Moroccan smoothies and refreshing drinks - Part 1

Moroccan smoothies and refreshing drinks:

Part 1

Popular refreshing drinks for the summer - with recipe!

 

Morocco is a pretty warm country with a partly Mediterranean, partly desert climate spiced up with the cooler temperatures in the higher mountains, but overall we can state that it’s hot in this beautiful country throughout the whole year and temperatures in the summer can climb up well over 40 Degrees (100-110 F) too. That’s why the importance of refreshing drinks is much higher than in other, cooler parts of the world.  That’s why there is a whole culture over here comprising of the making of hundreds of different sorts of homemade refreshing drinks, most of them easy, while some of them need a bit more work and a hand-mixer.

Moroccan daily refreshing drinks:

These drinks are used in every Moroccan household when family members would like to drink something other than water or mint tea. These drinks’ content of vitamins and nutrients are quite high therefore they are very popular for summer drinks and often consumed for Iftar (the short night-time period ranging from the last prayer which is around 10 pm until the first prayer that’s roughly around 4 am in the morning) during Ramadan.

Cucumber – water

v  1 l water v  ½ finely sliced or small pieces of cucumber v  1 or 2 slices or lemon or lime

This is a very good, refreshing drink which I got to taste when I was staying in Morocco: although I’m sure every family prepares them differently. Cucumber water is basically what its name shows: lots of cucumber pieces in a pot or big glass of water. Some also add lemon and sugar to it while others drink them „raw” without any additional taste. Cucumber is also a very specific vegetable, which has instant hydrating and refreshing effects, therefore I can only suggest for you to try this at home, when the temperatures climb high. The drink works best with thin slices of pre-washed cucumbers which don’t need to be peeled.

Popular Orange refreshments: 

Fresh Orange Juice:

Orange in Morocco is sweet and it’s very common, therefore oranges are sold for a good price and this makes this fruit’s juice some of the most popular to drink, when it comes to juices. There is no recipe needed for this, all you need to do is to freshly squeeze the oranges, keep them in the fridge then serve them straight from there. Some people also keep more of these which they proceed to freeze before or during summer. Take care though – Moroccan oranges are naturally sweet but more often than not, they will be served with extra sugar added to them. Some households also put some water in them, this way gaining more of a lemonade-like but more economical orange juice.

  

Orange Juice combined with carrots:

v  ½ l orange juice v  3-4 normal sized carrots v  Sugar v  Moroccan orange-blossom water

This is another popular drink which is prepared in most households throughout Morocco: it’s basically pure orange juice combined with carrots. Their proportion is 2 to 1 which means, for a half liter of orange juice you should use about 4 medium or 2 large carrots. You will need a hand – mixer for this, in order to mix the carrot to be fine, then you mix it with the orange juice and put it in the fridge. Some also use orange water but me, personally I have never seen or tasted that while being in Morocco. Some also put sugar in the mix as everyone prefers the sweet drinks much more.

Orange and peach juice

v  3-4 peaches v  1 l of fresh orange juice v  Sugar

This drink also doesn’t require much of a lengthy explanation as the proportions are totally up to your personal taste. In Morocco, the housewives often freeze sliced fruits which are easy to work with and they also work as a sort of instant refreshment on a hot summer day. So, you can do this method as w ell, if you would like to have your fruit supply at hand – even during winter days! The recipe I got works with a 2 – 1 proportioning which means for 1 l of orange juice it uses roughly half a liter of peaches, which would need to be blended first. I’m just realizing how perfect this drink is for babies too! So, you go ahead and blend the peaches. In Morocco people only wash but do not peel the fruits in general, so we would work with the fruit as it is and blend it after cutting it to smaller pieces. 3 larger or 4 smaller peaches would perfectly do. After the blending you mix the two juices together. For getting a smoothie, you can put one or two regular-sized cups of water in it and put it in the freezer to get it denser. The usage of sugar is optional.

Moroccan Mint tea – icy

Icy Mint Tea is the traditional Moroccan mint tea you can read more in my previous blog which you can view here, however it is cooled down and served cold. The rich minty taste makes the tea a brilliant refreshing drink during Morocco’s hot summer period and can be consumed at any time of the day.

On the usage of ice- cubes:

I’ve been in Morocco several times, but never once got a drink with ice-cubes in it. It’s not yet a tradition and as the weather is hot enough, what households generally do is to put the entire drink in the freezer. After they take them out they will get ready within one hour or even less.

Try these refreshing summer drinks at home too. Now, that the summer is here, we are all thirsty for something which is also healthy and nutritious in the same time. Good luck with experimenting these great Moroccan refreshing drinks!