Now you can try Lebanese ice cream in Vancouver and local expats can get their beloved booza

It's like NorthAmerican ice cream but lighter, chewierand with decidedly different flavours.

Le Parfait, Vancouver's only Lebanese ice cream shop, has introduced a newtype of dessert to the city and has brought familiar flavours to those who miss the taste of their Mediterranean home.

Gerard Daccache says theice cream, which is called booza in Lebanon, is a popular summer sweet in many Middle Eastern countries.

When he arrived in Vancouver in 2019, Daccache, who used to work in an ice cream shop in his home country, realized the city was missing one of his favourite childhood treats.

He opened Le Parfait with his partner in downtown Vancouver four months ago, and hopes his business will offer the "experience of Lebanon."

Like similar shops in his home country, Le Parfait also serves sweet and savoury crepes and fruit cocktails.

What distinguishes booza from other kinds of ice cream is its chewy and stretchy consistency, which is created by two ingredients: sahlep powder, derived from orchids, and mastic gum, a resin that comes from a Mediterranean shrub.

Using less sugar than other types of ice cream, it has a lighter feel and it commonly comes in interesting flavours like rosewater and avocado.

But Daccache says Le Parfait's fan favourite so far has been ashta, a clotted cream flavoured with rosewater or orange blossom waterand topped with roasted pistachios.

"The last thing I expected is for people to be a fan of the ashta ice cream," said Daccache, who also imports ice cream cones from Lebanon.

His personal favourite is miske, a flavour he describes as "indescribable."

"You have to taste it," he says, adding one of his favourite parts of the job is seeing people's reaction when trying it for the first time.

"The flavours are very unique, you won't find it somewhere else," he added.

Le Parfait also offers the treat in a dairy free version in three flavours: strawberry, mango, and blackberry.

For Daccache, it reminds him of the last stop of the day after playing at the beach or park in the Lebanese summer.

"A lot of people miss the taste of home ... this is where we share it," said Daccache. "And we share it, of course, with other people."