Qamar al-Din

Apricot juice is boiled with sugar, spread in a thin layer over a wooden surface brushed with olive oil, and dried in direct sun. What is left is a deep orange, pliable sheet. That sheet is what the market sells; the drink is made from it at home.

It came out of the Ghouta

Its first making is tied to the Ghouta orchards of Damascus, where the apricot variety best suited to it grew. That variety still grows only in Syria and the southwest of Turkey, which is why Syrian qamar al-din is taken as the best.

How it is drunk

The sheet is soaked in water and worked into a pulp, rose water or orange blossom water goes in, and ice on top. Damascenes add pine nuts as well, which thickens it and brings it close to jallab. It is chosen for breaking a fast because it gives both sugar and liquid.

Where to find it

At spice merchants and dried-fruit sellers, in boxes or as loose sheets; during Ramadan on every stall. Juice stands also pour it ready by the glass. The origin of the name is not settled: one account gives it to a Damascene called Qamar al-Din, another to the apricot season falling with the new moon of Ramadan.