7 International Ice Creams to Beat the Summer Heat

July 22, or the third Sunday in July, is Ice Cream Day in the United States. While your favorite flavor might be vanilla or mint chocolate chip, there are plenty of varieties around the world you won’t find at your local ice cream parlor. From kulfi to dondurma, here are some of our favorite frozen treats. © Fedecandoniphoto | Dreamstime.com

In Israel, halva ice cream is a popular choice, created from sesame halva, tahini and the typical ice cream ingredients of dairy, sugar and eggs. Instead of chopped peanuts and hot fudge, toppings include date syrup and pistachios. The taste is comparable to a Snickers. © Alp Aksoy | Dreamstime.com

The traditional Indian ice cream is kulfi, but these ice cream pops are denser, creamier and more custard-like than what you’ve probably enjoyed at home. The flavors also tend to stray from chocolate and vanilla to varieties like cardamom, saffron, rose and even avocado. © Gaurav Masand | dreamstime.com

You’ve likely seen one of the many videos floating around the internet of Turkish ice cream vendors playfully serving up scoops of dondurma with a series of tricks and sleight of hand. Dondurma is a mastic ice cream with a unique pliability, thickness and resistance to the heat. © Irina Lepneva | Dreamstime.com

A relatively new take on ice cream, spaghettieis is a German invention from the 1960s. Vanilla ice cream is pushed through a potato ricer and topped with a red fruit sauce (usually raspberry or strawberry), resulting in what looks like a heaping pile of spaghetti at first glance. © Stockcreations | Dreamstime.com

Japan’s mochi ice cream is both adorable and delicious. A small scoop of ice cream is stuffed into a colorful ball of pounded sticky rice, then rolled into uniform domes covered in starch to prevent stickiness. © Bhofack2 | Dreamstime.com

You might only connect Italy with gelato, but the country has another frozen treat, tartufo, from the Italian word for truffle, originally created in the 1950s for a wedding in Pizzo. The now-popular confection combines one or more ice cream flavors and fruit or syrup into a ball covered in chocolate, cinnamon or nuts. © Tanyushik | Dreamstime.com

The Italians have another frozen dessert you’ll want to add to your international foodie bucket list. Semifreddo is equal parts ice cream and whipped cream, for a light and airy consistency similar to mousse. Various toppings are mixed in, such as fruit, chocolate and candies. © Iryna Kolesova | Dreamstime.com