Shared by Sandra Esses
Shared by Sandra Esses
A Syrian Sweet Finds a Second Life at Jewish Celebrations in Panama
Yield: 10 servingsTime: 25 minutes, plus overnight chilling
A Syrian Sweet Finds a Second Life at Jewish Celebrations in Panama
Yield: 10 servingsTime: 25 minutes, plus overnight chillingFamily Journey
Aleppo, SyriaBeirut, Lebanon
Panama City, Panama
At festive gatherings during her childhood, Sandra Esses remembers her mother Sarine placing a silver bowl at the center of the table surrounded by small silver cups and delicate spoons. It was filled with heitaliyeh — cubes of pudding in a chilled syrup that sits somewhere between a dessert and drink. The dish has roots in Syria where it’s made with milk, while dairy free (pareve) versions are popular in the Syrian Jewish community.
“My mother was an incredible hostess,” Sandra shares. Within the Jewish Syrian community in Panama where her family lives, Sarine was renowned for her warm hospitality and for the recipes she learned from her own mother, Saluj Sutton.
Born and raised in Syria, Sarine and her husband Isaac moved to Panama in 1958, joining a small Sephardic community that started with Jews who had arrived from Caribbean islands such as Curaçao. With the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Syrian Jews — mostly merchants — saw Panama as a place of both economic opportunity and personal safety. Today it is home to between 15,000 and 17,000 Jews, many of them with Syrian ancestry.
During the family’s first decades in Panama, heitaliyeh was reserved for special occasions — it was labor-intensive to prepare, and its ingredients were costly and not always easy to find. When Sarine made it, she would ask Sandra to stir the cornstarch mixture constantly to prevent it from burning. “It was truly traumatic,” Sandra laughs — a memory that kept her from attempting the dish again for decades.
The recipe might have been lost to time, if not for a community cookbook, “El Sabor de la Tradición” (“The Taste of Tradition”) published by WIZO in 1993. Sarine was asked to contribute her beloved heitaliyeh recipe and the dessert slowly started to reappear at bar mitzvahs, brit milahs, and holiday celebrations.
But Sarine credits the return of heitaliyeh to her own family’s table to her niece Monica. When she went to Monica’s house one day to make it, Sarine realized something had changed. “The recipes from 50 years ago no longer take the same time today. The ingredients have changed, and the equipment is more efficient and user-friendly,” Sarine says. “The trauma is gone,” she laughs. Today, they make it in memory of her mother.
This piece was written by Ronit Avidan.
Ingredients
For the Cornstarch Cubes:
- 3¼ cups water
- ½ cup cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons orange blossom water
- 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
For the Sheera (Orange Blossom Syrup):
- 1 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
- ½ cup water
For Assembling:
- ½ cup blanched, halved or slivered almonds
- ⅓ cup raw pistachios, shelled
- 1½ tablespoons orange blossom water
- 1–2 cups cold water, optional
- Crushed ice
Preparation
Step 1
Prepare the cornstarch cubes: In a bowl, mix together cornstarch and 1 cup of water until dissolved.
Step 2
In a large saucepan, heat the remaining 2¼ cups of water until warm. Add the dissolved cornstarch mixture and bring it to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.
Step 3
Stir in vanilla, orange blossom water, and granulated sugar and continue cooking and stirring for 2–3 more minutes, until the mixture is silky smooth and fully combined.
Step 4
Pour the mixture into a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Let the mixture cool slightly, about 3 minutes. Then add a plastic wrap and gently press it tightly to the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the dish at least 6 hours or overnight, until completely set.
Step 5
Prepare the sheera (orange blossom syrup): In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, until the syrup coats the back of a spoon. Stir in the orange blossom water, let the syrup cool slightly, then transfer it to a glass jar. Use immediately or refrigerate until use.
Step 6
Assemble the dish: Cut the set cornstarch pudding into ½-inch cubes and using a rubber spatula, gently transfer to a large, deep serving bowl or punch bowl. Add the almonds, pistachios, sheera, and an additional 1½ tablespoons of orange blossom water, or to taste. Taste and adjust the sweetness with 1–2 cups of cold water.
Step 7
Chill until ready to serve. Right before serving, top with crushed ice.
Sheera can be made up to 1 month in advance.
