Layali Lubnan

Layali Lubnan — 'Nights of Lebanon' — is a chilled Lebanese pudding in the muhallabia family of milk-and-starch sweets. A layer of semolina pudding scented with rose and orange-blossom water is topped with ashta (clotted cream), a shower of ground pistachios, and a drizzle of sugar syrup; the red, white and green of syrup, cream and pistachio are often said to echo the Lebanese flag, giving the dish its name. It is thickened with semolina rather than the cornstarch of plain muhallabia, and modern versions sometimes add sliced banana or other fruit. A little mastic is a common optional aroma, though not its defining note.

The semolina base is soft and gently grainy with a milky floral warmth; the clotted-cream layer above is cool and luxuriously creamy; the pistachios crackle and the syrup adds a clean floral sweetness. Eaten cold, it is refreshing yet rich.

Rice flour's fine starch gelatinizes quickly in hot milk into a smooth, pourable pudding; semolina does the same, giving the base its faint graininess. Mastic is the load-bearing aromatic: it is fat-soluble and resinous, and the few ground crystals stirred into the hot milk infuse the whole pudding with its piney, slightly bracing note — too many and it tastes of pine and turpentine, none at all and it reads as plain semolina pudding. The clotted-cream layer is cornstarch-thickened milk applied cold over the set base so the two layers stay distinct. Cold mutes sweetness, so the floral top notes come forward at serving temperature.