Greek sweets of the spoon
Encyclopedia
Spoon sweets are sweet preserves, served in a spoon as a gesture of hospitality in the Balkans
, the Middle East
, and in Russia
. They can be made from almost any fruit, though sour and bitter fruits are especially prized. There are also spoon sweets produced without fruit.
Some of the fruits that are used include seedless grape
s, mulberries
and other berries, bergamot
, apricot
s, apple
s, pear
s, sour and sweet cherries
, orange
s and kumquat
s, lemon
s, grapefruit
, tangerine
s, pomegranate
s, quince
s, fig
s, prunes, etc. Even soft fruit like melon
or watermelon
can be thus prepared, although retaining a relatively firm texture is challenging. Other varieties include green, unripe walnut
s, pistachio
s, hazelnut
s, and other nut
s, or even flower petals like rose
. Many fruits or parts of fruits that are normally inedible, such as the various citrus peels and blossoms, or sliced citrus fruits with their peel intact, can be made into sweet, flavorful preserves, as can some vegetables such as baby eggplants or cherry tomato
es. A well-made spoon sweet retains the original shape, color, aroma and taste of the fruit.
Spoon sweets are usually offered to guests served by the teaspoon in a small china
or crystal
dish or bowl, with coffee or tea and cold water. Most of the time they are homemade, but nowadays they can also be easily found in most supermarkets; these are more likely to be made with glucose syrup rather than sugar, for reasons of cost.
They can be used as ice cream
or yogurt topping, or in the Western way as a spread on toast for breakfast. Spoon sweets are commonly eaten alone or with cheese.
are called "slatko
", which means "sweet" or "delicious". It is a thin fruit preserve made of fruit or rose petals. Almost any kind of fruit can be used, like fig, orange, and cherry. Traditionally, honored guests in house are greeted with a spoonful of "slatko".
Other fresh fruits like raspberries, sweet cherries, watermelon cubes, rose petals, quinces, grapes, skinned apricots halves or quarters, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, red currants can also be used. If a plum slatko is prepared, walnut halves may be added to the mixture, or even inserted into the plums themselves to replace the pits. Frozen berries and fruits may be used too, but the amount of water and the cooking time should be adjusted accordingly.
and Cyprus
, usually served with Greek coffee and a glass of cold water. Most are made of whole fruit, though some kinds are made of pieces or purees.
One typically Greek spoon sweet is the snow-white and intensely aromatic vaníllia (βανίλια, [va'nilja]) which is not made of vanilla
, but of mastic resin
, for which the Aegean island
of Chios
is famous. This is usually served as a spoonful of sweet on a table spoon dropped into a tall glass of ice-cold water and popularly called "βανίλια υποβρύχιο", a "vanilla submarine". It is a thick, white, sweet paste made industrially by beating mastic resin with table sugar. When cold, it has the consistency of hard caramel candy: it is meant to be licked like a lollipop
as, at body temperature, it gradually becomes softer and more chewable. The Greek diaspora
introduced this treat to other countries as far away as Japan
. It is said to be the official treat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Whole fruit preserves can be found in most Greek and Cypriot homes. They are made by slowly and gently boiling fruit in water and sugar over several hours or days, until the syrup sets. Thus the main prerequisites to making good spoon sweets are said to be "patience and a heavy pot". Some lemon juice is often added to preserve the fruit's original color, as the citric acid
prevents oxidation. A small quantity of blanched almonds, slivered or whole, may also be added for crunch, often to apples or grapes. Ingredients variously added during the boiling, and then discarded, include a quill of cinnamon
bark, a mint
bouquet, or the green, fragrant leaves of the shrub Pelargonium
odoratissimum (apple geranium) which add some astringency and a slight aroma of frankincense
and is especially popular in the Ionian islands
.
The overall method of preparation is essentially the same as that of marmalade
, except that fruit pieces remain firm and whole; a well-made spoon sweet is chewy.
