2018 Primetime Emmy
& James Beard Award Winner

If A Wine‑Colored Drink Turns Out Not to Be Wine, It Better Be Good

If A Wine‑Colored Drink Turns Out Not to Be Wine, It Better Be Good

Kokum sherbet in Velas

It was a sweltering early summer day in Velas, Maharashtra, the kind that had us guzzling water by the gallon and yet feeling unquenched. The smell of the sea near our homestay, sulfurous and mossy, hung in the humid evening air. The kind hosts of our homestay welcomed us with warm smiles and a cool drink. The sight of rows of stainless steel glasses, some dented and wobbly, filled with an aromatic, reddish drink on a large wooden tray was puzzling. Was it wine? Was it Rooh Afza?

It was kokum sherbet, they informed us, and we took a hesitant first sip. The flavor was a cross between cranberry and plum, with mildly tangy and enticingly sweet undertones. It was so refreshing that we asked for many more servings. My daughter, whose idea of juice was limited to the odd Odwalla, the 365 range at Whole Foods, or homemade lemonade at best, wasn’t particularly ecstatic when she regarded the strange, wine-colored drink in a steel glass. It took more than gentle nudging to get her to take a sip, but once we’d crossed that bridge, she needed to be coaxed to stop after the third glass.

Kokum, of the mangosteen family, is a blackish-red super fruit, sour and delicious, similar to a few other fruits in India, such as jamun or star fruit. It is also known as the tamarind of the Malabar region. Having grown up in the south, and therefore more familiar with tamarind, I had only heard of kokum in passing and never encountered it. The many kokum recipes in Maharashtra were a novel treat. The tart and spicy sol kadi—kokum mixed with coconut—served as a curtain raiser to an elaborate meal and was soothing to the gullet. The side dishes and gravies infused with kokum extract had a distinct flavor, more complex compared to the sour, tamarind-infused ones on which I grew up.

During our stay at Velas, we had many more servings of the chilled, invigorating sherbet. We got up close with the kokum fruit, too, when a batch was sun-dried for in the backyard of our homestay. We bought a few packs from our hosts to bring home.

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