Ice cream? Nope, craveable sherbet hits the spot
When these months arrive where it’s the hottest outside, we all naturally crave something of the opposite temperature. Cold salads, chilled fruit and icy beverages can only go so far in cooling you off from the inside out. That’s why I head to the freezer for a frozen treat.
Your mind might be headed toward the wide varieties of ice cream selections, but mine concentrates on a lighter, frostier option: sherbet. My husband makes fun of me because even in an ice cream parlor, I am always selecting some type of sherbet instead.
Typically my choices are very limited there. After all, it is an “ice cream parlor!” But if you are a sherbet lover, none of those other flavors hold any power over you. It’s sherbet or bust! And for us purists, notice there is no second “r” in the spelling. It is correctly pronounced sherbet, not sherbert.
Originally, sherbet wasn’t a frozen delight, but a beverage. The name comes from the Turkish word that was a Middle Eastern liquid refresher made from sweetened fruit juice and water. It is from the Arabic “sharab,” which means “to drink.”
Credit is often given to “rainbow sherbet” for making it a popular frozen dessert. This trio of different colors and flavors became enormously popular in the 1950s and continues to this day.
Sorbet and sherbet are often confused. Sorbet contains no dairy, while sherbet has just a bit of milk added to enhance the richness and creaminess of the product. That makes it lighter than ice cream but not as light as sorbet. It’s the perfect middle child, different but with the same structure.
Sometimes sherbet is made more “adult” by the addition of wine or as a substitute for the fruit juice. It can also contain pasteurized egg whites and/or gelatin.
Tammy Algood is the author of five cookbooks and can be seen on “Volunteer Gardener” on PBS stations in Tennessee. Follow her at www.hauteflavor. com.