141Soumada almond drink

Method

Traditional Aegean almond cordial. Yields about 750 ml of concentrated syrup, enough for 12 to 15 refreshing drinks.

You will need

• food processor
• cheesecloth or nut-milk bag
• fine mesh sieve
• heavy saucepan
• glass bottle

1. Place the blanched almonds into a food processor with 200 ml of the water and grind thoroughly until you obtain a fine, smooth white paste. 5 min Ready when: paste is uniform and milky
2. Transfer the almond paste to a bowl, pour in another 200 ml of warm water, stir well, and leave to steep for 15 minutes to release all the oils and flavour. 15 min Ready when: liquid becomes deeply opaque white
3. Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a heavy saucepan, twisting and squeezing the cloth vigorously to extract every drop of concentrated almond milk. 5 min Ready when: almond meal inside the cloth feels dry and compressed
4. Add the remaining 200 ml of water and the granulated sugar to the saucepan with the strained almond extract. 2 min Ready when: sugar settles into the liquid
5. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring continuously until the sugar is fully dissolved, then simmer gently without boiling hard for 12 minutes until light syrup consistency forms. 12 min Ready when: syrup coats the back of a spoon lightly
6. Remove from the heat, stir in the bitter almond extract and orange blossom water, and let the syrup cool completely at room temperature. 45 min Ready when: syrup cools and thickens slightly
7. Funnel the cooled syrup into clean glass bottles, seal, and serve by diluting one part syrup with three to four parts chilled water or soda over ice. 5 min Ready when: drink turns an attractive milky white in the glass

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Make ahead and storing

Make up to several weeks in advance; keeps indefinitely stored in a cool pantry or fridge.

Store in sealed glass bottles in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

Substitutions

• 3 to 4 raw bitter almonds pounded with the sweet almonds for bitter almond extract. The original village method, though real bitter almonds must be used sparingly due to natural amygdalin.

Common mistakes

• Boiling the syrup rapidly over fierce heat. High heat can curdle the almond proteins, causing the delicate emulsion to separate and scorch.
• Skipping the fine cloth straining. Using an ordinary kitchen sieve leaves gritty almond pulp in the syrup rather than a silky cordial.

Regional variants

• Nisyros soumada, renowned for its strong bitter almond profile
• Chios soumada, occasionally scented with a tiny bead of mastic alongside blossom water

About the dish

Soumada is an aromatic, sweet almond syrup diluted with chilled water, long served across the Aegean and Ionian islands. Because of its pure white colour, it is traditionally offered at engagements, weddings, and baptisms to symbolise purity and joy, accompanied by bitter almond liqueur or paximadia. In places like Nisyros, Chios, and Crete, bitter almonds were traditionally pounded with sweet almonds to give an intense marzipan aroma, though modern home cooks often balance sweet almonds with a splash of bitter almond essence or orange blossom water.

Found in Crete, Dodecanese, Cyclades, Ionian Islands. Cooked for wedding, summer, everyday, name day.

Cousins elsewhere

• Rozata (Levantine). Sweet almond milk syrups flavored with flower waters are traditional across the eastern Mediterranean.
• Orgeat (French). Both derive from archaic barley waters that shifted to rich almond emulsions sweetened with sugar.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

342 kcal · protein 5.4 g · fat 13.1 g (saturated 1 g) · carbohydrate 54.7 g (sugars 51.2 g) · fibre 2.5 g · sodium 3 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Following the classic island wedding confectionery tradition of the Aegean..