Chef Dimitra
Chios Nerantzi Glyko Koutaliou (Νεράντζι Γλυκό Κουταλιού)
Chios bitter orange peel rolled into tight coils, blanched through clean waters, then preserved in a clear fragrant syrup for the spoon-sweet tray.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Politiko Pagoto Kaimaki (Πολίτικο Παγωτό Καϊμάκι)
Created by
Politiki kaimaki is the chewy mastic ice cream of the City, scented with Chios mastiha, held smooth by salep, and best served with sour cherry spoon sweet.
Desserts
Greek
Freezer Friendly
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
15 min cook•6 hr 40 min total
Yield8 servings
Politiko pagoto kaimaki belongs to the sweet shops of Constantinople, the Politiki kitchen where milk, mastic, and salep became something cool, white, and gently chewy. It isn't vanilla ice cream with perfume added. The pull is the dish. The scent of Chios mastiha is the dish's signature.
The one method that saves it is simple: grind the mastic with sugar before it touches the milk. Mastic is stubborn. Drop the tears straight into the pot and they seize into little amber knots, and then no amount of stirring will make the ice cream smooth. Pound them with sugar first and they disappear into the base, leaving only their clean pine-resin fragrance.
Salep gives the old texture, that slow stretch on the spoon. Use the real powder if you can buy it legally and well sourced; many wild orchids are protected now, and a careless packet is not a bargain. Λίγα και καλά. A few things, and good ones. This is a freezer dish, yes, but it still asks for patience: heat gently, chill fully, churn cold.
Pagoto kaimaki grew from the Politiki sweet-shop world of Constantinople, where Ottoman kaymak, salep drinks, and dondurma met the Greek confectioners' habit of scenting milk sweets with Chios mastic. The name comes through Turkish kaymak, meaning clotted cream, though the Greek frozen version is known for salep's elastic texture more than for cream alone. In twentieth-century Greece, refugee and Constantinopolitan families carried the flavor to Thessaloniki and Athens, where kaimaki with sour cherry spoon sweet became a classic zacharoplasteio order.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole milk
Quantity
1 liter
heavy cream
Quantity
250ml
granulated sugar
Quantity
180g
divided
salep powder (salepi)
Quantity
8g
Chios mastic tears (mastiha)
Quantity
1.5g
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole milk | 1 liter |
| heavy cream | 250ml |
| granulated sugardivided | 180g |
| salep powder (salepi) | 8g |
| Chios mastic tears (mastiha) | 1.5g |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •mortar and pestle
- •heavy saucepan, 2 liter
- •fine mesh strainer
- •ice cream machine
- •freezer container, 1.5 liter
Instructions
- 1
Grind the mastic
Put the mastic tears in the freezer for 10 minutes, then pound them with 30g of the sugar until you have a fine, snowy powder. This is the step that decides the perfume and texture. Whole mastic hits warm milk and turns into sticky little pebbles; sugar keeps it separate so it dissolves cleanly.
Use a mortar if you have one. If the kitchen is warm, chill the mastic again before grinding. - 2
Mix the salep
In a small bowl, whisk the salep with 50g of the sugar. Keep it dry for now. Salep clumps when it meets liquid too quickly, so it needs the sugar as a little buffer.
- 3
Heat the milk
Pour the milk, cream, remaining 100g sugar, and salt into a heavy saucepan. Warm over medium heat, stirring often, until the sugar dissolves and the milk is hot but not boiling.
- 4
Thicken gently
Whisk in the salep mixture in a thin shower. Lower the heat and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture lightly coats the spoon and feels a little elastic when it falls back into the pot. Do not boil it hard. Milk catches fast, and burnt milk has nowhere to hide in kaimaki.
- 5
Add the mastic
Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the powdered mastic sugar. Stir for 1 minute, until the scent rises and the base looks smooth.
- 6
Chill the base
Strain the base into a clean jug or bowl, press a piece of parchment or reusable wrap against the surface, and chill until very cold, at least 4 hours. Overnight is better. A cold base churns finer and gives you that smooth pull instead of icy grains.
- 7
Churn and freeze
Churn in an ice cream machine according to its directions, usually 25 to 35 minutes, until thick, pale, and stretching slightly from the paddle. Pack into a chilled container, cover the surface, and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
- 8
Serve properly
Let the kaimaki stand at room temperature for 5 to 8 minutes before scooping. Serve it plain, with sour cherry spoon sweet, or beside warm ravani or baklava. It should taste clean, milky, resinous, and quietly sweet.
Chef Tips
- •Buy Chios mastic tears, not mastic flavoring. The flavoring often tastes flat and loud, while the tears give the clean resin note this ice cream needs.
- •Real salep is powerful and expensive. If you cannot source it responsibly, use 6g commercial ice cream stabilizer for texture, but don't pretend it is the old version. I don't invent it. I find it, I test it, I write it down.
- •Kaimaki loves sharp fruit. Sour cherry spoon sweet, bergamot peel preserve, or a small bitter coffee beside it keeps the sweetness in line.
Advance Preparation
- •Freeze the ice cream machine bowl at least 24 hours ahead if your machine requires it.
- •Make the base the day before and chill it overnight; the texture is better when the salep has had time to settle into the milk.
- •The finished kaimaki keeps well for 2 weeks, tightly covered, with parchment pressed against the surface.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 175g)
Calories
280 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
10 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
50 mg
Sodium
135 mg
Total Carbohydrates
30 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
30 g
Protein
5 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Greek Spoon Sweets & Confections
Browse the full collection
Chef Dimitra
Chios Ypovrychio Vanilia (Υποβρύχιο Βανίλια Χιώτικο)
Chios gives vanilla submarine its mastic breath: a pearly spoon sweet stirred stiff, served cold in water, and offered as the simplest kerasma.
Chef Dimitra
Cypriot and Politiki Mahalepi (Μαχαλεπί)
Mahalepi is the cooling milk pudding of Cyprus and the Politiki table: pale, trembling, and loosened at the spoon with cold rosewater syrup.
Chef Dimitra
Glyko Karpouzi Kyprou (Γλυκό Καρπούζι Κύπρου)
Cyprus keeps the watermelon after the red flesh is gone: firm white rind, lime-soaked for snap, simmered slowly in lemon syrup until each piece shines on the spoon.