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, and in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. They can be made from almost any fruit, though sour and bitter fruits are especially prized. There are also spoon sweets produced without fruit.
Some of the fruits that are used include seedless grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s, mulberries
Mulberry
Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....
and other berries, bergamot
Bergamot orange
Citrus bergamia, the Bergamot orange, is a fragrant fruit the size of an orange, with a yellow colour similar to a lemon. Genetic research into the ancestral origins of extant citrus cultivars recently matched the bergamot as a likely hybrid of Citrus limetta and Citrus aurantium...
, apricot
Apricot
The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...
s, apple
Apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
s, pear
Pear
The pear is any of several tree species of genus Pyrus and also the name of the pomaceous fruit of these trees. Several species of pear are valued by humans for their edible fruit, but the fruit of other species is small, hard, and astringent....
s, sour and sweet cherries
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
, orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
s and kumquat
Kumquat
Cumquats or kumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, either forming the genus Fortunella, or placed within Citrus sensu lato...
s, lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
s, grapefruit
Grapefruit
The grapefruit , is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour fruit, an 18th-century hybrid first bred in Barbados. When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit"; it has also been misidentified with the pomelo or shaddock , one of the parents of this hybrid, the other being sweet orange The...
, tangerine
Tangerine
__notoc__The tangerine is an orange-colored citrus fruit which is closely related to the Mandarin orange . Taxonomically, it should probably be formally named as a subspecies or variety of Citrus reticulata; further work seems to be required to ascertain its correct scientific name...
s, pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s, quince
Quince
The quince , or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the Caucasus region...
s, fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s, prunes, etc. Even soft fruit like melon
Melon
thumb|200px|Various types of melonsThis list of melons includes members of the plant family Cucurbitaceae with edible, fleshy fruit e.g. gourds or cucurbits. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit...
or watermelon
Watermelon
Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...
can be thus prepared, although retaining a relatively firm texture is challenging. Other varieties include green, unripe walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
s, pistachio
Pistachio
The pistachio, Pistacia vera in the Anacardiaceae family, is a small tree originally from Persia , which now can also be found in regions of Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Sicily and possibly Afghanistan , as well as in the United States,...
s, hazelnut
Hazelnut
A hazelnut is the nut of the hazel and is also known as a cob nut or filbert nut according to species. A cob is roughly spherical to oval, about 15–25 mm long and 10–15 mm in diameter, with an outer fibrous husk surrounding a smooth shell. A filbert is more elongated, being about twice...
s, and other nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
s, or even flower petals like rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
. Many fruits or parts of fruits that are normally inedible, such as the various citrus peels and blossoms, or sliced citrus fruits with their peel intact, can be made into sweet, flavorful preserves, as can some vegetables such as baby eggplants or cherry tomato
Cherry tomato
A cherry tomato is a small variety of tomato that has been cultivated since at least the early 1800s and thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape...
es. A well-made spoon sweet retains the original shape, color, aroma and taste of the fruit.
Spoon sweets are usually offered to guests served by the teaspoon in a small china
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
or crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
dish or bowl, with coffee or tea and cold water. Most of the time they are homemade, but nowadays they can also be easily found in most supermarkets; these are more likely to be made with glucose syrup rather than sugar, for reasons of cost.
They can be used as ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
or yogurt topping, or in the Western way as a spread on toast for breakfast. Spoon sweets are commonly eaten alone or with cheese.
Republic of Macedonia
Spoon sweets in the Republic of MacedoniaRepublic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
are called "slatko
Slatko
Slatko is a thin fruit preserve made of fruit or rose petals in Serbian and also Jewish cuisine. Almost any kind of fruit can be used, like wild strawberry, blueberry, plum, and cherry...
", which means "sweet" or "delicious". It is a thin fruit preserve made of fruit or rose petals. Almost any kind of fruit can be used, like fig, orange, and cherry. Traditionally, honored guests in house are greeted with a spoonful of "slatko".
