Ice cream might feel like a universal treat, but scratch the surface and you’ll find that different cultures have their own unique kinds of ice cream. From the dense chew of Turkish dondurma to the saffron-studded elegance of Persian bastani, each style reflects local ingredients, traditions, and even climates.

At Artisan Industrial, we’ve seen firsthand how diverse ice cream making can be. Customers come to us with recipes that don’t just call for cow’s milk and sugar, but soy milk, buffalo’s milk, condensed milk, egg yolks, you name it. The common thread? A desire to share a taste of their culture through ice cream.

Curious about starting your own production? Explore our ice cream and gelato equipment to see what could bring your recipes to life.

Let’s take a trip around the world and look at some of the best kinds of ice cream from different countries.

Italian gelato: smooth and dense

Gelato is often considered the gold standard of ice cream, but it’s not the same as the regular scoop of ice cream you might get at a diner. Gelato often has less air incorporated in the product when compared to a tub of ice cream purchased from the supermarket. The result is a denser, silkier texture that delivers pure flavour.

The base is usually milk with only a touch of cream, and sometimes with or without eggs. This lower fat content means flavours like pistachio, hazelnut, or strawberry come through more cleanly. Gelato (-10°C to -12°C) is also served slightly warmer than ice cream (max. -18°C), so it melts luxuriously on the tongue rather than freezing it.

Making good gelato starts with the right equipment. A typical gelato shop set-up includes pasteurisers, ageing vats, and batch freezers. Gelato usually has less air -called overrun- than ice cream. While batch equipment doesn’t allow for precise control of overrun, some specialised machines, like our Telme models, give you the flexibility to adjust depending on your recipe.

Indian kulfi: rich, aromatic, and slow-melting

One of the most beloved kinds of ice cream around the world is India’s kulfi. Unlike gelato or American ice cream, kulfi isn’t churned at all. Instead, milk is simmered for hours until it reduces and thickens, sometimes with a little condensed milk added. Saffron, cardamom, pistachios, or mango pulp are often stirred in before the mix is poured into moulds and frozen solid.

Because kulfi traditionally has little to no overrun, it’s much denser and slower to melt than ice cream or gelato – perfect for hot Indian summers. One bite carries the caramelised sweetness of boiled milk and the fragrance of spice.

In a commercial setting, however, kulfi is mostly made in a batch freezer, which allows businesses to balance authenticity with profitability, as some overrun helps manage food costs.

Icy Spicy, one of our customers who brings the Indian street food scene to Australia, has become a standout success story, using our batch freezers to prepare their delicious kulfi.

Asian soy and tofu-based ice cream: plant-based innovation

An Asian tradition in ice-cream making is using soy milk or tofu as the base, blended with sugar, oils, or coconut milk for richness.

The flavour spectrum is wide: black sesame, matcha, taro, or red bean are popular, though fruitier options like mango are also common. The texture can be just as creamy as dairy-based ice cream, but it requires the right formulation. Soy proteins don’t behave like dairy proteins, so stabilisers or food technologists often come into play.

One of Artisan Industrial’s Sydney customers built an entire business around tofu-based ice creams. We not only supplied the machines but also connected them with a food technician experienced in plant-based desserts, setting them up for a world of success!

Turkish dondurma: stretchy and playful

Photo courtesy of Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream

In Turkey, ice cream comes with a performance. Dondurma is famously stretchy, thanks to salep (a flour made from orchid root) and mastic (a resin that adds chewiness). Vendors use long paddles to stretch and slap the ice cream before handing it to customers (often with a cheeky trick or two, as anyone who’s tried to grab a cone from a Turkish vendor knows).

See a dondurma vendor in action.

The chewiness means dondurma doesn’t melt quickly, making it perfect for hot climates. The flavour is often plain milk sweetened with sugar, but the texture is the real star.Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream has built a loyal following in Sydney around their unique style.Their dondurma is everything it should be: stretchy, chewy, and full of theatre, just like on the streets of Turkey.

Persian Bastani Sonnati: fragrant and luxurious

In Iran, traditional Bastani Sonnati is flavoured with saffron for a golden hue, rosewater for fragrance, and pistachios for crunch. Sometimes cream is frozen separately and broken into flakes that are folded into the ice cream, creating ribbons of chewy texture.

The result is unlike any Western ice cream: floral, nutty, slightly chewy, and deeply aromatic. It’s sometimes served sandwiched between thin wafers.

American-style ice cream: bold and indulgent

Finally, there’s the one that most people in the Western world might picture when they think of ice cream: high-fat, high-sugar, high-fun. American ice cream can also include egg yolks (though Philadelphia-style leaves them out). To be legally called ‘ice cream’, it must contain at least 10% milk fat, but premium brands go far higher.

It’s churned vigorously to incorporate plenty of air, resulting in a lighter, fluffier texture than gelato. Americans (and Australians) also love loading their ice cream up with inclusions: cookie dough chunks, candy pieces, caramel swirls, sprinkles, whatever delicious goodies you can find.

Any kind of ice cream from around the world – Artisan Industrial brings it to life

From the saffron and rosewater of Persia to the chewy pull of Turkish dondurma, the kinds of ice cream around the world are as diverse as the cultures they come from. And yet, the equipment needs are the same: pasteurisation, freezing, and sometimes packaging.

Artisan Industrial doesn’t just supply machines. We help makers choose the right tools, connect them with experts, and support them as they bring their cultural recipes to market.

Thinking of making your own style of ice cream? Talk to us about the right equipment and support to make it happen.