Polo, Revisited.

It is upon us.

I'm referring to Summer, also known affectionately as "hell" by Houston residents, including myself, who must brace themselves almost daily for triple-digit temperatures and high humidity. You know it's really hot when a part of you wishes there would be a tropical storm to cool things down.  

But let's leave mass-spread devastation by Mother Nature for another day, and enjoy a more modest means of refreshment in the form of a wonderful Syrian drink called polo. I first wrote about polo last year in the dead of "winter" in Houston, and it seems fitting now I revisit the recipe not only because it is now Summer With A Capital 'S' but also because my agrarian-inclined husband has built a thriving rooftop garden that is yielding, among other botanicals, scores of fresh mint.

Twilight in the Garden of Good & Fertile.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of cold water

• 5 lemons, juiced

• 6 tablespoons sugar

• 1.5 cups of fresh mint, rinsed and drained

• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water.

Directions

1. Blend on high in blender; strain out bits. Or not, if you like some pulp in your drink.

Toum For The Touchdown!

Houston, we have a quarterback. To celebrate, a culinary touchdown in the form of toum (also spelled 'toom' in some Syrian cookbooks).  Toum is the ketchup of Middle Eastern food (or is ketchup the toum of American food?); an omnipresent condiment, it is used to dress grilled meats, sandwiches, even rice. The ingredients are simple, but the preparation more sophisticated, for its success depends on delicate emulsion.  Don't throw all the ingredients in a blender and expect to have anything resembling the correct end product. Patience is key.

Ingredients

• 5 garlic cloves

• 1 egg white

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• ice water on hand

Directions

1. Place garlic and roughly 1/4 of the lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse on medium.

2. Add half the egg white and pulse again on medium.

3. Gradually add the half oil. And, I mean, gradually. Pulse intermittently on medium.

4. Add remainder of lemon juice and egg white. Pulse on low.

5. Add remainder of oil, again slowly. Pulse on low.

6. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of ice water. Pulse on low until mixture just reaches creaminess.

Slather on your choice of protein.

Recipe: Polo

No, this post does not contain instructions on how to play golf while riding a horse. Sorry.

Polo, as I learned from the terrific blog, Syrian Foodie in London, is the name for a cool specialty beverage from Damascus, which,  I can tell you from experience, can get very, VERY hot. 

As you can see from the recipe below, the ingredients are fairly straight-forward and would likely be found on any given Friday in my kitchen, save one component: orange blossom water.

POLO

Ingredients:

 4 cups water

Juice of 5 lemons

 6 tablespoons sugar

 1.5 cups fresh mint leaves, rinsed and drained

1 tsp. orange blossom water

But, lo and behold, I had picked up a bottle during my visit to Jerusalem Halal Market. 

Directions:

Blend and strain.

Piquant, tart, and oh-so-refreshing.