But on the assumption that you mean ice cream with eggs in it, in the US that's called "ice cream", though only the flavor called "french vanilla" would usually include eggs. The eggs are the distinction between "french vanilla" and "vanilla".

If you try to translate "gelato" to English literally, you can say it means "frozen". While "dondurma" also can be translated as "frozen" to the English. I don't know why Americans called it "ice-cream".

When I see the term "ice-cream", I think of cold white creamy thing on a cone that you can buy from fast food chains. That is different from what we call "dondurma" here in Turkey. That is much softer and more creamy than "dondurma".

Turkish people probably saw the dessert from Europeans. At least that's what Nisanyan says.

https://www.nisanyansozluk.com/kelime/dondurma

> When I see the term "ice-cream", I think of cold white creamy thing on a cone that you can buy from fast food chains. That is different from what we call "dondurma" here in Turkey. That is much softer and more creamy than "dondurma".

What you get from fast food chains would be called "soft-serve ice cream" in the US, if you want to be explicit about it. (If you want a shorter term, then "ice cream" if you don't care about the distinction, but "soft-serve" if you do.) It is not the standard form of ice cream - ice cream stores don't sell it - but it is included within the term "ice cream".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/soft_serve

Here's some promotional imagery showing the kind of thing an American would think of when prompted with "ice cream": https://www.baskinrobbins.com/content/dam/br/img/w72024_rele...

It's hard enough that people make birthday cakes out of it.

Does it have a chewy texture? I'm imagining something like fresh mochi.

Yup, the "maraş dondurma" in question has a particularly chewy texture to it and generally extends in a sticky way when trying to eat with a fork.

it has a thick texture but it is not as chewy as mochi. on the other hand it is very pliable and has a distinct taste both due to use of salep.

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