As a soldier on the Egyptian frontier in the Sinai Peninsula, I had the privilege to view the remains of a Greek temple located amidst salt marshes. The pudding described in this recipe is an opaque white and indeed resembles the salt marshes. Those marshes or mud gave the City of Pelusium, or The City of Mud, its ancient name, and consequently this dessert’s original name, balouza, the Arabic pronunciation of Pelusium.

I was always intrigued by the way the ancient world is portrayed in hidden gems in our current, everyday life. The tell-tale signs remain in the names of places, foods, and of everyday objects, but for most people the origin is long forgotten. Balouza is a perfect example.

This dessert was adapted from a balouza recipe by Claudia Roden. Balouza (aka Pelusium, the City of Mud) was an ancient Greek city on the eastern bank of the Nile, where linen (linum Pelusiacum) was the principal product. The word blouse is derived from the Arabic pronunciation of the Pelusian shirt.

It is also mentioned in the Mishna that the high priest wore pilusin – the best linen.

One day I heard a shout in the dining room of the restaurant, Yaacht behasht! An American of Persian descent was calling out the Persian name in tears. She said it brought back the memory of her grandmother who used to prepare this dessert. In Persian, it is called “ice from paradise.”