Carob Drink (Kharroub)

The dark brown liquid in the glass looks and tastes like cocoa, yet there is no cocoa in it, no coffee, no caffeine. Carob — kharroub in Arabic — is drunk either as an infusion of the dried pods or as molasses let down with water. It works in both seasons. Iced in the heat, hot in winter — few drinks in Syria do that.

Two ways to make it

The first starts with dry pods: the hard shells are broken up, boiled in water, strained, sweetened and cooled. The second starts with the finished molasses: a spoon of dibs al-kharroub goes into a glass of water, you stir, and that is it. They do not taste the same — the boiled version is lighter and woody, the molasses version dark and sweet.

What it tastes like

Everyone reaches for cocoa first. They are half right: the dark colour, a slightly earthy note, sweetness sitting behind it. But the bitterness and fat are missing. So is the caffeine, which is why it is drunk late in the evening and given to children.

Where the tree grows

The carob grows wild along the Syrian coast, on the strip between Latakia and Tartus, and in the countryside around Aleppo. The molasses is boiled in the same region: the pods are simmered long in water, strained, then reduced until thick. The jar is one of the goods that travel from the coast inland.

On the Ramadan tray

Kharroub goes round the iftar table alongside liquorice and tamarind. Together the three, with jallab, make up the Ramadan drinks of Syria, and the stalls go up in that month. From Tripoli to Damascus it is a shared eastern Mediterranean habit.

It turns up at breakfast too

The molasses has a second life on the table: stirred into tahini and spread on bread. Same jar as the drink. Only the proportion changes: a spoon into water for the glass, a spoon into tahini for breakfast.