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Showcasing the things that make Palestine a unique and inspiring destination

Gorge on Arabic Gum Ice-cream

Updated: Dec 30, 2018


There are two famous places in Ramallah for ice-cream, Baladna and Rukab.

I thought I knew my ice-creams quite well, but this was a different experience and I'm still in two minds about whether I prefer Arabic ice-cream to the one I am used to from Europe. But it is definitely worth a try!

Arabic icecream is a more 'gummy' variety that uses mastic instead of a lot of cream. Mastic was the original chewing gum according so my very basic research on this topic (it is icecream after all). The effect of the mastic means that the icecream is actually quite hard to eat, and the way that it was served in this cafe - with a little piece of a lot of flavours - meant that it quickly formed into a big hard gummy ball. The resulting flavour reminded me of art class when you mix a lot of colours together and they turn brown.

The portion was huge and we definitely did not finish it, but it was a fun experience. Next time i'll go for one flavour only.

Perhaps a good business idea would be to develop some more sophisticated or experimental flavours beyond the classic garish colours (apple, blue angel) and typical chocolate bars (snickers, mars, bounty).


Arabic gum ice-cream

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