Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [151]
Turkey has three delicious but distinct “white” puddings, all related to muhallebi: tavuk göğsü (literally chicken breast), which is made, as its name suggests, with milk and shredded chicken breast and is eaten as a dessert; sütiaç, a rice and milk pudding of a creamy consistency; and keşkül, which is prepared with milk and almonds.
In the past keşkül required endless work and considerable expense. Large quantities of sweet-almond kernels were blanched and pounded in huge stone mortars. The milk had to cook with the almond extract for hours so that it would become glutinous and set. The top of the resulting cream was then decorated with edible gold and silver leaves.
This most luxurious of milk puddings is also sometimes called keşkül-ü fukara, the fakir’s bowl. Fakir in modern Turkish means “poor,” and is derived from the Arabic faqir. So how did this extravagant dish acquire such a contradictory name? Fakirs were also Indian ascetic mendicants, who would have been familiar in the Ottoman Empire. Abstaining from all worldly things, they had nothing but a loincloth and an elliptical bowl in which to receive donations of food. This bowl was usually made from the shell of coco-de-mer, the giant nuts that are often washed up on Indian shores. Just as the coconut was known as hindistan cevizi, or Indian nut, in the Ottoman Empire, so the coco-de-mer came to be called keşkül-ü fukara, the fakir’s bowl. Could this association with the begging bowl, and the fact that the flesh of the ripe coco-de-mer is a sweet, creamy delicacy—not unlike this heavenly pudding—explain the name?
One of the many variations on muhallebi is su (water) muhallebisi, an opaque unsweetened jelly made with water and rice flour. It is sometimes eaten with grape molasses (pekmez), which suggests a rural rather than royal origin. A more refined version is a jellied cream prepared with milk and a little sugar, and served with lashings of rose water and icing sugar.
Alas, muhallebi shops are dwindling in number with every year that passes, replaced by posh cafés and pizzerias. This is a great shame, because their wares are simply delicious. Many years ago a friend who was working on a London fashion magazine was on a visit to Istanbul. One day we stopped in a muhallebi shop, where for the first time she tasted a water muhallebi with a large spoonful of salep ice cream on top, all liberally sprinkled with icing sugar and rose water. Ever since, whenever she sees me, she recalls the experience with enthusiastic sounds and gestures of immense pleasure.
These are a few of the specialities the milk pudding shops have to offer.
A Note on Rice Flour
Known as rice starch in America and crème de riz in France, rice flour is a staple in Turkey but may be harder to find elsewhere. Asian or Middle Eastern shops are good sources. Otherwise, corn starch, potato flour, or a mixture of the two makes a perfectly good substitute. The starch should be fresh and kept airtight, otherwise you will find greater quantities are required to thicken the pudding. You can also make the rice flour yourself the old-fashioned way. Rinse white short-grain rice and leave it to dry on a kitchen towel. Grind while still moist in a clean coffee grinder.
Quantities
The quantities given below (3 tea cups = 500 milliliters) make four small portions, but there are no hard-and-fast rules. The consistency and sweetness can be adjusted to taste.
Muhallebi Milk
Pudding
3 cups milk
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons rice flour ground cinnamon
Much easier to make than any custard or mousse, muhallebi can be made with any starch available if rice flour is not at hand. Vanilla, mastic, lemon rind, cocoa powder,