Sharots

Ingredients

Nuts

• 300 gshelled walnut halves, kept whole
• strong cotton thread and a large blunt needle

Syrup (doshab base)

• 1.5 litresdoshab, Armenian grape or mulberry molasses
• 250 gplain flour, sifted
• 500 mlwater
• ½ tspground cinnamon
• ¼ tspground clove (optional)

Directions

1. Thread the walnut halves onto doubled cotton thread with the needle, leaving a 10 cm loop at the top for hanging and a knot at the bottom, and keep the halves lightly spaced so syrup can reach all sides.
2. Whisk the flour into the cold water until there is not a single lump; any lump will cook into a raw doughy pocket inside the coating.
3. Bring the doshab to a simmer in a wide heavy pan over medium heat, skimming the greyish foam that rises in the first few minutes.
4. Pour the flour slurry into the simmering doshab in a thin stream while whisking hard, then cook over low heat for 25 to 40 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon so it never catches.
5. It is ready when it is thick enough to coat the spoon in a heavy sheet and a drop cooled on a cold plate holds its shape without spreading; stir in the cinnamon and clove and take it off the heat.
6. Let the mixture cool to about 60°C (140°F), then dip each walnut string, lifting it out slowly so the excess drips back, and hang it from a rod with paper underneath.
7. Leave to set for 2 to 3 hours until the surface is tacky rather than wet, then dip again; repeat 4 to 6 times over two days, until each string is as thick as your thumb.
8. Hang the finished strings in a dry airy room out of sunlight for 1 to 3 weeks, until the outside is leathery and firm to the touch but still yields; slice on the diagonal to serve.

Technique

• Sharots is the Armenian name; the same sweet is churchkhela in Georgia and sujukh in some Armenian households, and it is an autumn preserve made at the same time as the grape harvest and the doshab boiling.
• The flour is structural, not filler. It gelatinises and turns the thin molasses into a coating that clings to the nut and dries to a chewy skin.
• Rush the drying and the inside stays sticky and can mould. It is properly dry when a knife cuts it cleanly and the cut face is matt, not glossy.
• Real doshab has no added sugar; it is grape juice boiled down for hours until it is dark and syrupy.

Substitutions

• No doshab: reduce 3 litres of unsweetened red grape juice by two thirds over low heat until dark and syrupy, which takes about 2 hours, or use pomegranate molasses cut with a little sugar for a sharper version.
• Hazelnuts or blanched almonds can replace the walnuts, as they do in eastern Turkey.

Variations

• Mulberry doshab gives a paler, sweeter, more caramel-toned sharots typical of Syunik.
• A version rolled in ground walnut dust while still tacky gives a rough, matt finish.

History

Made at the grape harvest and hung to dry; the Armenian counterpart of Georgian churchkhela, also called sujukh.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sharots?

Sharots is a dessert from Armenia: walnut strings dipped repeatedly in thickened grape or mulberry syrup. Made at the grape harvest and hung to dry; the Armenian counterpart of Georgian churchkhela, also called sujukh.

How long does Sharots take to make?

Sharots takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hr cooking plus 1 to 3 weeks drying of cooking. The recipe makes 8 strings, about 25 cm each. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sharots?

Yes, within limits. No doshab: reduce 3 litres of unsweetened red grape juice by two thirds over low heat until dark and syrupy, which takes about 2 hours, or use pomegranate molasses cut with a little sugar for a sharper version. Hazelnuts or blanched almonds can replace the walnuts, as they do in eastern Turkey.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sharots?

Pour the flour slurry into the simmering doshab in a thin stream while whisking hard, then cook over low heat for 25 to 40 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon so it never catches.