Laboo Foroosh
Tehran's winter street beet in a coupe: aragh, roasted-beet and golpar syrup, lemon, and a golpar-salt rim.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | ml | oz |
|---|---|---|
| Aragh sagi (Iranian raisin spirit) | 45 ml | 1½ oz |
| Laboo syrup · homemade, P45 | 20 ml | ⅔ oz |
| Fresh lemon juice · homemade, J01 | 20 ml | ⅔ oz |
| Plain saline · homemade, P29 | 2 drops | |
| Golpar rim salt · homemade, G02 | half rim |
Ounces are rounded; measure in ml for accuracy. Homemade items link to their own page.
chilled coupe, half-rimmed with golpar salt
shaken with ice, served up
a golpar-salt half rim and a thin dried beet crisp (or a lemon wheel)
The story
On winter nights in Tehran the laboo carts come out: whole beets steamed for hours in a copper pot until they are black-red, sticky and sweet, sold hot in paper with a shake of golpar, the bitter, citrusy ground seed of Persian hogweed that goes on everything sour in Iran, pomegranates, fava beans, pickles. You eat it with your gloves on, steam coming off it. This drink is that cart. We roast the beets for the syrup to get the caramel, season it with golpar and a little vinegar, then shake it with aragh and lemon until it is cold and ruby. Golpar salt on half the rim means you choose, sip by sip, how much street you want.
Method
- Half-rim a chilled coupe with golpar salt.
- Shake the aragh, laboo syrup, lemon juice and saline with ice for 12 seconds.
- Double-strain into the coupe.
- Rest a thin beet crisp, or a lemon wheel, on the rim.
How it tastes
Earthy and sweet like the real laboo, then lemon and a clean sourness, golpar’s bitter perfume on the rim, raisin warmth under it all. Startlingly red.
Persian taste: torsh (sour), shoor (salt), earthy
Pair it with
- Food: Winter food: ash-e reshteh, or a plate of laboo itself with yogurt.
- Sweet: Shir berenj with cinnamon.
- Snack: Baghali with golpar, the other winter cart
Variations
Fizz
60 ml soda in a highball over ice: the laboo sharbat.
Yogurt
20 ml still doogh in the shaker for a pink, creamy borani version.
Pomegranate
15 ml pomegranate juice in the shaker: the Yalda version.
Balancing tips
- Taste the syrup; beets vary in sugar, so the lemon may move between 15 and 25 ml.
- Golpar is strong: a half rim, never a full one.
- Serve at once; it loses its edge as it warms.
Allergens
- No common allergens.
- Contains alcohol. Please drink responsibly.
Development notes
- Status: original recipe draft v0.1, not yet taste-tested.
- Test syrup at 20 and 25 ml.
- Try a smoked-salt rim.
Watch it mixed
Follow along
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Tehran, winter streets, imagined
