Khoshaf, or Perfumed Fruit Salad

December 3, 7:15 PMNY Ethnic Food ExaminerAimée Kligman

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Courtesy of Cooking light

Forget the fruit salads you've had in the past, whether they were canned or diced at your supermarket's produce aisle. This particular salad is very Middle Eastern, and has been adopted by Sephardic Jews as their own. What gives it a signature is the unmistakable taste and aroma of Rose Water. And a little drop will go a very, very long way. 

I tried to lure you with rose water last month, you might recall, so you've been warned. Once opened, I suggest you keep the bottle refrigerated, though some people don't. Try to buy your ingredients from a neighborhood green grocer, as they usually have turkish apricots which are better than local. (of from Hawaii). 

There is no hard and fast rule as to what dried fruit you cannot add to this salad, but I will give you the classic version. Try to avoid citrus fruit here; it just doesn't blend well with the rest of the crowd.

Ingredients:

16 ozs. dried apricot, 8 ozs. dried prunes, 8 ozs. raisins, 1-1/2 cups sliced almonds, 1/2 cup walnuts, 2 tbsps Rose Water, water.

In fruit bowl, assemble all your dry ingredients. Fill the bowl with sufficient water so that the fruit is "floating". Add the rose water and mix with your hands or a wooden spoon. Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours. Serve in dessert cups by scooping out fruit/nut mixture, and add a couple of tbsps. of liquid to each cup. 

Voilà!

For a variation, which I always do because people just don't expect it, I sometimes add sliced fresh strawberries, or bananas to the salad. Remember that with bananas, you have to treat them with lemon, otherwise, they'll turn brown.