The beauty of some Lebanese home-style desserts is that they are lighter than the average dessert with eggs or butter; take this chocolate muhallabieh for instance; cream is added sparingly to the milk and the dessert is thickened with cornstarch. It is super creamy and chocolaty, but very light.

The pink meringue hearts are for fun and crunch-crunch.

OK. So how do we proceed?

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cup of whole milk
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1/3 cup of cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup of cocoa, Dutch processed (I like Droste)
• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

METHOD:

1. Place the milk and the cream in measuring jug to get a total of two cups. Pour 1 1/2 cups of that mixture into a saucepan and add the cocoa and sugar. Pour the cornstarch on the remaining mixture in the jug and mix with a fork to dissolve the cornstarch.
2. Start heating the milk and cocoa mixture while stirring it slowly to dissolve the cocoa and sugar. When the mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch mixture and keep stirring for several minutes (about 4 minutes total) until the mixture is very thick.
3. Pour into a sieve placed over a large bowl with a spout. Use a spoon or the whisk to press the pudding mixture through the sieve; this step is to ensure no lumps remain and the pudding is as creamy and smooth as can be. Pour into 2 or 4 ramequins or verrine or goblets. Cover with a plastic sheet and keep in the fridge until serving time. You can serve as is in the ramequins or flip over into a pretty plate. To help dislodge the pudding, surround the ramequin with a hot and wet towel. Serve with meringues or a crumble of caramelized nuts or marshmallows.

Assembly with the cream and meringue:

Pink cream: Whip 1/2 cup of cream with two teaspoons of powdered sugar and a few drops of rose water; add a couple of drops of red food color to the cream. Whip for several minutes until soft peaks form.

Meringue: Place 4 egg whites in a mixing bowl; beat at high speed for a few minutes till frothy; add a pinch of cream of tartar. As soon as the meringue is stiff, start adding one cup of powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time as well as a few drops of red food color. Beat till stiff and still shiny. Place in a plastic decorating bag with a round tip (small size) and pipe on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in a 225F oven for one hour or longer until the meringue is stiff and dry.

Last Christmas season I was in Istanbul for a short visit and while my daughter wanted to visit the beautiful monuments all around us, I only wanted one thing: to get some sahlab AKA salep or sahlep. The monuments could wait.

Sahlab AKA salep or sahlep or sahleb is a powder that is mixed with milk; the powder is extracted from orchids. It is supposed to have curative properties, but what most people love about it is that when made into ice-cream, the ice-cream becomes extraordinarily chewy.

Sahlab is also the name of a drink, made with that powder and milk. It is served in cafés in Beirut and other Eastern Arab cities.

Not only did I find some, which I bought and carried with me to Lebanon and back to the US, but I also drank some at the spice bazaar in Istanbul.

While in Beirut, I found sahleb too. So I had two packages of sahleb in my suitcase.

I made this sahlab into a thick pudding  by adding some cornstarch to the milk mixture. You can also buy a box of sahlab mix at the Middle-Eastern store. The mix will not contain the actual orchid powder, just some starch, sugar and flavoring.

These cookies were made to go with the sahlab. The name of these cookies, barazek, is the name of the most famous and popular cookie in Syria and Lebanon.

What are barazek? They are buttery, shortbread-like cookies covered with toasted sesame seeds on one side and studded with chopped pistachios on the other side.

Whenever someone in Beirut makes a short trip to Damascus, bringing a few boxes of these barazek is usually comissionned from the person travelling. Damascus is reputed for making the best barazek in the region.

Well, I am far from Damascus at the moment,  and I had some pistachios and sesame seeds in the fridge.

Guess what? We are having tuiles instead.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TUILES:

• 4 ounces of melted butter
• 1/2 cup of sugar (more if you like the cookies sweeter)
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, sifted when mixed to the batter
• 6 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup of toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped pistachios

METHOD:

1. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and beat for two or three minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the flour, egg whites, vanilla and beat till the batter is smooth.
2. Add the sesame seeds and pistachios and mixed briefly until combined.  Place a piece of parchment or baking paper on a cookie sheet and ladle one spoonful of batter on the paper; spread it out with the back of the spoon and continue until the paper is filled, the cookie should be very thin. It will spread out considerably while baking, so don’t place more than 6 cookies per sheet.
3. Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 7 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are browned. Remove, cool for one minute and then either shape the cookies by rolling them over a bottle or a glass or leave them as is, or cut in shards, or triangles.
4. Serve when cool; keep in an airtight container 2 or 3 days.

