Moroccan Smoothies and Refreshing Drinks Part 2

Moroccan smoothies and refreshing drinks:

Part 2

Traditional Moroccan Almond Milk Labans for Ramadan - with recipe! 

About Moroccan Laban

This is a selection of drinks exclusive to Morocco which are not challenging to do, once you know how to get started. Lban or Laban means buttermilk, home-made yoghurt or any milk based fermented drink for that matter. Lban is a type of drink which is more likely to be used for Ramadan as it’s pretty copious in effect and less refreshing, therefore it’s not for daily refreshment. L’ban has lots of ways of preparation and I’d like to share some recipes with you. Let me also underline once again, that these drinks/smoothies should rather be consumed as forms of a dessert ( unless you are doing the Ramadan, then drink them often as they are full of nutrients, vitamins and will make you feel just the right way of feeling full).    

It’s important to note that Laban is not the name of one drink: it’s the name of a whole lot of home-made drinks. Traditionally Lban is fermented milk or butter milk which you can buy at both souks and supermarkets sell a nice variety of Lban buttermilk that is either cultured or traditional.  Buttermilk is the crème sort of liquid that remains after butter has been separated from the whole, at the end of the butter-making process. The basic difference between traditional and cultured Lban is that cultured Lban is denser than the traditional one. But as mentioned above this is a collective name. Any milk – like drink can be called Lban as I will soon prove this with the help of some recipes.  

The consumption of Laban

Laban is often served as a dessert after meals, particularly during Ramadan season or on special occasions. If it’s served after couscous, it’s often mixed with the remaining clean couscous to make it even more copious a dessert. This easy meal is called Saycouk (recipe will follow in my next chapter of Morocco’s trademark meals).

Now let’s see the drinks!

Laban al Loz – Almond Milkshake with orange-blossom water

v  1 cup of almonds v  6 cups of water, divide as 2 – 4 in two bowls v  1/2 cup of sugar v  1 tsp. of orange blossom water

How to blanche Almonds

Let me start with the quick fact that you will need blanched or cleaned almonds for this one. I’m including a quick-and-easy guide on how to “blanche” or clean almonds as they are generally sold with their trademark brown layer on.

Quick-and-easy guide to blanching almonds: v  Boil water in a small pot v  Put the raw almonds into the water for a second or two when it’s heavily boiling. It’s easier to use a sieve so you can take them out quickly enough v  Take the almonds out quick and pour cold water on them. v  Use textile or paper towel to dry the almonds v  After dry all you need to do is to gently unfold and take off the brown skin and Voilà!

There are lots of recipes for Almond milk as it’s a very popular dessert following any meal and during Ramadan it’s particularly popular.  

Preparation: 

What you need to do is to basically pour two cups of water into your home-blender and put the almonds inside. Blend it until you can feel that all the almonds are well-grounded into the water. Then prepare a saucepan, pour your liquid from the blender and add the sugar. Stir it until it reaches the level of boiling, reduce the heat but don’t stop stirring for a few minutes more. Then you can remove it from the heat and add the remaining 4 cups of water and let it cool down to room temperature. Then go ahead and add the orange-blossom water and put it in the fridge.

The Classic Moroccan Almond Milk drink:

v  1.5 cups whole blanched or raw almonds v  4 cups of water v  1 tsp vanilla extract v  1.5 tbsp. syrup or honey v  a dash of grounded cinnamon v  a hint of salt

Preparation: 

Similarly to the above recipe this is an almond milk based drink but its preparation and flavor differs from the one above. First start with the preparation the day before, as you need to soak the almonds in water that covers them all, for a whole night. Next morning you can pour down and discard the water which leaves you with slightly softened almonds. Pour these in your blender and as you start blending add around 1, 5 cups of water to it, step-by-step in order for it to stir perfectly. At the end of the process you have a nice crème. Add honey, the vanilla extract a hint of salt and the cinnamon to it and stir it slowly with the remaining water. You can adjust the flavoring along the way. 

When ready, strain the blend through 2-3 layer of cheesecloth and you got the real deal! Put it in the fridge and serve it cool.

I hope you liked these recipes of traditional Moroccan Laban and I also hope you will go ahead and try to prepare them at home. Out of all the smoothies these are the ones most characteristic to Moroccan traditions, especially during the Ramadan period. So, why don’t you surprise your friends or family with a few cups of handmade Labans? Trust me, it’s a surprise they will appreciate.