Anyone know how to make Malban?

[pastryani]

While surfing around I came across this treat that looks delightful called "malban".  I thought it might just be another name for Turkish delight but it seems that malban is chewier and has a firmer consistency.  It looks like this:

 

http://www.patchi.us/malbane-pistachio-gourmandines.html

 

It's made with something called "mastic" - has anyone used this in cooking/baking before?  Apparently it's an acquired taste.

 

[Kerry Beal]

I know that I get these nut filled treats at the same places I buy good quality nuts. Mastic is a piney tasting addition (think retsina - another acquired taste) - it is a resin from a gum tree of some sort in the middle east. I buy it at the Punjab market in little cello packages - looks kind of crystalline. 

 

It's a variation of Turkish delight - still a starch candy - but not quite as sweet I find and when it is fresh the nuts make it!

[pastryani]

Kerry what is the mastic called at the Indian market?  Is it white or yellowish in color?  What recipe do you use it in, and how do you use it (ie-do you dissolve it, powder it, etc)?

[Kerry Beal]

I've just seen it called mastic or mastica or mastic. Yellowish usually. I seem to recall I ground it up for whatever I was using it for - it was quite a while back.

 

here's one 

 

cheaper one

Edited July 29, 2016 by Kerry Beal (log)

[pastryani]

Thanks Kerry, I'll check it out!