Keep it hydrated, with watermelons, tomatoes and baladi cucumbers on ice
Do-it-yourself drinks for the blazing hot weather
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
When it’s this hot, it’s hard to think about anything but drinking. Not the alcoholic kind. Right now, it’s all about getting a steady stream of liquids into the body, preferably water-based.
That said, I find that I get tired of drinking water, and need some variation in my hot-weather liquid diet. So beyond H2O from the filter, and soda water, which can be jazzed up with a trickle of fruit juice — pomegranate is particularly good — I’ve compiled a list of some favorites, all easily made at home and often available on many cafe and restaurant menus during the summer.
1) I drank a fantastic gazpacho at a local cafe the other day, which they were serving in teacups (for easy drinking), or in wide, shallow bowls, served with a slice of crunchy, yet soft-enough-to-eat-with-a-spoon bruschetta (look at this grape-bruschetta idea) resting on top of the soup, all liberally sprinkled with goat cheese. On another day, a friend of mine had a watermelon gazpacho at the same cafe, although this one was made with watermelon, bread (a standard ingredient in most Spanish gazpacho recipes), hot pepper, onion, garlic and sun-dried tomato.
2) I try to keep a pitcher of home-brewed iced tea on hand at all times, using any brand of mixed fruit tea bags, honey and water. The best ratio tends to be five or six tea bags to two liters of water. Steep the tea bags in some boiling water — they need to be just covered by the hot water, not more than that — and then add a squeeze or two of honey. Make sure the honey is dissolved before adding the rest of the cold water, and then serve ice cold.
3) For some, the only respite to a hot day is a tall, cold glass of iced coffee. I try to remember to prepare cold-brewed coffee at this time of year, which provides one-and-a-half to two excellent glasses of iced coffee in the morning, but only if you put it up 12 hours earlier. That said, after years of drinking Aroma’s Iced Aroma blended coffee drinks (too sweet) and Iced Cappuccino (a great drink, but pricey at NIS 17 per cup), I’ve hit upon their Iced Americano as the perfect blend of the standard American-style iced filter coffee, but made with stronger, more flavorful espresso and without all the milk, and, only NIS 12 per generous cupful. A true treat.
4) It’s baladi cucumber season. I didn’t know, until I read an article about them and was then offered a taste from my dry cleaner, who brought a few from her village to munch on at work. Small, with a slightly coarse and hairy skin and fewer seeds than regular cucumbers, they’re delightfully crunchy and sweet, a true antidote to the heat. If you can resist eating all of them, consider using them in a cucumber soup or salad. If not, munch away. They don’t contain as much water as regular cucumbers, and can be grown in full sun exposure, so consider planting a few.
5) A friend of mine always offers a shot glass full of coffee granita when you enter her house on a hot day, and that always makes me a happy camper. But not everyone — gasp! — is a coffee fan, so I’ve been trying my hand at some other granita flavors this season. There’s always watermelon, which is great for granita because local watermelons generally doesn’t have seeds and it’s not hard to save some leftover chunks when you’ve purchased a whole one. I’m going to check out this lemon-mint granita as well, because what could be bad about lemon and mint served together? And finally, here’s a slew of options, including sangria granita. I know I said no alcohol, but wine and ice? Could be a summer-saving option.
