Tag Archives: ashta

Lebanese cream (Ashta)

Ashta, our Lebanese cream is the foundation for all pastries; yet it does not contain cream. Sure, there was a time when ashta was pure cream. Nowadays, it is made with milk (frequently powdered milk in Lebanon), fresh American-style  toast and flavorings! The result: a clotted cream that tastes fresh and light, without any cream [...]
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Cherimoya (Ashta)

The next thing that a Lebanese  foodie would do upon arrival in Beirut is check out the neighborhood fruit stalls. Found some cherimoya (ashta in Arabic or anone in French) and had to taste the fruit Mark Twain called ” the most delicious fruit known to man”. Here again, I was not disappointed. Meltingly sweet, [...]
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Bread Pudding (Aysh al-Saraya)

Translated into English, this dessert is called: Bread of the Sultan’s palace or seraglio. The sultan referred to is the Turkish one, from the Ottoman period and the seraglio is a reference to the harem’s quarters. I am told that this dish is Lebanese which makes sense considering Lebanon was under Ottoman rule for four [...]
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