Orgeat syrup
Template:Short description Template:Infobox drink
Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds and sugar with a little rose water and/or orange flower water. It was originally made with a barley-almond blend. It has a pronounced almond taste and is used to flavor many cocktails. Orgeat syrup is an important ingredient in the Mai Tai and many Tiki drinks.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
An early recipe for orgeat can be found in The English and Australian Cookery Book:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Quote
Bitter almonds as a general rule contain cyanide and can be lethal in large quantities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> For this reason modern syrups generally are produced only from sweet almonds. Such syrup products do not contain significant levels of hydrocyanic acid, so are generally considered safe for human consumption.<ref name="isrn">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Word origin
Template:Wiktionary The word orgeat (Template:IPAc-en) is derived from the Latin Template:Lang 'made with barley' through the French, where barley is called Template:Lang. The Catalan word Template:Lang, from which derives the Spanish Template:Lang, has the same origin, though today the two drinks have little else in common and neither of them uses barley.
Regional uses
In Tunisia and Libya, a variant is called rozata and is usually served chilled in wedding and engagement parties as a symbol of joy and purity because of its white colour and its fresh (flowery) flavor. It comes in many different flavours, such as traditional almond, banana, mango, pistachio, among others.
In Suriname, there is a drink called Template:Lang, which is a similar syrup made of sugar and sweet and bitter almonds.
Maltese Template:Lang is made of almond and vanilla essence and may include cinnamon and cloves.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In Cyprus and on the Greek islands of Chios and Nisyros, a similar syrup is known as Template:Lang (Template:Langx). Soumada has a very ancient history at least in Cyprus, stretching back into the Roman period, and it was given as an exotic delicacy by King Peter I of Cyprus to King Casimir the Great of Poland at the Congress of Kraków, held in Poland in 1364.<ref>Maria Dembinska and William Woys Weaver, Food and Drink in Medieval Poland (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999) p.41</ref>
See also
- Orxata, a Valencian drink with a related name
- Falernum syrup
- Fassionola syrup
- Drink mixers
- List of syrups
- Tiki drinks