Stretchy Ice Cream and Other Syrian Treats Arrive in Syracuse
SOURCE: SYRACUSE.COM
BY: JACOB PUCCI
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The ice cream made at Sinbad is unlike any other ice cream found around Syracuse.
The restaurant, which opened at 2727 James St. in Syracuse’s Eastwood neighborhood on May 7, serves Syrian, Turkish and Moroccan cuisine, but it’s the desserts and ice cream, made in the traditional Syrican style, that are the stars of the show.
To make the ice cream, owner Assad Almajid starts with two distinguishing ingredients: sahlab (or salep), a flour made from ground orchid roots and mastic, a gum harvested from mastic trees that Almajid sources from Greece. Both thickeners are mixed with whole milk and heated for around three hours.
After the mixture is chilled, which takes around six hours, it’s poured into a chilled stainless steel container. Using a long pestle, Almajid hammers the ice cream like kneading bread dough, periodically scraping the hardening mixture from the sides of the large bowl. After about 20 minutes of kneading, the ice cream is removed and nuts are added—the restaurant sells pistachio, almond, walnut and chocolate hazelnut ice cream, as well as several fruit flavors.
Almajid then adds the ice cream back and pounds the ice cream into a round disc, coating the outside with the crushed nuts. The finished ice cream is rolled like a jelly roll and sliced to order.
The sahlab and mastic give the ice cream a taffy-like consistency, with a stretch akin to melted mozzarella cheese.
It’s a recipe Almajid, 45, learned from his father, who ran a sweets and ice cream shop in their native Damascus, the capital of Syria. After finishing his education in Damascus, Almajid moved to Dubai, where he worked as an accountant. At night, he worked with his brother’s restaurant group, Al-Madfoon, which operates four locations in the United Arab Emirates. It was there that he learned to make the savory dishes on the menu, such as kibbeh, fatteh, falafel and shawarma.
Almajid later moved back to Damascus, where he opened a chocolate factory. But civil war broke out in 2011 and one year later, Almajid fled Syria to Jordan, where he spent the next 3 1/2 years. In 2016, Almajid and his family came to Syracuse as refugees. The process of turning the former East Room bar into Sinbad started in 2017.
The restaurant is named after Sinbad, the mythical mariner whose seven voyages are common folklore in Arab culture. Almajid said his journey to Syracuse mirrors those epic tales.
“I thought I deserved this name,” he said.
His goal, he said, is to show people the traditional recipes of Syria and so far, the response from the community has been positive, particularly from fellow Syrians.
“They say it’s the same like they had in Damascus.”
Sinbad is open Monday to Saturday, from noon to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner. The restaurant is reserved for private functions on Sundays. The restaurant is currently in a soft opening—a grand opening is planned for June.
Jacob Pucci finds the best in food, dining and culture across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 282-8611, or by email at jpucci@syracuse.com.
