Web Page  No 2292

26^th August 2016

Top Picture: Sherbet Fountain

Second Picture: Sherbet Dabs

Third Picture: Sherbet Lemons

Sherbet

One of our favourite sweets when we were little was sherbet or, kali  in the north of England or keli in Scoland This fizzy powder was usually eaten by dipping a lollipop or liquorice, in it or by just licking it on a finger. 

The word "sherbet" is from Turkish "şerbet", which is from the Persian which in turn comes from "sharbat", Arabic "sharba" which was a drink,. Another route for the name "sorbet", comes from the French "sorbet", from Italian "sorbetto" and in turn from Turkish "şerbet". Historically it was a cool effervescent or iced fruit soft drink. The meaning, spelling and pronunciation have fractured between different countries. It is usually spelled "sherbet", but a common pronunciation changes this to "sherbert".

Beginning with the 19th century sherbet powder (soda powder) became popular in Germany where the art was "Put a spoonful of the powder in a cup of water, mix it and drink it as soon as possible, during the time of sparkling.

Sherbet in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries is a fizzy powder, containing sugar and flavouring, and an edible acid and base. The acid may be tartaric, citric or malic acid, and the base may be sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, magnesium carbonate, or a mixture of these and/or other similar carbonates.  To this is added a large amount of sugar to mask the unappetising flavour of the reactive powders, icing sugar, and fruit or cream soda flavouring.

The acid-carbonate reaction occurs upon presence of moisture (juice/saliva). Sherbet used to be stirred into various beverages to make effervescing drinks, in a similar way to  making lemonade from lemonade powder, before tinned carbonated drinks became popular. Sherbet is now used to mean this powder sold as a sweet.  Sherbet can be sold by itself or used as a decorative agent on other sweets for example:-.

The Sherbet Lemon

The sherbet lemon is a popular sweet in the UK, and is included in many sweet shops. It is the main flavour of boiled sweets with powdered sherbet centres - such as sherbet fruits, where sherbet limes, strawberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and orange are popular flavours. The sherbet lemon has a citrus taste and is sour and also tangy. The sherbet in the middle explodes, making the sweet suddenly more sour.

Sherbet Fountain

Barratt's "Sherbet Fountain" consists of sherbet and a stick made from liquorice, sold since 1925. In 2009 a plastic tube with twist-off lid replaced the traditional paper packaging with the liquorice stick poking through the end, much to the fury of the traditionalist.  In the traditional paper packaging, the top of the stick was intended to be bitten off to form a straw and the sherbet sucked through it, where it fizzes and dissolves on the tongue. The "new" format only includes a solid liquorice stick, so the sherbet must be licked off that, or eaten directly. This method of consumption was also considered acceptable with the original packaging. This is now advertised on the packet as "Sherbet with a liquorice dip" A very different experience from the original paper-wrapped sweet.

Fruit flavoured with lollipop

Sherbet dips or Sherbet Dabs are also popular, such as the Dip Dab by Barratt. They consist of a small packet of sherbet, with a lollipop sealed into the bag. Once the lollipop has been licked, it can be dipped into the sherbet and then sucked clean, alternatively it can simply be used to shovel the sherbet into the mouth.

Another popular type of sherbet dip is the Double Dip by Swizzels Matlow, where the packet is divided into three sections; one contains an edible stick which can be licked and then dipped into the other sections, each of which contains a different flavour of sherbet (for example strawberry, orange, cola).

Sherbet straws[

Plastic straws filled purely with fruit-flavoured sherbet. The most common lengths are 10 cm and 50 cm. The price of these straws range from 5p to £2.00 in the UK depending on size, make and flavour. Normally found in newsagents.

Flying saucers[

We all remember the small dimpled discs made from rice paper, typically filled with white unflavoured sherbet. The first flying saucers were produced in the 1960s.

Other uses]

Sherbet is incorporated into other sweets. For example, it is used to give gum based sweets an interesting surface texture and zing (notably cola bottles, fruit strips).

Slang

Sherbet has been used in parts of both the UK and Australia as slang for an alcoholic drink, especially beer. This use is noted in a slang dictionary as early as 1890, and still appears in list of slang terms written today (especially lists of Australian slang). "We're heading to the pub for a few sherbets." And "Sherbet dab" is used as rhyming slang for a "taxi cab".

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Peter

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