The ice cream parlor Baltis chose the very lively district of Montorgueil, in the center of Paris, to open its second store this summer. Trends, its ice creams with oriental flavors have a growing success, due to their quality, their originality and their extreme delicacy. Impossible to resist the call of a cone based on this low-sweet ice cream but covered with pistachios (up to the sky) or angel hair, made from a dough stretched to infinity.
His secret? The “achta”: milk mixed with a natural resin before being flavored with orange blossom, then coated with crushed pistachios. For several years, this ice cream has been causing endless queues in the streets of the capital in front of each of the shops which are open all the time.
Back from the beach
“In Lebanon, ice cream is enjoyed on the way back from the beach”, says 20 minutes Nadim Kettaneh who, with his cousin Jean-Michel de Tarrazi and the MOF ice cream maker Jean-Thomas Schneider, launched Bältis ice cream at the start of summer 2022. The success of the first boutique on rue Saint-Antoine (Paris 4th) sparked the opening of a second, rue Tiquetonne (Paris 2nd), with always the same winning recipe. “We produce all our ice cream in Paris, in our workshop and organically. The idea is to offer exceptional flavors with Lebanese touches,” explains Nadim Kettaneg, who proudly claims his artisanal side.
“These ice creams are the taste of my childhood,” recalls starred chef Alan Geaam. They are very different from French or Italian ice cream, because we don’t have crème fraiche or panna in the Middle East. We use a mixture of milk, sugar, mastic, salep powder… Some are very sweet, like the achta covered with pistachio. Others are more powerful and tangy, like the lemon or blackberry sorbets which are my favourites. The chef himself offers his scoops of achta ice cream in his bistro Qasti (Paris 3rd). But also a homemade blackberry sorbet that accompanies the baklawa served in his starred restaurant on rue Lauriston (Paris 16th).
A success since 2016
The success of these ice creams in France, “it’s up to Bashir we have to,” acknowledges Alan Geaam. They are descendants of the creators of the Lebanese brand, based in Paris, who opened the first store in 2016 rue Rambuteau (Paris 4th). As with Japanese ice cream, mochi Or kakigori, which appeared recently, the quality and originality of the product paid off. And a second Bachir store was quick to open on rue Tardieu (Paris 18th).
Two addresses that add to the fifty that have existed in Lebanon since 1936, even if the recipe, less greasy and less sweet, is different, and the enthusiasm for the brand is greater in Paris than in Lebanon. The popularity is such that the brand announces this month the possibility of having achta ice cream delivered in pots or scoops with Frichti.
Lemon sorbet facing the heat wave
“Lebanese ice cream is crazy right now,” admits chef Alan Geaam, who was not expecting it. But success calling for success, the wave of freshness brought by this very popular ice cream is not about to fall. The starred chef Alan Geaam even bets “that a dozen other shops will open in the coming months”. In the meantime, Bältis already intends to raise the bar very high in terms of quality with even finer and ever less sweet recipes, apt to become summer favourites.
Their exceptional lemon sorbet is already having an effect when the heat wave is just around the corner. And to extend the pleasures, the address has decided to create cocktails based on sorbets and ice cream, such as “A garden in Beirut” or “Rhum Orient”, with vodka infused with arak or nutmeg and dark chocolate. Fig sorbet, thyme, olive oil, halawah, rose water, chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, almond or coffee… We’re licking our chops in advance!
Baltis
54, rue Tiquetonne (Paris 2nd); 27, rue Saint-Antoine (Paris 4th)
Bashir
58 rue Rambuteau (Paris 4th); 7 rue Tardieu (Paris 18th)
Alan Geam
19 rue Lauriston (Paris 16th); Qasti 205 rue Saint-Martin (Paris 3rd)