TO MAKE  SAHLAB PUDDING:

• 3 cups of milk (or 2 cups of milk and one cup of cream)
• 1/2 cup of sugar (less or more to taste)
• 1 tablespoon of sahlab powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of crushed mastic mixed with a dash of sugar (optional)
• 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1 cinnamon stick

METHOD:

1. Heat the milk with the cinnamon stick. Reserve 1/2 cup of milk to mix with the sahlab powder. Add the sahlab mixture to the milk, add the sugar and mix over medium heat until the milk starts steaming. Add the cornstarch, previously dissolved in 1/4 cup of water and stir continuously.
2. Add to the mixture the mastic, previously crushed with a dash of sugar. Stir until the mixture thickens and pour through a sieve into a jug. Spread the mixture between several pudding goblets and let it cool uncovered in the fridge.

NOTE: If you are using the mix, just increase the amount of cornstarch. Use a mixture of milk and cream to make the pudding.

What is jellab anyway?

Jellab is an extremely popular drink in Lebanon. It is sold everywhere, most notably at juice stalls and at the beach.

It is not simple to make jellab at home.

Why? It requires incense (bakhoor). Not easy to find in your local supermarket! It requires macerating raisins and grape molasses and rose water and permeating these ingredients with the incense.

This is a pudding version of jellab, my personal take on a classic and beloved drink.

Jellab syrup is sold at all Middle-Eastern grocers.

INGREDIENTS: Quantity can be doubled or tripled!

• 2/3 cups of jellab syrup
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch

For the muhallabiyeh:

• 2 cups of milk
• 2 generous tablespoons of Puck cream (or any cream cheese spread)
• 1/3 cup of cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of rose water, 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water

METHOD:

1. Pour 2/3 cups of syrup into a measuring bowl. Add 1/3 cup of water. Mix and pour into a saucepan on medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, dissolve 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch into 1/4 cup of water. As soon as the syrup starts steaming, add the cornstarch mixture and stir continuously till it thickens. Strain through a sieve and pour into small serving cups. Garnish with raisins, pine nuts and rock sugar if desired.

For a muhallabiyeh recipe, click here.

For a jellab drink recipe, click here.

What does one ask of a coffee shop?  Free wi-fi, outdoor seating with shade, really good coffee drinks and pastries, friendly staff and animation. In Beirut, there is Café Younès, which fills these requirements. Walking home after  some leisurely time spent there, I saw these fresh dates, (guess it must be the season), and was reminded of my grandmother’s candied dates.

This is as traditional as it gets;  served with coffee or tea when people drop by for a visit. Use a specific variety of fresh dates that are not sweet.

It is a very retro confection; some milk pudding that I left unsweetened is a good accompaniment.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 pounds of fresh yellow or red  dates
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
• a few green cardamom seeds, crushed with a knife or mallet (traditionally, cloves are used)
• Peeled pistachios or almonds (about 1/2 cup)(almonds or candied orange rinds are used traditionally)

METHOD:

1. Peel the dates with a peeler; one option is to boil them first and then peel them when they have cooled.
2. Place the dates in a saucepan and cover with water. Simmer gently until they are soft when pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes or more. Cool a bit.
3. Remove the dates from the saucepan and with the tip of a knife or a vegetable corer, dislodge the seed from the dates and any strings from the inside of the fruit. Insert an almond inside or some pistachios.
4. Place the dates back in the pot and add 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Leave overnight or 12 hours or so.

1. The next day, measure the syrup and add enough water to equal 4 cups.
2. Add the cardamom or cloves and  boil the syrup down, adding some lemon juice  until it is syrupy.
3. Place the dates back in the syrup and simmer gently  for 30 minutes. Cool. Place in sterilized jars. Serve or store in the fridge.

MILK PUDDING or Muhallabiyeh

• 2 cups of milk
• 1/2 cup of cream (Puck is a good brand and sold at middle-eastern stores)
• 1/2 teaspoon of orange blossom water
• 1/3 cup of cornstarch

METHOD:

1. Pour the milk minus 1/2 cup and the cream  into a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat it until it starts steaming.
2. Add the cornstarch dissolved in about 1/2 cup of milk to the steaming milk. Stir constantly, about 4 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Add some orange blossom water or other flavoring at this point.
3. Strain the thickened milk mixture. Pour into individual containers and cool at room temperature, then refrigerate.
4. Serve with the candied dates and some powdered pistachios or almonds.

NOTE: Go easy on the cardamom seeds, as they tend to be powerfully fragrant!

Kamal Mouzawak was describing a dessert his grandmother used to make, a sort of pudding made of rice and covered with walnuts and syrup. He was getting so lyrical about it, I was fascinated. I was picturing a grandma, wearing a  bun and an apron, stirring and stirring rice in a big pot until it was thick;  letting it cool outside in the terrace, ladling it out to her grandchildren, with the walnuts and syrup on top for a special treat.

