Grape Molasses drink
June 25, 2010 • Category: Beverages
Whenever I see my brother Jean, it is as the French say en coup de vent (like a gust of wind); he landed from Singapore and hopped on a plane bound to Cyprus; we managed to share a meal, during which he told us about a book written by a physician who was exposing the ill effects of glucose and corn syrup (or are they the same thing?); according to this book, an excess of corn syrup will be responsible for a host of diseases.
Not wanting to dwell on this topic, I decided nevertheless to try a drink which is common in rural areas, but which we never tried growing up: Grape molasses drink. It is simply grape molasses diluted in some water.
Of course, it is very healthy, and totally devoid of corn syrup, since the molasses is extracted from fresh grapes.
A sweet and refreshing drink, with the faint taste of grapes; also made into a pudding with the addition of starch.
METHOD:
1) Pour 2 tablespoons of grape molasses in a cup.
2) Add 6 ounces of water and stir.
Can add a teaspoon (or a half-teaspoon) of orange blossom water
Serve as is or refrigerate and serve cold.
Comments
38 Comments • Comments Feed
Krista says:
I love this, Joumana! I do so hope I can find a Middle Eastern grocery soon. You make the most lovely things that I want to replicate. 🙂
Your brother sounds just like my oldest brother. Always on the move, arriving from one country or another, full of interesting tidbits of information. 🙂
On June 25, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Priya says:
Excellent drink, looks fabulous..
On June 25, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Angie's Recipes says:
Sounds like a great drink for the summer!
On June 25, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Eva says:
And the pudding? What’s that?
On June 25, 2010 at 1:06 pm
peter says:
Us Greeks call this Petimezi, the syrup made of grape must. I love this stuff as part of a salad dressing. Now to try it out as a summer refreshment!
On June 25, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Julie says:
Ça se boit comme le sirop qu’on trouve en France. Je ne sais pas si on en trouve aux Etats-Unis d’ailleurs!
Le livre dont t’a parlé ton frère, ça ne serait pas “Toxic food” par hasard?
Une bise!
On June 25, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Katerina says:
I don’t know if it is the same thing, but if it is, we call it petimezi. We make cookies with this and they are great. This drink must be very refreshing.
On June 25, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Ivy says:
Thank God I don’t use either corn syrup or glucose. This is similar to Greek “petimezi” and we thicken it with flour to make moustalevria (which means must + flour). However, have never tried it as a drink.
On June 25, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Amber @Almost Vegan says:
I’ve never even heard of grape molasses, but it sounds wonderful.
PS—I wrote more about my Dallas trip today! http://almostvegankc.blogspot.com/2010/06/almost-vegan-in-dallas-iii.html And part 2 will be up on Monday :]
On June 25, 2010 at 2:04 pm
deana says:
I am crazy about pomegranate molasses… so this seems a good idea to me!!
On June 25, 2010 at 2:45 pm
A Canadian Foodie says:
Very interesting… I have not seen it here, yet. And I snoop a lot. But if you are writing about it, I seem to find it… have you ever tried pomegranate molasses the same way?
On June 25, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Rosa says:
A wonderful idea!
Cheers,
Rosa
On June 25, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Lyndsey says:
I would love to try it. I’ll check this great market where I get my gas. She sells all sorts of great Middle Eastern food items. That’s where I get my Greek olive oil and she makes fresh feta each day! This sounds very interesting!
On June 25, 2010 at 4:07 pm
SYLVIA says:
This is a great healthy alternative to soda drink to serve at kids parties. Grape juice is rich in flavonoids, it helps prevent LDL the (lousy cholesterol ) from attaching to artery walls. Good job Joumana, and thank you, I will make this at my next hosting, and surprise everyone.
High fructose corn syrup is a sugar substitute that is found in processed foods, sweets, salad dressings, and soda, the problem is it never shuts off the gherlin a hormone that controls your appetite, even though you ate, and have food in your stomach, it constantly tells your brain that you are hungry, and makes you crave more high calorie foods, and gain weight, it increses omentum, abdominal fat located inside the belly where it hangs underneath the muscle in your stomach, which is close to your organs, and raises the risk of heart disease and developing type 2 diabetes.
On June 25, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Grapefruit says:
Looks so refreshing. And you can’t tease us with mention of the pudding and not tell us how to make it!
