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Kahwa Beida

A hot drink of boiled scented water taken as an alternative to coffee at night is an old tradition in Syria and Lebanon.

Ingredients

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Pour boiling water into a small coffee cup and add a few drops of orange blossom water. Sweeten with sugar if you like. It is very soothing.

    Step 2

    When I was a child in Egypt, we used to take to bed a glass of cold water with a few drops of rose water to make us sleep.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.