page_title: Sharbat
section_title: Turkey
hierarchical_section_title: Sharbat / Turkey
caption_attribution_description: English: Künefe and "Maraş dondurması" at an Urfa künefe house in Ankara. Note the small glass of cold milk that traditionally accompanies künefe in Şanlıurfa.
context_page_description: Sharbat, shorbot, serbat or sherbet is a drink popular in Western Asia, Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, and the Balkans prepared from fruits or flower petals. It is a sweet cordial, and usually served chilled. It can be served in concentrated form and eaten with a spoon or diluted with water to create the drink.
  Popular sharbats are made of one or more of the following: basil seeds, rose water, fresh rose petals, sandalwood, bael, hibiscus, lemon, orange, mango, pineapple, falsa and chia seeds.
  Sharbat is common in Iranian, Turkish, Bosnian, Arab, Afghan, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Indian homes, and are popularly consumed by Muslims when breaking their daily fast during the month of Ramadan.
  A South Indian version commonly called 'sarbbath' is popular in Kerala and Tamil Nadu regions of India wherein a specially made syrup of Indian sarsaparilla and lemon is dissolved in milk or soda water.
  An Indonesian, especially Javanese, drink called 'serbat' is commonly found during the month of Ramadan. The most popular is made by mixing cold water, simple syrup, and shredded cantaloupe, popularly known as 'serbat blewah' or cantaloupe sherbet.
context_section_description: Many Ottoman Muslims did not have a custom of consuming or serving alcoholic beverages, which contributed to the popularity of sherbet during the Middle Ages. Sherbet could take three forms: syrups called şurup, pastes called çevirme and tablets. Ottoman confectioners would create concentrated essences out of fresh ingredients that could be diluted to make sherbet. In modern times, sherbet production has declined but in some regions of Turkey syrups are still made. Pastes are rare and can only be found in speciality shops; most commercially available pastes today are limited to bergamot or mastic flavors. Tablets were a specialty item, even during Ottoman Times, made only by confectioner's in professional shops. To make the tablets, fruit juices and essential oils, like rose or cinnamon, were added to boiling sugared water and stirred against the sides of the pan until the sugar began to crystallize. Spices, ground nuts, and herbs might be added to the mixture, which was poured onto a large marble slab and allowed to set.
  In the 19th-century Isaac Edrehi wrote about a shopkeep named Mustafa who made two types of beverages called sherbet and khoshâb:
  One of the dainties on the happy mixture of which Hadjy Mustafa prides himself is khoshâb. This beverage, though nearly related to, must not be confounded with, sherbet. The latter is slightly acidulated, and in general made of fresh lemon, quince, orange or cherry juice, or of candied grapes, mulberries, and Damascus plums, squeezed or diluted in cold water, and thus drank at all hours. But the khoshâb (agreeable water) forms the termination of all orthodox dinners, and is composed of preserved fruits or syrups, such as Aidin pomegranates, Mardin plums, Damascus and Bokhara apricots, Rodosto peaches, Scala Nuova cherries, Beybek strawberries, Adrianople roses, tamarinds, and so forth."
  The Ottoman writer Evliya Çelebi records that the Merchants of Khoshâb in Ottoman Egypt made khoshâb, which he calls "a kind of sherbet", from "the juice of the most excellent fruits, such as apricots of Bokhara, plums of Mardin, pears of Azerbaijan, mulberries of Arabguir, grapes of Smyrna, sour cherries (aigriottes) of Rodosto, apples of Koja Ili, prunes of Temesvar, and peaches of Constantinople." According to this account the khoshâb is flavored with "amber and musk". He goes on to describe a different group of sherbet-merchants whose shops are decorated with "many thousand cups and bowls of China and Fayence, which are filled with sherbet, made of rhubarb, roses, lemons, lotus, tamarinds and grapes."
  The 15th-century Ottoman poem by Süleyman Çelebi wrote: "As I burned with raging thirst, They handed me a glass of sherbet" describing how the Islamic prophet Muhammad's mother was given a glass of sherbet while she was in labor. When a woman in Anatolia gives birth it is still customary to offer  a hot sherbet called lohusa şerbeti to guests.
  Common sharbat flavors include tamarind, pomegranate, black mulberry, sour grape, licorice, morello cherry, rose, honey. One version uses fresh purple wisteria flowers. The petals are soaked in water for a full day and then strained through cheesecloth. The petals are bundled in the cheesecloth and their highly fragranced liquid is also squeezed into the bowl containing the scented water. Sugar is added and the sugared mixture is allowed to rest overnight.
  A simple sherbet of lemon, citric acid and water, without additional spices, is called nişan şerbeti or "betrothal sherbet" in Turkish and is traditionally served at engagement ceremonies. Some versions of lemon sherbet may be optionally flavored with honey and cloves. A similar sherbet flavored with cloves and lemon juice can also be made with fresh peaches. Green apple and cinnamon is another possible flavor combination. One recipe for "Ottoman sherbet" calls for sugared sour cherries, dried plums, golden raisins, fresh ginger, cloves, cinnamon sticks to be simmered together.
caption: Künefe dessert made from kadayif soaked in şerbet served with Maraş ice cream.
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