I wanted to find that recipe.

In our world, where every food item under the sun is available at our neighborhood supermarket, from Italian cold cuts to Hungarian spices to Thai curries, I can’t help but be drawn to those recipes devised by people who had little at their disposal. A little rice, some nuts from the trees nearby, a bit of sugar.

I found a recipe in Nada Saleh New Flavours of the Lebanese Table, in which she describes an old-time dessert, made with rice mashed into a cream and a top layer of nuts and rose water jelly;  probably not Kamal’s grandmother’s, but it will do. I have adapted the recipe to simplify its execution.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup of short-grain rice, such as sushi rice or risotto rice
• 2 1/2  cups of water (to cook the rice in)
• 1 1/2 cups of milk
• 1/4 cup (or so) of cream (can use a can of ashta, reduce the amount of milk accordingly)
• a few pebbles of mastic ( freeze the mastic for one hour, then  place in a plastic bag and grind up with a rolling pin till powdery)
• 1 (or more) tablespoon of rose water
• a handful of nuts, soaked in water (I also used some candied walnuts)
• 2   tablespoons of cornstarch (can use wheat starch instead)
• 1/2 cup (or more, to taste) of sugar

METHOD:

1. Soak the nuts in water.
2. Cook the rice in about 2 1/2  cups of boiling water until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes, and has absorbed most of the water; if there is still a lot of water left in the pot, drain most of it and replace it with milk and cream. Add a few tablespoons of sugar (to taste) and cook the rice some more, until the mixture is a moist and gooey mass. Add the mastic and stir to distribute the flavor evenly.
3. Cool the rice mixture a bit and pour into the food processor in batches. Puree until the mixture is smooth and velvety, adding more milk if needed. Cool in a serving platter or ramequins.

1. Sprinkle the nuts over the rice cream.
2. Make the rose water jelly; dilute 2  tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water. Heat 1 3/4 cups of water in a saucepan; add about 3 (or more, to taste) tablespoons of sugar, stir to dissolve; when the water starts to steam, add the cornstarch mixture and stir constantly until it bubbles and thickens; add the rose water and stir.
3. Pour onto the rice cream through a strainer. Cool and serve. (If the mixture does not thicken, it is fine to repeat the operation adding a bit more cornstarch and diluting it in water, then mixing it in)

NOTE: Mastic is imported from Greece and is used extensively in Lebanese sweets and even savory dishes; it is available online or at Greek or Middle-Eastern grocers; it comes in very small jars or pouches and consists of clear pebbles that come from the resin of a specific bush. Freeze the pebbles and grind them (they will not dissolve easily otherwise) or mash them with a bit of sugar in a mortar.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Ramzi  The Culinary Heritage of Lebanon, Arabic edition. (adapted)

Super easy pudding made with mango nectar and milk; just heat up some mango nectar, add some sugar and when it steams add some cornstarch previously diluted in water; a dash of lemon juice is always good with mango otherwise the taste is dull.

Milk pudding is a classic one in Lebanese cuisine and is called muhallabiyeh; for added richness, add some cream or kiri cheese or a can of ashta or clotted cream found in middle-eastern stores.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of milk
• 2 Kiri cheese squares or 1/2 cup of cream
• 8 tablespoons of cornstarch, divided between puddings
• 2 tablespoons of milk
• 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water
• 1 teaspoon of rose water
• 2 cups of mango nectar
• 2 or more tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1/2  cup of sugar (or more)
• 
  

METHOD:

1. Make the milk pudding first: dilute the cheese or mix the cream with most of the milk, reserving 1/4 cup to dilute the cornstarch in; add the sugar and heat up till steaming; add the cornstarch diluted in a bit of milk and stir for a couple of minutes until thick; add the flavoring and stir; cool and refrigerate till thick.
2. Do the same operation with the mango nectar, adding the sugar and lemon juice then cornstarch diluted in water.

NOTE: If the mango pudding is too runny, do the following: heat it up in the microwave until it reduces by a third or so. Add 1/2 cup of sugar, place in a saucepan, add the cornstarch and lemon juice, stir while it is steaming; it should thicken in one or two minutes. Add a flavoring if you wish. Pour through a strainer into individual custard cups on top of the thickened and cold milk pudding. Cool and serve cold.

My son Nick announced he was moving to Montreal for a while; upon receiving the news I first did what any self-respecting (Lebanese) mother would have done: I told him in no uncertain terms that he was GOING TO KILL ME.

