I was thinking about this while eating my dessert. Then it hit me; I should write about my dessert, sorbet, or what the Americans call it, sherbet.

Sorbet is an icy dessert made from sweetened flavoured water with frozen fruit. The origins of sorbet can be traced to a Middle Eastern drink ‘charbet’, made of sweetened fruit juice and water. The term ‘sherbet’ or ‘charbet’ is derived from Turkish: ‘erbat’ or ‘erbet’ and ‘sorbet’, which in turn comes from the Arabic language. Unlike gelato (the famous Italian ice-cream), sorbet is made vegan, meaning that it contains no animal products, and it tends to be slightly softer than gelato. It is also lower in fat than many other frozen fruit desserts.

Sweet sorbet is often served as a dessert, or as a stand-alone refresher in summer. Savoury sorbet appears as a palate cleanser, or as a dessert course after some meals. In some cases, a crisply flavoured sorbet such as lemon will be served to cleanse the palate of guests. Depending on the cook and the meal, savoury sorbets may be made with relatively neutral flavouring, while others complement the meal in some way.

Intense, refreshing and cooling are three words to describe a delightful sorbet. Sorbets are especially great to be eaten when the weather is scorching hot. One spoonful of sorbet is like a spoonful of heaven. You can never get tired of eating too much sorbet.