Spoon sweets are sweet preserves, served in a spoon (occasionally with a small fork) as a gesture of hospitality.
They can be made from almost any fruit, though sour and bitter fruits are especially prized. There are even spoon sweets made from vegetables.
Whole fruit preserves can be found in most Greek and Cypriot homes. They are made by slowly simmering fruit in water and sugar over several hours or days, until the syrup sets. A small quantity of lemon juice is often added to preserve the fruit’s original colour, as well as to prevent sugar from crystallizing. The method of preparation is essentially similar to that of marmalade, except that fruit pieces remain whole.
Some of the fruits that are used include citrus (bitter oranges), grapes, mulberries, bergamot, apricots, cherries, oranges, sour cherries, lemons, pomegranates, quinces, strawberries, apples, dates, figs, prunes, and tangerines. Other varieties include vegetables, pistachios, hazelnuts, green (immature) walnuts and other nuts, and flower petals like rose or citrus flower blossoms. Many fruits or parts of fruits that are normally inedible, such as citrus peel and water melon rind, can be made into sweet, flavourful preserves, as can unripe nuts and vegetables such as eggplant and carrots.
Some years back they used to add food colour like grenadine etc., to red spoon sweets, but nowadays they have been forbidden as they are considered dangerous to health and usually retain the original shape, colour, aroma and taste of the fruit.
The method used to make the spoon sweets crunchier was to soak the fruit in solution of quicklime dissolved in water. They let it rest for two or more hours and then washed the fruit very well and proceeded to make the sweet.
Spoon sweets are usually offered to guests served by the teaspoon in a small china or crystal dish, with coffee or tea and cold water. Originally they used to serve them in a big bowl where everybody would take a piece from there in order to prove that there was no poison in it. I remember them served in bowls made of pure silver, sort of basket shaped which had places for the silver spoons to stand round the basket, which was filled with the spoon sweets.
Karpouzi Glyko – Watermelon spoon sweet
Makes 2 jars
Preparation time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 1.30 hours
Ingredients
- The rind of a watermelon
- 1 kilo of sugar per 1 kilo of peeled rind
- 1/2 cup quicklime dissolved in 2 litres of water
- 3 cups of water
- 4 – 5 tablespoons of lemon juice
- a few leaves of fragrant geranium (αρμπαρόριζα) or apple geranium, or if you don’t have any 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
- 2- 3 tablespoons of lemon juice for the final stage
Directions
In order to make this spoon sweet the rind should be at least two centimetres thick. Cut slices about 6 – 8 cm., and remove the outer green skin and as much red flesh as you can.
Cut each slice into smaller pieces about 5 – 6 centimetres long.
Put the peel pieces into a large bowl and cover with cold water and the lemon juice and leave it for an hour. (At this stage if you have quicklime (asvesti) dissolve 1/2 cup in 2 litres of water and soak the rind for 1 – 2 hours.
Rinse thoroughly before proceeding to next step. Drain the peel into a large colander and rinse under cold water. Return to the bowl, cover with fresh cold water and add the lemon juice and leave to soak for a further 30 minutes, then drain. Dissolve the sugar in the water in a large saucepan, then bring to a gentle simmer. Add the drained peel, cover and slowly simmer for about 1.30 hours until the syrup is dense. When ready, the ‘glyko’ turns a shade of transparent yellow.
Remove from the heat and add the geranium leaves (or vanilla) and lemon juice and toss saucepan.
Allow to cool and transfer to sterilised jars. Spoon sweets do not need to be stored in the refrigerator but if you are not sure that your syrup has properly thickened, then it is best to store it in the refrigerator.
Spoon sweets are always served with a cold glass of iced water.
If you liked this see other relevant posts:
Glyko Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet)
Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges)
Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot)
Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries)
Glyko Karydaki (green immature walnuts)
Glyko Kydoni me amygdala (Quince with almonds)
Glyko Kydoni me kastana (Quince with chestnuts)
Glyko Milo (Apples)
also
About Spoon sweets
How can we tell if the syrup is ready?
How to fix spoon sweets
I am submitting this recipe to Archana, from Archana’s Kitchen, hosting this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, created by Kalyn, of Kalyn’s Kitchen
Tags: Karpouzi, Spoon Sweets, Traditional, Water Melon
Ivy, I very much enjoyed these two postings on watermelon, especially the part about it being a natural viagra!
Thanks for sharing!
Sam, we have to feed our men well (lol).
And still another recipe!!!! Wow, you know what I would have done with the peels? Give them to my sister Anna… she’s got turtles in her country house and they love watermelon peels! I would have never thought of doing something out of them!
Nuria, you must try this. It’s so easy to make and believe me it’s delicious.
Yum – I am loving this spoon sweet.
Cake, wish I could send you some.
I love how in Greece they give you spoon sweets or bowls of frehs fruit after a meal as a special treat:D
Sis, it’s easy to make and delicious.
So interesting and sounds like it would really be delicious! (I did see the article about watermelon being natural viagra too, how fun!)
Hi Kalyn. Have to feed our guys more often (lol).
[...] Water melon [...]
[...] Water Melon [...]
[...] Water Melon Bitter oranges Bergamot Sour cherries Karydaki (green (immature) walnuts) Quince Spoon Sweet with almonds [...]
Ivy, thanks for visiting my site and pointing out this excellent recipe on yours…I seem to have missed it when I visited earlier. This is such a fantastic and delicious use of watermelon rind, hope to be able to try this one
[...] Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko Karydaki (green immature walnuts) Glyko Kydoni me amygdala (Quince with almonds) Glyko Kydoni me kastana (Quince with chestnuts) Glyko Milo (Apples) [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Karydaki (green immature [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Bergamonto (Bergamot) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko [...]
[...] Kerassi (Cherry Spoon Sweet) Glyko Karpouzi (Water Melon) Glyko Nerantzi (Bitter oranges) Glyko Vyssino (Sour cherries) Glyko Karydaki (green immature [...]
Ivy, thanks for steering me this way. This sounds like a great thing to try with watermelon rinds or about any fruit for that matter. It's very interesting with the history of spoon sweets and an elegant way of serving them. I'm so happy to learn a new method for the rinds. Thank you!
Thank you Pam. We learn from each other.
WHERE IN HEAVENS NAME DO WE BUT ASVESTI NO ONE KNOWS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!
Your comment is a little bit rude Antonia. When you write in capital letters it's like shouting at someone. Anyway, asvestis is quick lime. In Greece and Cyprus we buy it at supermarkets. Now I cannot guess where you live so I can't help you. However, you can order it online.