Jallab

Sugary iced drinks and pine nuts are two of my daughter’s favourite things in this world and jallab, a fruity punch made with syrups and water over ice and topped with pine nuts is as perfect a summer beverage as she could wish for. While commercial jallab syrups are available they’re not easily found in my neck of the woods (at the time of writing we’re in Denver, Colorado), even at our favourite Middle Eastern market. I’ve attempted to recreate this Levantine summer favourite, though the recipe varies regionally – so feel free to adjust the amounts to give you the taste you like. There is typically an incense-like flavour in commercial syrups that I struggled to replicate here, and so to give a depth of flavour I’ve rehydrated the golden raisins in jasmine tea, which gives a complexity and subtle smokiness to the drink. You can also add the jasmine tea liquid as part of the water if you like the taste.

A lot of the syrups I have on hand are pretty typical in a Middle Eastern kitchen, but if you don’t have them on hand they can be found inexpensively in your local Middle Eastern supermarket (if you’re lucky to have one near you) or online through retailers like Amazon. You’ll need date syrup (also called silan, rub, or date honey), grape molasses, pomegranate syrup (or grenadine), and just a splash of rose water. This recipe will create a pitcher (six eight ounce / 235ml servings), but I’ve also included a recipe for a single serving in case you just want to try it.

As an aside, I adore these gold metal straws I purchased on Amazon for just a few dollars – I keep the longer ones in my handbag for Starbucks runs (venti cold brews!) and the shorter ones are perfect for drinks at home. While I love the look of the glass straws I don’t trust my (clumsy) self not to break them, and I’m a sucker for anything gold.