Booza
Booza being sold in the landmark Bakdash ice cream shop in the Al-Hamidiyah Souq in the Old City of Damascus (2009) | |
| Type | Ice cream |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Syria |
| Region or state | Damascus |
| Main ingredients | Milk, sahlab, mastic, sugar |
Booza (Arabic: بُوظَة, romanized: Būẓah, lit. 'ice cream') is a frozen dairy dessert originally from the Levant made with milk, cream, sugar, mastic and sahlab (orchid flour), giving it its distinguished stretchy and chewy texture—much like dondurma. It has since spread throughout the Middle East.
Booza origins dates back to at least 1500 AD in the region of Syria and is sometimes referred to as the "first ice cream in the world". Booza is traditionally made through a process of pounding and stretching in a freezer drum, instead of the more usual churning method used in other ice creams, leading to a creamy yet dense texture.