Sharab El Toot- Making Mulberry Syrup
Sharab el Toot is one of Lebanon’s most traditional drinks; a thirst quencher served to guests on hot summer afternoons.
It is an exotic, revitalizing, wholesome drink that is sweet yet tangy and is rich with antioxidants.
There is also a history that comes with Mulberry syrup, delving back into Lebanon’s past…
At the turn of the century, Lebanon was known for its high-quality silk industry. Bestowed with ideal climate and a fertile soil, Mulberries were planted everywhere in Lebanon and mulberry production flourished. The leaves of the mulberry were used to cultivate silk worms and at harvest would be seperated from the mother fruit. As the mulberry fruit has a short life span, Sharab El Toot was an efficient way of preserving it.
Sharab el toot is served diluted with ice water.
It is also common to use mulberries to make ice cream and Jam. Sharab el toot is heavenly drizzled atop ice cream.
Sharab El Toot- Mulberry Syrup
We harvested about 8kg of mulberries. From that we got 4 litres of juice or about 16 cups. Because we are making a syrup we added 2x the amount of sugar, unlike when making jam where the ratio is 1 to 1. This came out to be around 34 cups or 8kg of sugar. This yielded 8 bottles of 1 liter volume or 8 litres of Sharab el toot.
The procedure is as follows;
Select fully ripe fresh black mulberries, discarding the red berries as they render the syrup too sour. Wear rubber gloves as the juice stains the hands.
Place a food mill over an enamel or earthenware pot, fill with berries and begin turning it to extract the juice. Alternatively, put the berries in a muslin bag and press the juice from them into an enamel or earthenware pot.
This will leave the seeds and skins, or residue. Discard.
Once you’ve extracted the juice, run it through a sieve to remove any remaining large chunks of the fruit.
P.S. We did not throw away this bit, but added some of the juice, some sugar and made it into jam. Turned out very well.
Now the juice should be very smooth. Measure the juice.
For every cup of juice add two cups of sugar. Stri well. Use only a wooden spoon.
Boil over a high fire until somewhat thickened. Remove the froth that develops. Juice should be cooked in a glass or enamelware saucepan to avoid discoloration ot the syrup.
Remember to continuously stir, so not to let the syrup burn or pour out. That would be a terrible mess to have.
Bottle when tepid and seal when thoroughly cold. Open bottles of syrup should be stored in the refrigerator.
Use a tablespoon of syrup per glass of ice water when preparing the beverage. Increase according to taste.
Pour over ice water.
Stir well.
Add ice cubes…
Serve
Love,
Bethx
As I’m feeling lazy at the moment, I just want to know where I can buy a jar of this delicious Mulberry Syrup! (or do I need to take a trip to Lebanon!)
Simply refreshing…Stunning pictures!
I have been waiting for this post! SO stocked! Thanks DKS
Finished making this earlier today! The recipe is so straight forward (which was a blessing, since I’m only a guest in my kitchen) and the end product was absolutely wonderful to drink. Thank you for sharing this!
yum !
Mark- you can get some from aldoukan.com delivered anywhere in the world
Abdul- Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback! Enjoy
Just brilliant. Now I know what to do with the oodles of mulberries that my Man Friday will get when the season begins. Very very refreshing…a beautiful post & gorgeous pictures!
I love that you tood pics to explain. This drink looks so good. I haven’t heard about it before.
I LOVED the pics of the man harvesting from the tree! how cool to show it literally from scratch!! good job
Deeba- I can’t wait for you to make this into a baking post! Will be delicious I know!
Helene- Thanks. It’s an old process from back in early 1900′s when we were under french mandate.
Joe- Thanks
Oh Bethany, you make me crave for the mulberries. I wish they were in season here! Gorgeous photos!
Hi Bethany
I love the pictures! I am so happy that someone has captured this process in its entirety. Also, I am so happy that I’ve discovered yet another Lebanese food blogger. I don’t have to feel so alone in this world any more hehe.
Where were these photos taken?
Yalla, see you soon
Fouad
Hello Fouad and thanks for stopping by! The pictures were taken in Lebanon at our mountain home in Ayoun (just above Baskinta or directly below Sannine.) I love sharab el tout and it was lovely being able to take snaps of the whole process.
How amazing. I wonder if I have seen mulberry before and got it confused with blackberry. Loved this post. Thanks for sharing it darling.x
Hi I just wanted to know what karnoob and toot is in English