Citronnade
Whole lemon cooler
Citronnade: Tunis's cloudy whole-lemon cooler with a drop of orange-flower water
Café terraces in Tunis serve citronnade in tall glasses on hot afternoons and through Ramadan evenings, and it is nothing like clear lemonade: whole lemons, peel and all, are blended with sugar and water, then strained, giving a cloudy, pale-yellow drink that tastes of the zest as much as the juice. A drop of orange-flower water rounds it off. It should be sharp, sweet and very cold. Use unwaxed lemons with thin skins. Chef's tip: let the cut lemons sit with the sugar for 10 minutes before blending; the sugar draws out the fragrant oils from the peel.
- Total time
- 15 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 3 unwaxed lemonsthin-skinned, scrubbed
- 4 oz sugar
- 4 ¼ cups cold water
- 1 tsp orange-flower water
- 12 ice cubes
- 4 mint sprigs (optional)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/4 doneStep 1: Top and tail 3 unwaxed lemons, cut them into eighths and flick out the seeds. Toss with 4 oz sugar in the blender jug and leave for 10 minutes.
10 minStep 2: Add half of 2 cups cold water and blend in short pulses for 20–30 seconds, just until the peel is finely chopped. A common mistake is blending for a minute or more, which pulverises the white pith and makes the drink bitter.
1 minStep 3: Pour through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing on the pulp. Stir in the rest of 2 cups cold water and 1 tsp orange-flower water, and taste: add a little more sugar if your lemons are very sharp.
Step 4: Serve over 12 ice cubes with 4 mint sprigs, straight away; it tastes best within a couple of hours.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 130 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does citronnade take?
- About 15 minutes in total.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of unwaxed lemons?
- Lime, or 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice per lemon (no zest from bottled juice).
- What can I use instead of sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
BsissaRoasted barley flour with olive oil
A tin of bsissa sits in many Tunisian kitchen cupboards, from Tunis flats to farmhouses in the south: a finely ground flour of roasted barley, roasted chickpeas and spices such as coriander, fennel and aniseed. In the morning a few spoonfuls are worked with olive oil and something sweet into a nutty, crumbly paste, or stirred with water into a thick drink, and it keeps you going until lunch. Travellers and pilgrims once carried it for the road. Roasting your own flour takes 15 minutes and makes a jar that lasts weeks. Sugar and dates keep it vegan; some families use honey. Chef's tip: roast the flours separately over a low heat and stir constantly; the moment they smell like toasted biscuits and turn light tan, tip them out of the pan.
Guava delightGuava, mango and banana drink
A thick, fragrant blend of ripe guava, mango and banana, boosted with a spoonful of guava powder from the health shop. The book calls it a modern-day vitality drink, drawing on guava's long use in traditional Indian medicine. Serve it well chilled; sieve it if you don't like the little guava seeds.
Power packApple, pear, kiwi and celery juice
A sweet, energising juice of apples, pears and kiwi fruit with a stick of celery, all used unpeeled for extra goodness. It's naturally sweet, so it needs no sugar. Serve well chilled.