In the souks and narrow streets of Cairo, Aden or Abidjan, everyone drinks this red herbal tea made from hibiscus flowers, served ice-cold, known as karkadé, karkadeh or bissap in West Africa.
You often see bags of hibiscus flowers in organic shops or at Middle Eastern grocers. Yet people don't know they are used to make karkadé, and even less how to use them.
Les JARDINS D'ISSOLE are here to put that right!
It is one of the most refreshing drinks there is: both tart and sweet, thirst-quenching, with the scent of red berries. And it lends itself to many blends with other ingredients.
But so as not to keep you waiting, here is the basic recipe: three heaped tablespoons of dried hibiscus flowers in one litre of boiling water. Some say 15 to 20 flowers for 1 litre of boiling water.
Turn off the heat, cover, wait 10 to 15 minutes and strain (it is best to line the sieve with a cloth). Leave to cool and keep in the fridge.
To serve: pour this divine brew over a few ice cubes and enjoy!
The base is the very fleshy calyx of the flower of the red-flowered hibiscus, or Hibiscus sabdariffa (make sure the packet says Hibiscus sabdariffa).
Also known as Guinea sorrel or Roselle. It is a herbaceous plant of the Malvaceae family (the mallow family) that grows in tropical regions, notably in West Africa: Burkina Faso (a lovely country name meaning "the land of upright people", formerly Upper Volta in colonial times), Senegal, southern Mali and northern Côte d'Ivoire.
It is the national drink of Egypt, just as cherry juice was that of Turkey before the Coca-Cola-style invasion. In Mexico it is called "flor de Jamaica".
What's more, karkadé is rich in vitamin C. Drunk as a hot infusion, it aids digestion, is purifying and diuretic, and lowers blood pressure. That is no doubt true, since the Egyptians advise men against it... just before going to bed.
To make a hibiscus cocktail, add various fruit juices (pineapple...) and serve chilled.
In Mauritania or Egypt, a few mint leaves are added to this recipe:
- 1 litre of water
- 1 piece of crushed fresh ginger, 1 to 1.5 cm
- 1 small bunch of fresh mint
- 12 to 16 sugar lumps (in hot countries sugar counters the debilitating effects of the heat, like the very sweet green tea of the desert).
For me, 4 sugars per litre, just one or none at all. It's up to you to choose.
- 1 handful of dried hibiscus (bissap) flowers
Leave to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes (for a more tannic drink, 30 to 45 minutes). Strain and leave to cool. Pop it in the fridge and serve chilled!
You can also add a little orange blossom water.
...my nephew asks me? You should know that roe deer, goats and ruminants cannot see the colour red!
For flowers and berries, it is the best camouflage there is. It is hardly surprising, then, that so many berries are red. Darwin would say that berries did not turn red through contact with predators, because genetic chance produces every colour: only those that chance has made red survive.
Personally, I think hibiscus flowers are red to escape predators, so that we can enjoy a glass of karkadé!
Michel BRASSINNE