The brilliant white milk ice cream with a chewy texture of my childhood was made with sahlab (also known as salep; see page 46), the ground root tuber of a member of the orchid family, and mastic, a hard resin exuded from the lentisk tree. It has become something of a mythical ice cream, as it can no longer be found in Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, countries that used to make it. Sahlab is very expensive, and what you buy is often adulterated. Be careful not to use too much mastic, as the taste would become unpleasant.

　　

Ingredients

serves 14 or more

　　2 tablespoons powdered sahlab

　　4 cups milk

　　1 1/3 cup heavy cream

　　1 1/2 cups sugar

　　1/4 teaspoon mastic

　　1 tablespoon orange-blossom water

　　Chopped pistachio nuts to garnish

　　

Step 1

Dissolve the powdered sahlab in about 1 1/2 cups of the milk. Put the rest of the milk in a saucepan together with the cream and sugar, and bring to the boil. Add the milk-and-sahlab mixture gradually, beating with an electric beater. Simmer very gently over low heat for about 20–30 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

　　

Step 2

Crush and pulverize the mastic by pounding with a pinch of sugar, and stir into the milk mixture. Add orange-blossom water, mix well, and cook for a moment more.

　　

Step 3

Pour into a wide dish (about 11 inches) lined with plastic wrap, and cover with wrap. Put in the freezer overnight or days ahead.

　　

Step 4

At any point after the mixture has frozen hard, remove from the freezer, turn it out of the dish, and blend in batches in a food processor. The longer you blend, the whiter it will get and the more chewy and elastic the texture. Pour into a mold lined with plastic wrap and cover with wrap. Put in the freezer again for at least 1 hour.

　　

Step 5

Take the ice cream out of the freezer 10–15 minutes before serving. Serve sprinkled with pistachio nuts.

　　Cooks' Note

　　Mastic mixed with a little candle wax is the local chewing gum in Egypt.

　　The New Book of Middle Eastern Food Copyright © 2000Knopf