Turkish citrus sharbat

A stand selling fresh fruit juice in Istanbul. Photo by David Lansing.

You can’t walk 10 feet in Istanbul without coming across a stand or a cart selling meyva suyu (fruit juice), usually citrus but also, this time of year, apricot, grape, cherry and even pomegranate (or a mix of two or more). Yesterday morning as I was walking around the city I stopped for fresh squeezed meyva suyu three separate times. It gets to be a bit addicting.

It’s hard to beat fresh-squeezed citrus, straight up, but there’s also the Turkish sharbats (or sherbets) that are made from concentrated fruits or flower petals (like rose water) and served sweet and chilled.

Here’s a recipe for a citrus sharbat (you can make it with any combination of citrus fruit you happen to have, or any one its own) that’s great in the summer (I also use this sharbat recipe for making margaritas):

Citrus Sharbat

2 cups water

7 ozs. superfine sugar

7 ozs. orange juice

3 ozs. lemon juice

finely grated zest of 1 orange

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

crushed ice

mint leaves

Put all the ingredients into a large heavy-based saucepan and heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved, stirring, then bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Leave to cool, then strain into sterilized bottles.

Store in a cool place for up to 12 months. After opening, use within two months. To serve, dilute the sharbat with still or sparkling water (about a 4-to-1 ratio) and serve with crushed ice and mint leaves. Makes 1 quart.

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