Did you see a fez when you visited Turkey?
If you did, most likely it was on the head of a Maraş ice cream (dondurma) seller.
Every spring the ice cream factories in the southeastern Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş send out young men across the country with a traditional Ottoman costume, a stand, and a supply of ice cream (which they supplement over time as needed).
If you visit a tourist stop in Turkey between April and October, you will probably hear the cowbells clanging as a maroon-capped merchant entertains potential customers.
A book could be written about these young men and the goat milk ice cream they hawk. With sugar and sahlep (apparently made from crushed Orchid buds) and other secret ingredients it has a unique texture and seems to be impervious to the heat (or maybe I just eat it too fast?). This will have to serve as an introduction while I do more research.
In Cappadocia a cone and a show (be sure to watch the video) costs 2TL, and you can find stands at the Göreme Open Air Museum and Paşabağ among other random spots.
And do not expect to see fezzes anywhere else as Atatürk outlawed them shortly after independence in 1923. These ice cream sellers seem to be the only men in Turkey who have an exemption.
Have you tried this unique Turkish ice cream?
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Duke Dillard moved to Turkey with his wife and 6 children in 2007. He got an MBA at Bilkent University in Ankara, where they had their 7th child. After 4 years in Ankara the whole family moved to Cappadocia, and this blog was born. We love Cappadocia and Cappadocians and want to help visitors make the most of their time here. You can connect with Duke on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, and/or link circles on Google+. Click here to read more about Duke and his family.
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