Village men, set up with rickety tables and shady umbrellas, were selling this drink in several locations. We stumbled upon a tea house that had a large sign advertising "Koruk Surubu," a producer and seller of this interesting Turkish grape juice.
Our Turkish friend, Murat, asked the guy what the drink was, and I wanted to know how it was made.
Soon, we found ourselves on an impromptu tour of the production facilities for Koruk Serbeti, a locally produced grape drink.
Our guide told us, translated through Murat, that the villagers harvest the wild grapes called Vitis orientalis, which grows wild in front of nearly every house we saw. The vines produces the highly acidic fruit known as koruk. Inedible raw, the wild grapes are turned into a thirst-quenching summer drink called Koruk Serbeti, grape sherbet.
The grapes are pressed in these stainless steel vats, similar to wine making, and then cooked with sugar. The liquid is cooled down and then bottled in this small, super-clean facility in the village.
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| How to make Koruk Serbeti, grape sherbet, in Turkey. |
In Turkey, refreshing sherbets are made from all kinds of fruit such as blackberries, lemons, mandalina and even honey and roses. The drink is usually served at the end of a meal.
I was sold on the drink, but we wanted to taste it too. The guy made us a glass of grape sherbet by mixing about 1/3 grape concentrate with 2/3 very cold water, and then shook the mixture together like you would a cocktail.
Koruk Serbeti tastes like fresh, cold grape juice. We each bought a bottle.
I'm thinking the Koruk Serbeti might even make a refreshing summer cocktail!
Bademli K�y� truly is a gem of place to stop at when you are along the Aegean Coast in Turkey.
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| Wild grapes, called Vitis orientalis, like these grow everywhere in Bademli K�y�, Turkey. |