Qishta (Arabic:قِشْطَة,romanized:qišṭa, pronounced[qiʃ.tˤa]), also known as kishta, kashta, ghishta, ashta or eshta, is a dairy coagulated milk product prepared from heated fresh milk used in different dishes and consumed as a dessert. It is found in Southern Mediterranean cuisines, including Levantine and Egyptian cuisines. It is sometimes scented with orange flower water. Qishta may be served with fruit, used to fill crêpes and pastries, or served with pistachios and sweet syrups. Qishta is "highly perishable" and, if improperly prepared or stored, may be a source of foodborne illness such as Listeria. It is similar to other heat-prepared dairy dishes such as kaymak and khoa.

Preparation

Qishta is traditionally made by heating milk in wide, shallow pans until proteins coagulate and trap fat, forming a thick layer on the surface. The process takes several hours and is done without fermentation or added coagulants. Qishta is typically prepared in small dairies or bakeries. It has a short shelf life, lasting only a few days even if refrigerated.

The milk needs to be stabilized at a specific temperature (typically around 60 celsius) during the cooking process.

Unlike some other coagulated dairy products, the preparation process remains traditional for qishta, so it is neither fermented nor coagulated through chemical or microbial means.

Some cooks may add cornstarch of flour to thicken the cream to make qishta pudding (Arabic:قشطة مطبوخة), as opposed to fresh qishta.

History

Heat-prepared creams similar to modern day qishta and kaymak were mentioned in medieval Arabic cookbooks. An Egyptian 13-14th Century cookbook titled Kanz al-fawāʾid[fr] provides a recipe for it, it calls for heating milk, letting it cool so that the cream accumulates, then collecting the cream.

An 1895 Egyptian Arabic-English dictionary by author Socrates Spiro translated qishta (قشطة) "cream".

Uses

Qishta is used in a wide array of desserts and is a vital company in many, it can be incorporated into puddings, juices, pastries, and cocktails, or just eaten fresh as-is, its also used as a topping or filling. Dishes using it include, Layali Lubnan, qatayef, othmalliyya, and rice pudding.

Gallery

See also

External links

  • The dictionary definition ofقشطةat Wiktionary
  • Media related toQishtaat Wikimedia Commons