Bastani (Persian: بستنی), locally known as bastani sonnati (Persian: بستنی سنتی "traditional ice cream") or bastani sonnati zaferani (Persian: بستنی سنتی زعفرانی "traditional saffron ice cream"), is an Iranianice cream made from milk, yolk, sugar, rose water, saffron, vanilla, and pistachios. It is known widely as Persian ice cream. Bastani often contains flakes of frozen clotted cream.[1][2] Sometimes, salep is included as an ingredient.
The history of bastani probably began around 500 BCE in the Achaemenid Empire of Persia.[3][4] Various syrups would be poured over snow to produce summertime treats called "fruit ice" (sharbat). Typically, the ice was mixed with saffron, grape juices, fruits, and other flavours. The Macedonian leader Alexander the Great, who battled the Persians for ten years, enjoyed "fruit ices" sweetened with honey and chilled with snow.[citation needed]
^"Who Invented Ice Cream? - Ice Cream Inventor". www.icecreamhistory.net. Retrieved 2018-08-31. History of ice creams begun around 500 BCE in the Persian Empire where ice was used in combination with grape juices, fruits, and other flavors to produce very expensive and hard to produce summertime treats.