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Persian ice cream tradition since 500 BC: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastani_sonnati https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastani_sonnati

• lm28469 7y ago
  They must have really liked ice cream to go through the trouble of transporting/storing ice in Iran 2500 years ago. The logistic must have been impressive.
  • mehrdadn 7y ago
    You can learn more about it in the video here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17670608 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17670608
  • ahje 7y ago
    There are plenty of mountains in Iran. Can't be _that_ hard to water freeze over winter, and then bring large blocks of ice down the mountainside with a sturdy cart come spring. Bothersome, yes, but not that incredible. Edit: They had building where water was frozen during winter and ice stored during summer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhcha https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhcha
    • Gibbon1 7y ago
      Tehran is at about 4000 feet. Snows at least occasionally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4PE3mJbBms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4PE3mJbBms
    • cpach 7y ago
      Here’s a working link :) Such an amazing structure! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l
  • iamshs 7y ago
    I don’t know about Iran, but in 1600’s ice cubes in Lahore, Punjab were made by freezing water in wooden pans in the foothills of mountains. The pans were swept early in the morning, and transported to special underground pens lined up with straw, hay etc. Ice lasted through summer and Mughal kings enjoyed their cold drinks.
    • iguy 7y ago
      Even away from the mountains, I know they did this in Allahabad (according to Fanny Parkes) which must be only barely cold enough. Compared to that, lots of places in Iran should be easy, lots of it is quite high. You can go skiing for the day from Tehran, in May!
  • tim333 7y ago
    Iran gets cold sometimes. Check out "Iran accuses Israel of stealing its snow" with pictures of their ski resorts https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/news/iran-accuses-israel-of-stealing-its-snow/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ski/news/iran-accuses-isr...
  • sjg007 7y ago
    They also had wind catchers that can cool water almost to freezing I believe.
• singularity2001 7y ago
  I love that the name for their storage room is very Indo-Germanic: yakh-chal ice-hole Eis-Kuhle [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakhch%C4%81l [1] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%DB%8C%D8%AE%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%84 https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%DB%8C%D8%AE%DA%86%D8%A7%D9%8...
  • thaumasiotes 7y ago
    Indo-Germanic? Persian is very closely related to Sanskrit (and related Indic languages), much more so than Germanic is. The language family is called "Indo-Iranian".
    • geff82 7y ago
      French: two Italian: due French: deux - Persian: do English: I am - Persian: man am English: he is French: il est Persian: u ast french qui/que, persian ki/ke french: tu, persian: to english: brother, german: Bruder, Persian: barodar english: star, persian: setareh (just inserted some vocals) English: Daughter, German: Tochter, Persian: dokhtar Polish: Pienj Persian: Panj (means five) Germanic/latin is more closely related to persian than one would guess.
    • singularity2001 7y ago
      Indo-Germanic is just the old term for the Indo-European language family. Sometimes still used, but partly out of fashion / discredited by politicized Arianism. [0] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Indo-Germanic https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Indo-Germanic [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages