It is said that when the waters of the great Flood began to recede, there was great joy and the believers offered thanks to God. Prophet Noah and his family are said to have gathered up all of the food remaining on the Ark and transformed it into a delicious pudding. Since that day, Muslims prepare this delicacy each year in remembrance of what Noah and his people had experienced. This sweet dish is called "Noah's pudding" or "ashuré".

Sharing ashure is a symbolic representation of the unity and essential relationship of humans to one another and to their Creator. Ashuré prepared at home is shared with neighbors. Generally people who prepare ashuré send a cup to each of the neighbors in their building. As tradition goes, the residents of forty houses to your east, west, north and south are considered neighbors. One has the responsibility of maintaining good relations with their neighbors regardless of what their religion or beliefs may be. The making of ashuré is a common practice among Muslim and Christian people in the Middle East. Christian communities throughout the Middle East prepare a similar sweet wheat dish, called hedik, amah or qamhiyyi.

I first encountered this dessert in a small family-operated restaurant on a rather obscure Plovdiv side-street. I was told that Ashuré was adopted into the Bulgarian culture during occupation by the Ottoman Empire.

For me, the dessert was made memorable because of the boiled wheat kernels (largely unknown in the States) and was topped with a thick sweet-tart raspberry syrup.

Sadly, any vestige of the restaurant is now unknown.