Complex
4
By David Dale and Somer Sivrioglu
Published 2015
It’s traditional to sprinkle rosewater on the hands of mourners at the wakes that take place forty days after burials in Turkey. For that reason, many Turks associate the smell of rosewater with mourning. In the Mediterranean town of Tarsus, near the Toros mountains, they associate rosewater with an iced treat that is sold from carts in the streets. There, for five months of the year, the bici bici hawkers would head up the hill and fill their carts with snow. Then they’d race back down, and for a lira coin you’d get a generous scoop of pudding and snow spread on a plate and soaked with a sweet syrup made from the petals of roses or pink tulips. Nowadays, bici bici is sold from refrigerated trucks all year round.
You could use a commercial rose syrup with this dish, but if you want to make your own, remove the petals from the pink rose and wash thoroughly. Sprinkle on the citric acid and place in a jar. Cover the petals with
Mix the grenadine with
Now make the granita. Mix
Next, candy the rose petals. Cut the white parts off the petals. Lightly whisk the egg whites for 1 minute to make a smooth liquid. Brush each petal on both sides with egg white. Sprinkle both sides with the icing sugar.
Line a tray with baking paper. Place the petals on the tray and
Bring
Put the remaining
Wash the strawberries, cut off the stems and slice into quarters. Pat dry with paper towel and then sprinkle with the icing sugar.
Using four serving dishes, half-fill each dish with spoonfuls of the pudding. Add the sugared strawberries to the top of each pudding and then cover with granita. Shape the granita into a cone and decorate the base with five or six candied rose petals.
Sprinkle the icing sugar on top of each mound, to resemble a snowy peak, and then splash a little more rose syrup from the squeeze bottle around the granita for added colour, if you like. Serve immediately.
© 2015 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.