 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 |
|---|---|
| Serving temperature | Cold[1] |
| Main ingredients | Sahlab, mastic[1] |
| Ingredients generally used | qishta[2] |
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Booza (Arabic: بُوظَة, romanized: Būẓah, lit. 'ice cream') is a frozen dairy dessert. It is traditionally made through a process of pounding[3] 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.[4][5][6] Orange flower water[7] or rose water are sometimes added for flavoring.[1] The firmness of booza allows it to be shaped into a roll, which is a popular traditional serving method.[8][2]
History
Author Mary Isin dates booza back to the 15th century in the Levant region.[2] It's thought to share an origin with the Turkish dondurma.[9]
Geographic scope
Damascus
In Al-Hamidiyah Souq in the Old City of Damascus, there is an ice cream store named Bakdash that is known throughout the Arab world for its stretchy and chewy ice cream. It is a popular attraction for tourists as well.[10][1]
International usage
A brother and sister team (Jilbert El-Zmetr and Tedy Altree-Williams) pioneered and created the first packaged version of booza in Australia in 2011. Using local ingredients together with sahlab and mastic (from the island of Chios, Greece), they recreated the traditional form of booza and packaged this in a take-home format available to consumers.[11]
In 2018, a booza scoop-shop named Republic of Booza was opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, US, by Tamer Rabbani and Michael Sadler.[3][12]
Booza vendors can be found outside the Levant region in areas like the Bay Area, US,[7] and Sydney, Australia.[13]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Arellano, Gustavo (5 February 2018). "The Syrian Baker Who's Bringing the Middle East's Most Famous Ice Cream to California". The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
- ^ a b c Vicars, Natasha (12 Jul 2023). "Syrian booza in London: A Damascene ice cream made with soul". London Museum. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
- ^ a b Fabricant, Florence (2018-06-11). "Move Over Soft Serve, There's a New Ice Cream in Town". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- ^ This ice cream stretches like gum - CNN Video, 30 August 2018, archived from the original on 2021-02-05, retrieved 2019-05-07
- ^ "WHAT IS BOOZA?". REPUBLIC OF BOOZA. Archived from the original on 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
- ^ "Traditional Booza Ice Cream Debuts in Brooklyn". Michelin. 27 June 2018. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
- ^ a b "A stretchy, hard-to-find ice cream arrives in the Bay Area". San Francisco Chronicle. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
- ^ "Refugee shares a taste of homeland by creating business selling traditional Syrian ice cream 'bakdash'". CityNews Ottawa. 19 August 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2025.
- ^ Rahmanan, Anna Ben Yehuda (February 22, 2020). "Meet the Middle Eastern ice cream poised to swarm social media". Fortune. Retrieved 29 December 2025.
- ^ Amos, Deborah (2013-05-04). "As Syria Melts Down, Ice Cream Shop Sets Up In Jordan". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 2019-06-24. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
- ^ "Bring on the booza". 24 October 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
- ^ "Traditional Booza Ice Cream Debuts in Brooklyn". MICHELIN Guide. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
- ^ Hrovat, Bianca (7 February 2025). "The stretchy ice-cream from Tripoli that Concord locals are queueing for". Good Food. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
