Soft landing

Skipping the arak? The Middle East is rich in booze-free options.

Beer provided the fuel for the workforce in ancient Egypt, but in Cairo today, you’re more likely to enjoy karkadeh, a sweet, yet sour tonic of dried

hibiscus. With alcohol forbidden by Islamic tradition, it’s no surprise that a vibrant non-alcoholic drinking culture has flourished in the Middle East.

It’s a place where the sommelier at The Ritz-Carlton or at

The St. Regis might suggest Ceylon to celebrate rather than Champagne. (In

2017, incidentally, Anfal Fekri of Bahrain’s Silver Tea Leaf Consultancy, became the Middle East’s first master tea sommelier.) Somer Sivrioglu, chef of Sydney Turkish restaurants Efendy and Anason, has fond memories of first dates over sips of fresh lemonade in Istanbul. Then there’s ayran, a salty yoghurt drink. It was declared the national beverage in 2013. Gazoz, meanwhile, is a genre of carbonated fruit drinks in Turkey that, at its pre-Coca Cola heights, numbered regional varieties in the hundreds. (If you’d like to do a Turkish take on the Pepsi challenge for yourself, you’ll find both drinks on offer at Anason and Efendy.) Turning back to tea, trade brought masala chai to the Persian Gulf where karak chai, as it’s known in the region, become a daily ritual. After water, tea is the most consumed drink in the Middle East. Michael Rantissi’s

Hummus & Co. 2017 book features 20 pages of hot and iced drinks, reflecting what his team serves at Sydney’s Kepos Street Kitchen and Kepos & Co. “Westerners treat drinks as a reason to socialise,” says the Israeli-born chef, “but where I come from, drinks symbolise hospitality. They’re a part of the occasion, but not the occasion itself.” With top restaurants around the world expanding their non-alcoholic drink options, teetotalling might be reason enough in itself to celebrate.