Bastani Sonnati

Bastani sonnati is an Iranian ice cream flavored with saffron and rose water. Pistachios are scattered through its pale yellow body, and some versions contain flakes of frozen cream. Within the smooth ice cream, the pieces of frozen cream add a different texture.

White Shards of Frozen Cream

Milk and sugar form the base, which is combined with saffron and rose water and churned while it is chilled. Some recipes add salep. The polysaccharides in salep hold water and help create a thick, stretchy mouthfeel. The frozen cream is first set in a thin layer, broken up, and mixed in afterward, so it remains as separate white pieces within the ice cream. Some versions have pistachios mixed in or scattered on top. You can enjoy the fragrant, cold ice cream together with flakes of cream that come apart as you bite into them and the crunch of the nuts.

Sandwiched Between Wafers

Ice cream sandwiched between thin wafers is called bastani nooni. Rather than only being eaten with a spoon, it takes a form that can be held in the hand and eaten. Rose water and saffron are also used in sholeh zard, which is made by simmering rice, but here they flavor milk that is chilled and frozen into a cold sweet.

A shop in the Netherlands that makes Iranian ice cream also presents it as a gift to bring when visiting family or friends. The aromas that accompany this cold sweet, and the ways of eating it, are enjoyed even in places far from Iran.

A Name That Lives On in a Tehran Shop

The name of Akbar Mashti, who sold ice cream in Tehran, has been handed down in connection with this sweet. According to one account, he opened a shop with Mohammad Rish in the late 1920s and popularized ice cream made with rose water, cream, saffron, and salep. Mohammad Malayeri, a relative, says that as a child he helped out at Akbar’s shop and later carried on the name in Tehran. The work of gathering ingredients and preserving a shop’s flavor also carries each family’s memories. The existence of ancient frozen desserts and the emergence of today’s milk-based bastani sonnati are not the same event.

Glossary