Haleeb bil Mastic

Mastic (mastika in Arabic, mastiha in Greek) — the crystallized resin harvested from Pistacia lentiscus trees on the Greek island of Chios — has been traded throughout the Mediterranean since ancient times. The Ottomans protected the Chios mastic monopoly zealously; it was used in everything from chewing gum to liqueur to bread. In Lebanon and Syria it flavors ice cream, milk puddings, sweet breads, and this gentle drink. Haleeb bil mastic is not a café drink — it belongs in the home. Mothers in the Chouf and Kesrouan mountains warmed it for children on cold mornings before school, or gave it to nursing women, or served it to guests after a late dinner instead of coffee. The mastic resin must be ground with a small amount of sugar to prevent it from clumping — ground alone it becomes a gum. The resulting drink is aromatic, faintly pine-resinous, warming. Faten remembers her mother making a Syrian version of this, scented with mastic and orange blossom, on winter mornings in Idlib.