When that failed to ignite  the slightest spark of guilt, I asked “ what do you want to eat for your good-bye meal and dessert?”

He said: “Just make me that cherry and milk panna cotta, that’s  my favorite of all the desserts you make”.

“…You mean that thing I make in a few minutes a couple of times a week? ” (it gets consumed faster than anything else)

“Oh, OK”.

INGREDIENTS:

For the milk panna cotta or muhallabiyeh:

• 3 cups of milk
• 2 generous spoonfuls of Puck or any other cheese spread
• 6 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 3 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla or orange blossom or rose water or a combination of two of those

For the cherry jelly:

• 2 cups of sour cherry nectar
• 1 package of organic frozen cherries
• 1/2 cup of sugar or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon of agar-agar in powder

METHOD:

1. Start with the cherry jelly because it will jell in about 2 hours in the fridge if  you use agar-agar. Thaw the package of frozen cherries and add to the sour cherry nectar; in a saucepan, bring the mixture to a simmer, add the sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar.
2. Sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon of agar-agar on the mixture and stir, bring to a rolling boil and boil for one minute or so. Turn off the heat, let it cool a bit and pour into the servings glasses and place in the fridge.
3. Take a break for a couple of hours (by then the cherry layer will be solid) and start making the milk panna cotta or muhallabiyeh. Heat the milk (minus one cup used to dissolve the cornstarch)  and the puck spread, add the sugar and stir to dissolve and mix all the ingredients.
4. As soon as the milk mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch that has been previously dissolved in the one remaining cup of milk. Stir continuously for a couple of minutes until the mixture is thicker. Remove from the heat and pour, through a strainer, into a measuring glass. Divide the mixture equally into the serving glasses on top of the cherry jello. Cool in the fridge for a few hours. Serve.

NOTE:
PUCK is a creamy cheese spread, made in Denmark and sold at the middle-eastern groceries. Its taste is close to Philadelphia cream cheese but the texture is creamier, not so dense.

Agar-Agar can be found in Asian markets or online.

You know what happens when you mindlessly grab a box of dried apricots at the market and stare at it once home? A few days later, you make a pudding. At least, that’s my reflex. When in doubt, make a pudding!

In the Lebanese kitchen, puddings  are thickened with starch; gelatin is not used; so here is a pudding of apricots, pistachios and milk called muhallabiyeh in Arabic; with a caramel sculpture, for fun.

I am going to list the ingredients and explain the -extra easy- method of making a Lebanese pudding. You will never have to worry about eating something rubbery or heavy.

INGREDIENTS: For the apricot pudding

• 12 ounces of dried apricots
• water
• one cup of sugar (or more, to taste)
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• a generous handful of pistachios ( can use pine nuts instead, or  nothing!)
• 1 1/4 cup of cornstarch

For the milk pudding: (recipe can be multiplied)

• 2 generous cups of whole milk (or lower fat, if you like)
• 3 tablespoons of sugar (or more, to taste)
• 2  heaping tablespoons of cornstarch
• flavoring: a teaspoon of orange blossom water, rose water, or vanilla; some crushed mastic if you like.

METHOD:

1. Place the dried apricots in a bowl, cover them with water (one inch over the top of the fruits) and let them soak in the water for one or two days, refrigerated.
2. Transfer the apricots and their water into a pot, add more water if needed and cook on a gentle simmer for about 15 minutes or until the apricots are soft ( check by piercing with a fork). While the apricots are simmering, add the sugar and add the lemon juice at the very end, stirring a bit.
3. Transfer the apricots to a blender and puree for a minute or two until smooth. You should have 32 ounces or 500 ml.
4. Retransfer to the pot, and heat the mixture; while it is heating, dilute the cornstarch in a cup of water. AS  SOON as the apricot mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch and armed with a wooden spoon or a whisk, start stirring continuously until the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and place the pot on a flat surface; Take a large sieve and a large bowl and pour it into the sieve to strain it and get it as smooth as possible. Pat it with the spoon to help it through.
5. Throw a handful of pistachios in the apricot mixture and stir to distribute them evenly. Set aside. If not using right away, you can keep it in the fridge for a couple days.

NOW YOU CAN WAIT TO MAKE THE MILK PUDDING UNTIL THE NEXT DAY OR THE DAY AFTER!

1. Place the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Heat and add the sugar, stirring till melted.
2. Dilute the cornstarch in a bit of milk or water. When the milk mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch mixture and stir continuously until thickened. Add the flavorings at the end, stirring all the while.
3. Pour the milk pudding through a strainer into a bowl (or easier yet, a bowl with a spout).
4. Start dividing the milk pudding onto the apricot pudding bowls or verrines.

