The itinerant sherbet sellers of Old Damascus

This is not a shop; it is a trade. The seller carries a huge brass urn on his back, clinks a pair of cups to announce himself, and bows forward to pour: the dark one is liquorice sherbet — erk sous — the sour one tamarind. It is a street craft left over from Ottoman days and it is still alive; in Ramadan, the stretch between mid-afternoon and iftar is its high season.

Where to find them

There is no fixed address — the sellers roam. The surest line runs from the main axis of Souq al-Hamidiyah to the Buzuriyah spice souq south of the Umayyad Mosque. Walk that line when the crowd is thick; the urn will find you.

What to drink

Two classics. Liquorice sherbet is cool, faintly bitter and unfamiliar — the first sip surprises you, the second wins you over. Tamarind is sweet-sour and easier. In Ramadan carob joins the pair. One cup size, drunk standing.

Worth knowing

Payment is cash, in small notes. The cups are rinsed in the seller’s basin; if that bothers you, hold out your own cup — nobody minds. Sellers in folk costume work the photo trade — ask before you shoot, and expect to tip.