Malabi

Malabi–the creamy, milk-based pudding perfumed with rose water–is one of the most popular desserts across the Middle East. In Israel, the sweet treat has become a beloved and ubiquitously available street food and is increasingly offered in upscale restaurants.According to Janna Gur’s The New Book of Israeli Food (Shocken, 2007), the recipe originally hails from Turkey. (The dessert is alternatively called sutlach from the Turkish word sut, which means milk.) In some Sephardic homes malabi is traditionally served to break the fast on Yom Kippur. It is also an offering at Turkish Jewish weddings, to symbolize the couple’s sweet life ahead, and during Shavuot–and not simply because it is milk-based. “Rose water…is a popular flavoring on Shavuot among Sephardim, who call the holiday ‘the Feast of Roses,'” writes chef and historian Rabbi Gil Marks in The World of Jewish Cooking (Simon & Schuster, 1999).

Rose water, which is made by steeping and distilling fresh rose petals in water, is featured in many Sephardic and Mizrahi desserts–just one example of the great influence Arabic cuisine and ingredients have had in shaping these diets. It can be purchased at most Middle Eastern and specialty food stores, and increasingly at many supermarkets.

The traditional recipe relies on rice flour (made from rice crushed with a mortar and pestle) to thicken the milk. Today, however, many cooks substitute cornstarch, which yields a silky texture without any trace of graininess. Doused in sweet raspberry syrup, or topped with chopped pistachios, malabi makes the perfect ending to a Mediterranean-inspired meal.