The similarities between a couple of these old North African recipes and two
of the products we use behind our bars is staggering.
Hlib Bel Louz = Orgeat
Pomegranate Juice = Grenadine
I believe that the recipes for these two non-alcoholic syrups originated from
North Africa hundreds of years ago.
These North African recipes are hundreds of years old (once I get the book
from my old house I will check the dates), and originate from Libya, Tunisia,
Morocco, Algeria, etc., which were all at one time populated by the French.
Orgeat and Grenadine are both French words (Grenadine meaning Pomegranate and
Orgeat evolved from the Italian word for Almond) and are recipes that they
would have been given by the local tribes of North Africa.
Just compare the recipe for Hlib Bel Louz:-
225g (1/2lb) ground almonds
900ml (1 1/2 pints) water
675g (1 1/2lb) sugar
2 tablespoons Orange Blossom Water or Rose Water
to Darcy O'Neil's recipe on theartofdrink.com:-
This recipe for orgeat makes about 1½ litres
500 grams blanched almonds
800 ml water
700 grams table sugar
100 ml Vodka or Brandy
2 Tbls Orange or Rose Flower Water (optional)
As Darcy says, "This is just one orgeat syrup recipe, and there are a number
of variations. You can also vary the amount of water, almonds, orange flower
water, etc. since orgeat is very forgiving. The is recipe is fairly well
balanced and gets good reviews."
Would I be right in saying that this is no coincidence and that there is a
high probability that Grenadine and Orgeat syrup recipes originated in North
Africa?
I don't think that I am just adding 2+2 and getting 5. I really do think that
Orgeat and Grenadine originated in North Africa, and was then taken by the
French and passed onwards and upwards to us!
Opinions please folks....
Cheers,
Adam
P.S Maybe this is already common knowledge to you all and I am just finding
this out for myself after all of you, but it would be good to hear some of you
guys/gals input on this.
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