Chewy Ice Cream in Istanbul?

Donielle and I spent 5 fabulous days in Istanbul after arriving from Dubai. The cool weather of Europe was a nice break from the heat and humidity of the past 3 months. We saw all of the sights including the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace and the Great Bazaar. One of our favorite neighborhoods was Beyoglu which is located across the inlet from the Golden Horn. There are plenty of trendy cafes and shops located along it's busy streets. We arrived on a Friday afternoon where the streets were jam packed with people looking for a good time after a long work week. Here we found one of the many Dondurma sellers in Istanbul. Dondurma is the Turkish version of ice cream and it's slightly different since it is made out of goats milk. The really interesting part of Dondurma is that it is incredibly chewy almost like taffy. The secret is the use of thickening agents called salep along with other flavorings. The texture allows the vendors to stretch and throw the ice cream around like a pizza dough. It's a popular street food as we found out during our stroll in Beyoglu. In this picture Donielle is bartering with the vendor over the price as he stacks the various layers of ice cream on the cup. Each time she asks for a lower price he pulls the cone out of her hand before giving it back.....It's a lot of fun and the ice cream is pretty good too.