Other fresh fruits like raspberries, sweet cherries, watermelon cubes, rose petals, quinces, grapes, skinned apricots halves or quarters, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, red currants can also be used. If a plum slatko is prepared, walnut halves may be added to the mixture, or even inserted into the plums themselves to replace the pits. Frozen berries and fruits may be used too, but the amount of water and the cooking time should be adjusted accordingly.
Greece
Spoon sweets (γλυκό του κουταλιού 'sweet of the spoon') are popular in GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, usually served with Greek coffee and a glass of cold water. Most are made of whole fruit, though some kinds are made of pieces or purees.
One typically Greek spoon sweet is the snow-white and intensely aromatic vaníllia (βανίλια, [va'nilja]) which is not made of vanilla
Vanilla
Vanilla is a flavoring derived from orchids of the genus Vanilla, primarily from the Mexican species, Flat-leaved Vanilla . The word vanilla derives from the Spanish word "", little pod...
, but of mastic resin
Mastic (plant resin)
Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree . In pharmacies and Nature shops it is called "arabic gum" and "Yemen gum". In Greece it is known as the "tears of Chios," being traditionally produced on that Greek island, and, like other natural resins is produced in "tears" or droplets...
, for which the Aegean island
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
of Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
is famous. This is usually served as a spoonful of sweet on a table spoon dropped into a tall glass of ice-cold water and popularly called "βανίλια υποβρύχιο", a "vanilla submarine". It is a thick, white, sweet paste made industrially by beating mastic resin with table sugar. When cold, it has the consistency of hard caramel candy: it is meant to be licked like a lollipop
Lollipop
A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...
as, at body temperature, it gradually becomes softer and more chewable. The Greek diaspora
Greek diaspora
The Greek diaspora, also known as Hellenic Diaspora or Diaspora of Hellenism, is a term used to refer to the communities of Greek people living outside the traditional Greek homelands, but more commonly in southeast Europe and Asia Minor...
introduced this treat to other countries as far away as Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is said to be the official treat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Whole fruit preserves can be found in most Greek and Cypriot homes. They are made by slowly and gently boiling fruit in water and sugar over several hours or days, until the syrup sets. Thus the main prerequisites to making good spoon sweets are said to be "patience and a heavy pot". Some lemon juice is often added to preserve the fruit's original color, as the citric acid
Citric acid
Citric acid is a weak organic acid. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic, or sour, taste to foods and soft drinks...
prevents oxidation. A small quantity of blanched almonds, slivered or whole, may also be added for crunch, often to apples or grapes. Ingredients variously added during the boiling, and then discarded, include a quill of cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
bark, a mint
Mentha
Mentha is a genus of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae . The species are not clearly distinct and estimates of the number of species varies from 13 to 18. Hybridization between some of the species occurs naturally...
bouquet, or the green, fragrant leaves of the shrub Pelargonium
Pelargonium
Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as scented geraniums or storksbills. Confusingly, Geranium is the correct botanical name of a separate genus of related plants often called Cranesbills. Both Geranium...
odoratissimum (apple geranium) which add some astringency and a slight aroma of frankincense
Frankincense
Frankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...
and is especially popular in the Ionian islands
Ionian Islands
The Ionian Islands are a group of islands in Greece. They are traditionally called the Heptanese, i.e...
.
The overall method of preparation is essentially the same as that of marmalade
Marmalade
Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits, boiled with sugar and water. The benchmark citrus fruit for marmalade production in Britain is the "Seville orange" from Spain, Citrus aurantium var...
, except that fruit pieces remain firm and whole; a well-made spoon sweet is chewy.
Further reading
- Claudia RodenClaudia RodenClaudia Roden is a cookbook writer based in the United Kingdom. She was born 1936 in Cairo, Egypt. After completing her formal education in Paris, she moved to London to study art...
, A Book of Middle Eastern Food, 1970. ISBN 0-14-046-159-0.
