Booza is a stretchy, chewy Arabic ice cream. Created about five-hundred years ago in Turkey, it’s considered the first version of what we know today as ice cream. Booza includes the three typical ice cream ingredients: milk, cream, and sugar. Although, it has two special ingredients: orchid root flour (sahlab) and a plant resin (mastic). These two ingredients take the place of cornstarch and eggs (that are mainstays in most ice creams). The booza mixture is then produced through a process of pounding and stretching the product in a freezer drum. instead of the usual churning method used in other ice creams). This process and the two ingredients give booza its unique stretchy and chewy properties.

Buza, like any ice cream, is for all ages to enjoy! Our goals are to bring those who are interested in trying new foods from other cultures. Additionally, those who are hesitant about unfamiliar foods from unfamiliar cultures. We hope to inspire an expanse of knowledge of other cultures in order to create tolerance and understanding. It’s wonderful that something as simple as food can make one realize we’re all more similar than you would think!