Haytaliyyeh

Haytaliyyeh is three ingredients: milk, starch and sugar. It is boiled until it thickens, poured into a dish and eaten cold. In the region it also goes by the name al-mahlaya. Its plainness is not misleading — the whole question is the set: firm enough to hold a spoon, soft enough to break up in the mouth.

Where the name comes from

The name is tied to a people known in classical sources as the Hayatila, the Hephthalites. They built a wide polity in Central Asia in the 5th and 6th centuries and came into conflict with the Sasanians, and in the 6th century regional powers brought their state down. That the sweet carries a name from that direction is not read as coincidence.

How it reached Damascus

The traditional account has the sweet moving into the Mashriq after the conquests in Khurasan and around it at the end of the 7th century. It also ties the name to the Umayyad commander al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra, an Azdi commander from Oman. He is said to have served it to the caliph Yazid ibn Muawiya in Damascus, to have pleased him, and for it to have spread from the court into the region. The name muhallabiyyeh is said to come from the same story. These are accounts carried by tradition rather than records.

How it is eaten

Cold. Crushed pistachio, cinnamon or rose water goes on top, and in some places grated coconut as well. Sweet shops sell it by the bowl and it is often made at home. It is not a sweet eaten warm, which is why it comes forward on summer evenings.