Persian Immersion

So after lamenting the lack of gelaterias in the D.C. area, I decided to tap the collective wisdom of the folks on Chowhound to see if there were other gelato options beyond Dolcezza.

And it turns out that there is a gelateria in a very unlikely setting- a Persian market in Rockville called Sam’s Cafe and Market. According to one of the folks on Chowhound:

(Sam) actually was trained and started making gelato while he lived in Italy. He then brought the equipment with him when he came to US. He will make flavors (in season) to order if you make arrangements ahead - ask for a batch of bosc pear (or fig) when the season hits.

So after hitting Bob’s Noodle 66 and Aji Ichiban, we headed over to the shopping center to see if Sam’s could fill our gelato void.

Sam’s offers nearly 30 flavors at any one time out of a total roster of 85 or so. But as soon as I was able to survey the gelato case, I knew that Sam’s would fall short of the high standard to which we were accustomed at places like St. Ambroeus and Il Gelatone back in New York. The colors are the dead giveaway. Some of the flavors were colored in shades of neon that simply do not occur in nature. For instance, the pistachio was a bright green instead of the dull, brownish green of the pistachio gelato that I used to get at Il gelatone.

Nevertheless, we decided to try a cup with half Persian Vanilla and half French Custard. The texture of Sam’s gelato is actually somewhere between gelato and regular ice cream. It’s much thicker and far less creamy than just about anything claiming to be gelato that we’ve ever had.

The French Custard had a pleasing buttery caramel taste. And the Persian Vanilla, colored with saffron and flavored with rosewater, was almost worth the additional schlep out there. AK, however, thought the rosewater was added with a heavy hand, and it did seem to err a bit on the side of perfumey. Still, it's fascinating to have the opportunity to try an Italian culinary artform like gelato that's been filtered through a Persian sensibility.

We did poke around the Persian market, and the range of wares they managed to stuff into their tiny space was amazing.


They have a capital selection of roasted nuts and dried fruits.


But we were captivated by this plate of dried persimmons. We've never seen dried persimmons before, and though I'm not a big fan of persimmons, I regret not walking off with a few of them.


This vat of olives soaking in brine along with halves of preserved lemon and a few stray chili peppers was awfully tempting.


Sam's also has a whole shelf displaying various brands of rosewater, and another shelf with oddities such as borage water, willow water, and cumin seeds water.


And I was absolutely charmed by the packaging for this dried apricot paste.


Across the parking lot from Sam’s is a Persian bakery called Yasaman Bakery. We scored a number of treats that were visually appealing, but found most of them to be unremarkable: overly drenched in rosewater and cloyingly sweet.

But the fact that this place was absolutely mobbed by the local Persian community suggests that either we lack the taste for Persian sweets or we just weren’t hitting their strong points.

Check out Sam's Cafe and Market at:
765 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD
(301) 424-1600

Check out Yasaman Bakery at:
785J Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD
(301) 762-5416

—AC