Muhallabia

The Arab world's silken milk pudding: whole milk thickened with rice flour and scented with orange blossom water, set until trembling and cold, scattered with pistachios and rose petals: the most ancient and tender of Arab desserts

Origin: Lebanon

From the journey of Orange.

Muhallabia (محلبية) is one of the oldest documented desserts in Arab cuisine: a milk pudding mentioned in medieval Arab cookbooks of the 10th and 11th centuries, including those of Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq, whose Kitab al-Tabikh (Book of Dishes, c. 950 CE) is the earliest surviving Arab cookbook. The name derives from the muhallab family; Arab military commanders of the Umayyad period; though the dish predates the family connection and extends back to earlier Persian and Roman milk preparations. Its defining flavour is orange blossom water (ma' al-zahr, 'flower water'), distilled from the blossoms of the bitter orange tree (Citrus aurantium) and one of the most important flavouring agents in Arab, Moroccan, Turkish, and Greek confectionery. Orange blossom water represents the orange's contribution to the Arab kitchen not through its fruit but through its flower: delicate, aromatic, faintly medicinal, instantly transporting. The muhallabia is served cold across the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, and the Gulf, garnished with pistachios, rose petals, and a drizzle of orange blossom honey.

Ingredients

Liquid

  • 1 litre whole full-fat milk

Thickener

  • 60 g rice flour (the traditional thickener, not cornflour, which gives a different texture)

Sweetening

  • 80 g caster sugar

Flavouring

  • 2 tbsp orange blossom water (ma' al-zahr), the defining flavour
  • 1 tsp rose water (optional, some traditions use both; others only orange blossom)

Garnish

  • 3 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped, to serve
  • 1 tbsp dried rose petals or pomegranate seeds, to serve
  • 1 tbsp honey or orange blossom syrup, to drizzle

Method

  1. Whisk the rice flour with 100ml of the cold milk in a bowl until completely smooth with no lumps. Set aside.
  2. Heat the remaining 900ml milk with the sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring just to the point of simmering.
  3. Add the rice flour mixture to the hot milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Reduce to medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula, for 12–15 minutes until the mixture thickens noticeably; it should coat the back of a spoon and leave a clear trail when a finger is run through it.
  4. Remove from heat. Stir in the orange blossom water and rose water. Taste; the orange blossom fragrance should be present but not overwhelming.
  5. Pour into individual serving bowls or glasses. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours until set and cold.
  6. Serve cold, garnished with chopped pistachios, rose petals or pomegranate seeds, and a drizzle of honey or orange blossom syrup.

Notes

Orange blossom water (ma' al-zahr in Arabic; eau de fleur d'oranger in French) is one of the most important products of the bitter orange tree; arguably more significant than the fruit itself in Arab, Moroccan, and Turkish cooking. It is produced by steam-distilling fresh orange blossoms, yielding a clear, intensely fragrant liquid. The by-product of this distillation is orange blossom oil (neroli oil), one of the most expensive essential oils in perfumery, used in Chanel No.5 and other classic fragrances. The same flower thus produces both a culinary water and a perfumery oil, demonstrating the extraordinary productivity of the bitter orange tree, which also yields its rind for marmalade and Cointreau, its juice for bigarade sauce, and its leaves for tisanes.

The Gastrographer

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