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Mahleb kernels in a manual grinder

Whole stones; the seeds are inside

Mahlab or mahlepi is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry (Prunus mahaleb). The cherry stones are cracked to extract the seed kernel, which is about 5 mm diameter, soft and chewy on extraction, but ground to a powder before use. The flavour is similar to a combination of bitter almond and cherry.^[1]

It has been used for centuries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas as a flavoring for baked goods. In Greek American cooking, it is the characteristic flavoring of Christmas cake and pastry recipes. Thanks to renewed interest in Mediterranean cooking it has been recently mentioned in several cookbooks.

In Greece it is called μαχλέπι (mahlepi) and is used in egg-rich yeast cakes and cookies such as Christmas vasilopita and Easter tsoureki. In Cyprus it is called μέχλεπι (mehlepi) and is used in a special Easter cheese pie or cheese cake called φλαούνες (flaounes). In Turkey it is used for pogača. In the Middle East and Anatolia it is used in Ramadan sweets including çörek, kandil simidi, ka'kat and ma'amoul. In Egypt powdered mahlab is made into a paste with honey, sesame and nuts, eaten as a dessert or a snack with bread. In Armenia it is used to flavour the traditional Easter bread, cheoreg.

There are many alternative spellings of this spice: محلب, مَحْلَب, mahlab, mahalab, mahleb, מהלב, mahaleb, mahlep, mahalep, μαχλέπι, μέχλεπι, mahlepi, machlepi or makhlepi. The final 'b' of the original Arabic word becomes 'p' in Turkish due to the phonologically regular unvoicing of the final 'b'.

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Eve Mahlab is the Co- Founder and Convener of the Australian Women Donors Network which brings together women who give money, time, voice or skills to building a better world by investing in women and girls. She is a lifelong advocate for advancing the status of women and also for small business.

She is the Founder and former Managing Director of the Mahlab Group of Companies which provide services to the Australian legal profession in recruitment, costing and publishing. In the past, she practised as a lawyer, was a committee member of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and a non-executive board director of the Monash University Council, the Westpac Banking Corporation Film Australia and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.

She also founded and chaired the “Know Biz “Business Education Project Dept of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations and co- founded the annual Sydney community event"Carols in the Domain" Alliance of Girls Schools Australia as well as the Australian Chapter of Femmes Chefs D'Enterprises (Women Chiefs of Enterprise).

In 1982, she was named Australian Businesswoman of the Year National Petroleum Council. In 1988 she was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for services to government, business and the community, especially women It's an Honour and in 1997 she accepted an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash University Monash University. She has been a subject of several books and television documentaries, including Tall Poppies, the Fabulous Fifties and the Woman in Question.