TO MAKE THE CARAMEL GRAFFITI: Recipe from Nick Malgieri, light desserts

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 cup of sugar
• parchment or wax paper as needed

METHOD:

1. Place the water, sugar and corn syrup in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Stir and heat till all is dissolved. Use a brush dipped in water to go around the circumference of the pan to make sure no sugar remains stuck to the walls of the pan.
3. Cook the syrup until the color turns golden-brown or amber.
4. Remove from heat and to stop the cooking, place the pan in the sink in a little water; be careful, it will sputter! Leave it only a few seconds.
5. Lay a large piece of parchment paper on a metal cookie sheet; using a spoon, take bits of caramel and thrown into the paper in an up-and-down motion, going one way and then the other way; sprinkle some nuts on top if desired.
6. Let the caramel cool, then cut with scissors or your fingers the shape of your liking and insert in the pudding right before serving. The caramel will keep in a tight container in the fridge for a few hours or in a metal box for a few days.

A recent article in the New York  Times about Beirut, with a photo of Tawlé, Kamal Mouzawak’s restaurant-kitchen.

Commercial kitchens from Milan to Sydney to Singapour to Dallas are serving Panna Cotta these days. I get the impression that most chefs the world over think that Italy is where the mediterranean starts and ends!

I wish they would serve what we call ashtaliyeh. Ashta is the word for cream in Arabic and ashtaliyeh is the pudding derived from it; a bit deceiving, because it does not contain cream!

This is a very creamy pudding, without any cream! It is thickened with cornstarch which avoids the rubberiness that comes from gelatin; it is nearly unsweetened and served with a syrup on the side. Flavorings are traditionally orange blossom and rose water and mastic.

This is a recipe from a Lebanese chef  and restaurant owner in the UK, Hussien Dekmak. It is an extra rich recipe that adds some cream cheese spread such as Kiri to the pudding; optional, since the pudding can just as easily be made with milk alone.

Time to make?  figure on less than 10 minutes; however, it needs to cool and firm up  in the fridge, preferably overnight.

INGREDIENTS :

Ashtaliyeh:

• 1  pint of milk (500ml)
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/3 cup of cornstarch
• 75 g of Kiri or 3 ounces of cream cheese spread
• 3 pebbles of mastic-optional-
• 1 teaspoon of orange blossom water and 1 teaspoon of rose water

For the syrup: (You will most likely have some leftover, which is fine, it will keep for several weeks in the fridge)

• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• a squirt of lemon (about a teaspoon)
• a teaspoon of orange blossom water, a teaspoon of rose water

To garnish the ashtaliyeh:

• A couple of tablespoons of pistachios, ground in a mortar with a pinch of sugar

METHOD:

1. Heat 1 1/2 cups of milk, sugar and cheese  over medium heat, stirring to dissolve both the sugar and cheese. Take the cornstarch and dissolve in the remaining  milk. As soon as the milk mixture starts steaming, add the cornstarch and keep stirring nonstop for a couple of minutes until the mixture thickens.
2. Add the mastic, the orange blossom and rose water, stir for 10 seconds and remove from the stove.
3. Pour the pudding mixture through a strainer into a bowl or measuring cup, pushing it through with a spoon to get it as smooth as possible.
4. Pour into several ramequins. Cool on the counter and then chill in the fridge overnight uncovered.

How to use the mastic:

The mastic or miskeh (in Arabic) is sold in Middle-Eastern groceries; it is imported from Greece. The store where I shop keeps it under lock and in small jars. It comes in tiny pebbles. It needs to be ground up in order to be mixed into the pudding in the last minutes of cooking. My method was to grind it in a tiny marble mortar with a pinch of sugar until powdery and throw the lot into the milk mixture; the problem is that this method leaves a residue of mastic in the mortar.

Another method which was recommended by Peter from kalofagas.ca is to freeze the mastic for a minimum of two hours (I would keep the jar in the freezer); then place the pebbles between two sheets of plastic wrap and pulverize them with a rolling pin. He claims this method uses up every last speck of mastic.

To make the syrup:

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan; bring to a boil and boil for 3 minutes; add the lemon juice and keep boiling the syrup for a total of 12 minutes. Add the flavorings at the end, cool the syrup and serve alongside the ashtaliyeh for those who like it sweeter.
2. When ready to serve the ashtaliyeh, sprinkle the top with a little ground pistachios.
3. If unable to secure the cream cheese spread (called Puck or Kiri in Middle-Eastern groceries) substitute some cream for the milk (about 1/2 cup) and proceed as above.