MAKES A SCANT 1 QUART/1 L
In summer, sorbets help mitigate the startling Spanish heat. Their roots, says esteemed Spanish food writer María Jesús Gil de Antuñano, date back to the ancient tradition of mixing the pulp of fruit with honey and snow. Introduced on Spanish soil during the Muslim rule, using snow gathered in the Sierra Nevada outside Granada and stored in caves, the techniques for making sorbets might have changed, but they have lost little of their original appeal. Today, there are various sorbets prepared across the country, with lemon being the most popular.
This interesting, elegant sorbet comes from Menorca and is prepared with lemon juice and the island’s most famous and distinctive product, gin (see facing page). I have adapted a recipe from Josep Borràs and his son Damià’s book La cuina del menorquins (The Cuisine of the Menorcans). It is, of course, easiest to prepare in a sorbet (or ice cream) maker, but it can be made with a bowl and fork by gradually adding the gin and breaking up the liquid as it freezes. That is the method that the Borràs pair uses, and the one I follow when I make it at home. For best results, use a rounded bowl as opposed to a container with straight sides.
1. In a saucepan, bring 1½> cups/360 ml water to a boil with the sugar, stirring to dissolve. Reduce the heat to low and gently boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Strain the lemon and orange juices through a cheesecloth and into the syrup. Let cool completely. Pour into a bowl. Place in the freezer.
2. When the juice begins to freeze, scrape the edges of the bowl with a fork or spoon, and stir in 2 tablespoons of the gin. Return to the freezer. When the juice begins to freeze again, scrape the sides, add another 2 tablespoons gin, and freeze again. Repeat this two more times, until all of the gin has been added.
3. When the mixture has the consistency of slushy granita, prepare the egg white. In a clean bowl, beat the egg white with a mixer over medium speed to soft peaks that are opaque and still moist. Fold it into the gin mixture. Return the bowl to the freezer. When it is nearly frozen, whisk with a fork. Freeze a final time. (Keep in the freezer for up to 1 week.)
4. To serve, scoop into balls and place in chilled sorbet glasses or small bowls.