Iran

Tehran

Bastani is saffron, rosewater and frozen slabs of cream. Does the oldest recipe still win?

Bastani sonnati is credited to one man: Akbar Jafari Malayeri, known as Akbar Mashti, who with a partner opened Iran's first ice-cream shop on Rey Street after Reza Shah's rise to power, funded by his brother, and who is said to have invented the Iranian habit of folding frozen clotted cream and rosewater into saffron ice cream rather than copying the European style. His sole heir, Mohammad Malayeri, told the story that Iranians preferred cream, rosewater and saffron to the imported version, and that Akbar Mashti thickened his ice cream with plants rather than additives -- a claim that goes to the heart of the salep question this project keeps asking. Faloodeh, the rosewater-and-vermicelli sorbet sold alongside bastani in Tehran's old shops, is the older tradition, dated in general reference sources to around 400 BC and associated with Shiraz. Whether the 'oldest recipe' still wins is precisely what is unresolved here: even the shop that carries Akbar Mashti's name has been reported, by the same publisher, both as revived in Tajrish and as currently closed with no known address.

Tehran is under research for The Gelato Cities Index 2027. A city guide publishes when the research supports a case and its selected spots each carry verified evidence — not before.

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Last checked 2026-08-21

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The city of Tehran.