Āb-Havij Bastani
The Tehran juice-bar float, grown up: carrot, cardamom, cognac and a scoop of saffron ice cream.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Cognac | 40 ml | 1⅓ oz |
| Fresh carrot juice · homemade, J10 | 90 ml | 3 oz |
| Cardamom syrup · homemade, P03 | 10 ml | ⅓ oz |
| Fresh lemon juice · homemade, J01 | 10 ml | ⅓ oz |
| Saffron ice cream (bastani sonnati) · homemade, P33 | 1 small scoop | |
| Ground cinnamon | a pinch |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
tall chilled glass
shaken with ice; no ice in the glass, the ice cream does the cooling
a small scoop of saffron ice cream and a dusting of cinnamon
The story
Every juice bar in Tehran sells it, from the ones near the bazaar to the ones on Valiasr at midnight: a tall glass of carrot juice pressed to order with a scoop of saffron ice cream dropped in, cinnamon on top, a spoon and a straw. Ice cream came to Iran through the Qajar court, after Naser al-Din Shah tasted it in Paris, and reached the street in the 1920s when Akbar Mashti opened the first shop by the railway with rose water, saffron and salep in his recipe. The carrot float followed and never left. This is that glass with a measure of cognac, which shares carrot’s sweet earthiness, and the ice cream’s own spices in the shaker.
Method
- Chill a tall glass.
- Shake the cognac, carrot juice, cardamom syrup and lemon juice hard with ice.
- Strain into the glass without ice.
- Float a small scoop of saffron ice cream on top; it should sink slowly.
- Dust with cinnamon. Serve with a long spoon and a straw.
How it tastes
Sweet, cold and creamy, with carrot’s earthiness, the warm perfume of cardamom and saffron, and the brandy underneath. Eat the ice cream as it melts into the juice; the drink changes as you go.
Persian taste: shirin (sweet), charb (rich)
Pair it with
- Food: Sambuseh or a hot bowl of ash-e reshteh from the stall next door.
- Sweet: Nothing else needed; this is the dessert.
- Snack: None; the glass is the snack
Variations
Alcohol-free
Leave out the cognac and add 20 ml fresh orange juice: the original float.
Ginger
Run a thumb of ginger through the juicer with the carrots.
Aged rum
Swap the cognac for aged rum for a rounder, molasses note.
Balancing tips
- Shake hard and strain cold; the ice cream should sit on top for a moment, not vanish.
- Fresh carrot juice only; bottled tastes cooked.
- One small scoop. A large one turns the drink into a milkshake.
Allergens
- Dairy (ice cream)
- Tree nuts (pistachio in the ice cream)
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test lemon at 5 versus 10 ml; carrot sweetness varies with the season.
- Sources: Wikipedia, “Bastani”; Iran Chamber, “History of Ice Cream in Iran”.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
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Tehran, imagined
