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Vissinada, vissino glyko tou koutaliou and ipovrichio (Sour cherry drink, sour cherry spoon sweet and a submarine of… mastic sweet)

The flavours of our childhood

As the weather here in Greece is getting warmer and the days become brighter, my friends and I started having our Sunday gatherings in yards and balconies. There’s nothing like talking to your friends while having a soft drink in a yard full of flowers; listening to the birds singing… I love this time of the year!

Last Sunday, we started talking about the favorite drinks and sweets of our childhood. I remembered how I liked to eat ipovrichio (the “submarine”-is a spoon of mastic or vanilla sweet served into a glass of cold water)…  I remembered my grandmother’s vissinada (sour cherry soft drink) and how she used to sing to me while I was drinking this sweet refreshment. I remembered how I loved to observe the colorful jars of spoon sweets in my mother’s kitchen, and how I used to pick by the color what I wanted to eat. Sour cherry’ s rubin color was on top of my preferences!

Even today, a small cup of Greek coffee, a glass of cold water and a spoon full of sour cherry sweet, is enough to make me feel delighted and revitalized…

In a couple of months sour cherries will appear to markets and farms. Buy some, to make this traditional recipe for vissinada that I am sure you will love! As for the sour cherry gliko tou koutaliou? Try to combine it with yogurt, mizithra cheese or kaimaki ice cream…Pure perfection!

 

Vissino gliko tou koutaliou   |   The recipe

 

  • 1 kilo of sour cherries
  • 1 kilo of sugar
  • 1 glass of water
  • Juice of 1 lemon

 

Wash the sour cherries and drain them. Remove the stalks and the pits, using the special machine or by hand. Collect in a bowl the juice that comes out of the fruit.

Place a layer of sour cherries in a pot, then add a layer of sugar, and alternate the two ingredients until they are finished. Add the juice that you have already collected in a bowl. Cover, and put it in the fridge for 10 hours, because during his time the sour cherries will release their juices.

Put the sour cherries, the sugar and the water in a pan and bring it to the point of boiling over medium heat.

Remove the foam with a spoon as it builds up and stir the pan by shaking the handles. We leave it on the fire for another 15 minutes.

Leave the sweet to stand for one day, then add the lemon juice and heat it in medium fire in order for the syrup to get thick. The vissino gliko is ready! Put it in sterilized jars and keep them in a dark, dry place.

 

Vissinada   |   The recipe

 

  • 1 kilo of sour cherries
  • 1 kilo of sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon

Wash the sour cherries and drain them. Remove the stalks and the pits, using the special machine or by hand. Collect in a bowl the juice that comes out of the fruit.

Put the sour cherries and the juice in a bowl and leave it in the fridge for 10 hours.

Mash the sour cherries using a hand blender, and strain them. You can put the peels and the pits in a bowl, add a glass of water and strain them also. Put the sour cherry juice, the sugar and the lemon juice in a pan and bring it to boil over medium heat. With a spoon, remove the foam that appears on the surface of the pan. When the syrup is thick, remove from the fire, and leave it to get cold.

Put the vissinada in sterilized bottles and keep them in a dark, dry place.

To serve, put some vissinada in a glass, and add cold water. Enjoy!