On June 25, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Linda Mercier says:
Hi Joumana! This sounds delicious, but grape molasses, along with pomegranate molasses and another one you’ve mentioned, are something I’d never heard of! They sound absolutely wonderful to use in recipes! I’ll have to hunt some down.
Also, I was curious if you might know the name of this book about the corn syrup, or maybe the name of the physician who wrote it. We had never heard of anyone being allergic to corn until my sister was “diagnosed” with this allergy a dozen or so years ago. When you read the ingredients, so many things have corn syrup in them! And more and more people are finding they’re allergic.
On June 25, 2010 at 7:15 pm
kim says:
This needs a shot of vodka to make it alcoholic. 🙂
On June 25, 2010 at 7:19 pm
gastrogeek says:
this looks delicious, I really must try some!
On June 26, 2010 at 2:03 am
Mathai says:
Thats a very interesting drink! I wonder if I can get it at our local souk/supermarket
On June 26, 2010 at 5:02 am
sophia says:
So your brother is visiting from Singapore! you should visit HIM so that you can try some lovely dishes from Singapore! 😉
Is this grape juice sort of like Ribena? It’s a popular drink in Singapore…
On June 26, 2010 at 6:54 am
Kitchen Butterfly says:
Fantastic, I’m sure it also has cleansing properties…..We can find grape molasses here in a superb Turkish shop so…I will definitely make it!
On June 26, 2010 at 8:20 am
Faith says:
This sounds delicious and I love how it is sweetened naturally. I’ll keep my eyes open for this!
On June 26, 2010 at 8:21 am
Joanne says:
Glucose and corn syrup are NOT the same thing and yes corn syrup is super bad for you! I could get into why if you want, but it’s long and technical. The grape molasses sounds delicious!
On June 26, 2010 at 8:38 am
Sushma Mallya says:
A very beautiful drink
On June 26, 2010 at 8:52 am
OysterCulture says:
I have this molasses but never thought to use it in a drink. I must try it today.
On June 26, 2010 at 9:09 am
elra says:
That sounds very refreshing, I know I am going to like this.
On June 26, 2010 at 9:46 am
FOODESSA says:
Happy…very happy…I saw this in the store the other day…and wondered if I would like it…especially since it did not have the yucky syrup.
Thank you for the very simple stir.
Claudia
On June 26, 2010 at 3:36 pm
fimère says:
une boisson rafraichissante je l’essayerai prochainement
bon week-end
On June 26, 2010 at 4:44 pm
Rachana says:
A refreshing summer drink!
On June 26, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Azita says:
I like this drink and thanks so much for the info and the link.
On June 26, 2010 at 7:41 pm
grace says:
i was excited to discover pomegranate molasses not too long ago, and now you’re introducing me to something even better! this drink must be absolutely delicious.
On June 27, 2010 at 4:05 am
Susan says:
I was reading recently that if we could incorporate more Middle Eastern foods into our diet we would all be much healthier! I stopped drinking carbonated beverages about five years ago so this drink sounds wonderful to me!
On June 27, 2010 at 9:59 am
Mimi says:
Sound delicious. Thanks for showing what brands you buy. I’m lost when I go to our Middle Eastern market.
Mimi
On June 28, 2010 at 10:27 pm
omid says:
من ایرانی هستم اهل سیاهکل
I love you akon
On May 29, 2011 at 3:03 am
maritsa says:
Years ago when i was alittle girl in greece , every morning allmost, before we left for school , my mother god rest her soul ,she would pour some petimezi ( grape molasses) in a dish with olive oil , we diped our bread , it was so good that ,the taste of petimezi stayed with me ,i loved it then and i love it now ,57 years later , every time i go back to Greece ,i always look for it ,to bring back to America , now , a question, did anybody else ate the petimezi with olive oil? if not i recomend it ,you will need alot of bread it goes a long way .enjoy, and is healthy.
On October 2, 2012 at 8:43 pm
Javed ali says:
I dont think or dont in my mind sens what is grap molesses dont knwo about what this is plz ask?me
On June 20, 2013 at 4:19 pm
Joumana says:
@Javed ali: Grape molasses is a syrup extracted from the grapes. nothing else but grapes.
On June 20, 2013 at 11:11 pm