Mahalabi or milk pudding or custard flavoured with rose water

Lattaki Lebanese Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Mahalabi - what is it, where can you eat it, how do they make it and how can we make it?

One of the delights of visiting a new restaurant is being introduced to a new dish which becomes part of one's dining and cooking repertoire. This week I picked up the take away menu from Latakia Lebanese restaurant in Hatch End.

I found under desserts the first dish mentioned was Mahalabia. I looked at the word Mahal, like T a j Mahal. The description of Mahalia at £3.50 was boiled milk sweetened and flavoured with rose water.

I found an excellent webpage with recipes.
http://linsfood.com/mahalabia/

I was still hunting for the origin of the word and eventually found the wikipedia page which had not appeared in my initial searches.

"Muhallebi also known as Muhallabia, Mallabi', Mahallebi or Mahallepi (in Turkish), meaning custard, Greek: Μαχαλλεπί (Mahallepi) is a creamy pudding, similar to blancmange, in the cuisines of Cyprus and Turkey.

"It is served in many versions, e.g. with chopped pistachios sprinkled on top (Lebanese style), date syrup topped with pistachios and walnuts (Israeli style), or with water in place of milk (Turkish: Su muhallebisi, Greek: Μαχαλλεπί του νερού (mahallepi tou nerou)). Flavorings such as vanilla, orange water, and rose water may be added to the pudding.

"In Israel, Malabi (Hebrew word for Muhallebi) is made of almond milk instead of cow's milk because of kashrut observation. It is called 'Malabi Shekedim'."

You can look for it on menus when out and about, then try it at home. Or try it at home first, then look for it when travelling.

Hatch End has a choice of restaurants:
Greek - Mosfilo, Orama
Indian - Coriander, Khana
Italian - Dolce Vita, Dona Teresa, Fellini
Jewish style (not kosher) - B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant
Lebanese - Lattaki
Turkish - Izgara

Lattaki Lebanese Restaurant
513 Uxbridge Road
Hatch End
HA5 4JS
tel: 0208 428 9973.

At last I have devised my own way of remembering it. Mahal, meaning big, and e p i short for epic. You can start with m a or m u, use a b or a p, end in an i or ia, like Mari, Mary or Maria. Now I can recognise this dish in foreign restaurants worldwide, also when visiting Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and other Mediterranean or Arabic speaking countries.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.