RECIPE

Muhallebi is a traditional Turkish milk pudding. It is characterized by the fact that rice flour is used to thicken it. It is garnished with rose water and nuts. For our version, we infuse the milk with fresh oregano, which gives it a mysterious and captivating flavor, which we compliment with dried cherries and raisins. In the summer, top it with fresh gooseberries or blueberries.


A Truffle Mishap

November 12, 2008

Boy, do I feel stupid. I guess my New York mentality got the best of me today. I wanted to eat at this restaurant in the Piazza Navona, because I read that they specialized in truffle ice cream. That was a bad literal translation that I should have been more aware of. Or maybe I was just in denial. Tartufo is a very common dessert in Italy. It is made of chocolate ice cream layered over a filling of either vanilla ice cream, real chocolate, or candied cherry to form a little rounded mound. The outside is covered in powdered chocolate. It is called “tartufo”, because it resembles truffles, those special delicacies found on logs. Even though I have eaten the dessert tartufo many times in my life, I trucked myself over to the piazza for what I thought would be truffle flavored ice cream. It’s the season, right? Boy did I feel dumb. The waiter proudly set in front of me their specialty of the house- tartufo. A little dome of dark chocolate ice cream with a candied cherry filling covered with roughly chopped chocolate. Ah yes, a 9 Euro treat not nearly resembling the truffle- flavored ice cream that I had hoped to find. I guess in Italy I should only look for truffles on pasta dishes, and not in my desserts.

TASTY TIP
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What is the best way to celebrate the Election? Why, with a bowl of vanilla ice cream of course! Thomas Jefferson is said to have recorded the first recipe for ice cream in The United States; a dessert he learned to love while living in France. Simple and elegant, vanilla ice cream's popularity has lasted since the Declaration of Independence!


RECIPE

Celebrate Halloween and the Day of the Dead with these delicious cookies. The anise-flavored cookie sandwiches a yummy pepita (pumpkin seed) butter center.


RECIPE

These are truly luxurious desserts. Although they require a little bit of time, their taste is well worth it. The saffron pastry cream with poppy seeds is subtly divine!


COOKING SHOW

These pastries are not traditional Afghan food, but are purely symbolic. We make Spelt-Honey pastry shells, and then fill them with a saffron pastry cream with poppy seeds. We finish the shells off with sherry-soaked raisins (our pearls!). Raisins have been cultivated in Herat using the same methods for more than 500 years. The region hosts more than 120 varieties of these precious jewels, and people like Naser Jami, coordinator of the Presidium of the Abjosh Raisin of Herat, are currently working to promote their quality in the world markets. We hope that you try and make our desserts and celebrate the bounty of Herat!