This will be the greatest event the city of Aleppo has seen in many years,” Moshe said to his wife, Penina. “People will talk about this Arayat — Memorial Service in honor of my father — for many years to come.”
The entire town was invited. On Shabbat, Moshe’s house was filled with people. They stood in every corner and they sat on every chair. “Did you ever see so much food on a table?” one person asked the next. “I tasted food that I have never ever seen before,” someone else stated in wonder.
But most exciting of all was the holy Chacham, a famous scholar and kabbalist. He was sitting right there at the head table.
One of the delicacies at the table was sahlab, a special drink made with milk and orchid flavor that is hard to find. The Chacham tasted all the other food set before him, but ignored the sahlab.
“Chacham, please taste this delicious sahlab,” said Moshe. “I am sure that you’ve never tasted anything as good in your whole life.”
The holy Chacham said nothing and just took samples of the other food on the table.
“Why have you not tasted the sahlab?” asked Moshe.
The Chacham replied, “I know you are showing me sahlab, but I cannot see it — as if it is invisible. I sense that something is wrong with it.”
Trusting the words of the Chacham, no one touched the sahlab.
Sunday morning, Moshe went to the farm where he had bought the milk for the sahlab. “Can you please give me more of the milk I bought here the other day?” he asked the farmer. “It was so delicious.”
“I would love to,” said the far mer, “but I cannot. When I began filling up
your bottle of milk, I realized that I did not have enough milk from my cow.
So I added So I added milk from a donkey to fill the bottle to the top. I am sorry, but that donkey is not here now”
Moshe then understood the holiness of the Chacham. He knew that the sahlab contained milk from a non-kosher animal, and therefore, was not kosher.
Moshe learnt his lesson. He would never again buy milk that wasn’t milked under Jewish supervision.
Sahlab Recipe
Sahlab is a powder that is made from the tubers of a kind of orchid flower that is unique to the region. Some of the fragrant ingredients used in this delicious dessert drink are pistachios, rose water, orange blossom, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and many more — all giving it a distinctive Middle Eastern touch.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups Milk
1 tbsp Sahlab (or 4 tbsp cornstarch)
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Rose water
Cinnamon (garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
Combine sahlab or cornstarch and water in a small cup and stir well.
Add milk to a sauce pan or dutch oven pot.
Stir in sahlab mixture in milk before it gets warm.
Add in rose water and sugar.
Stir and bring to a simmer, and keep stirring until thickened. Allow to boil for 2 minutes, while still stirring.
Transfer to dessert bowls or mugs and sprinkle with cinnamon and pistachios.
May all your tales end with Shalom (peace)
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