A sharply tart crimson cordial made from zereshk, the tiny dried barberries of the South Khorasan desert, cooked down with sugar into a vivid syrup and let down with iced water. It is more austere and acid than the sour-cherry sharbat, with a clean, almost cranberry-like bite. Served well chilled, it is a brilliant deep-red drink with a long, mouth-watering finish.
Iran grows the bulk of the world's barberries, almost all in the South Khorasan region around Qaen and Birjand, where the spiny shrubs are harvested in autumn and sun-dried to a brilliant red. Best known abroad scattered over zereshk polo, the berries also yield juice and syrup that Iranian households prize for their sharp acidity and tonic reputation. The drink keeps a fleeting desert harvest alive year-round in the same bottled-cordial spirit as the wider sharbat tradition.
Vivid and unapologetically sour, with a clean, almost cranberry tang and only enough sugar to round the edges. There is no fruity heaviness here, just a crisp, brilliant acidity that floods the mouth and snaps it awake. Deep jewel-red and ice-cold, it is among the most refreshing of all the sharbats.
Barberries are exceptionally high in malic and other organic acids, which is what gives the syrup its piercing tartness and also keeps the boiling sugar from crystallizing, much as lemon does. Brief cooking is enough to leach the berries' deep anthocyanin red and their acidity into the syrup; over-boiling dulls the color, so the berries are simmered only until softened and then strained.
Variations
Strained clear or served with some softened berries in the glass; brightened with a little lemon or rose water; sweetened to taste, as the fruit is naturally very sour; sometimes blended half-and-half with sour-cherry syrup.
On the Palate
Where Sharbat-e Zereshk sits in the Persian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8How it's made
6 steps · 10 min
- 14 min
Rinse the dried barberries thoroughly, picking out any grit, and drain.
- 21 min
Combine the barberries, sugar, and water in a saucepan.
- 320 min
Bring to a boil, then simmer gently, skimming, until the berries soften and the liquid turns deep red and syrupy, about 20 minutes.
Watch outSimmer just until the berries soften and the syrup goes deep red — boil it any longer and the color dulls to muddy brown.
- 42 min
Stir in a little lemon juice near the end if using.
- 55 min
Strain through a fine sieve, pressing the berries to extract their juice and color; cool, then bottle and chill.
Watch outPress the berries hard through the sieve to squeeze out every bit of red juice and color before you bottle it.
- 61 min
To serve, pour syrup into a glass over ice and dilute with cold water to taste.
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