Ingredients
Drink
- 1 litrefresh camel milk, or goat milk, ideally 1–2 days old and just beginning to turn
- 400 mlcold water
- 3–5 tbspsugar, to taste
- 1small pinch of fine salt
To serve
- Ice, if you have it
- 1wide gourd, calabash or metal bowl for frothing, and tall glasses or bowls for pouring
Directions
- If your milk is raw and you cannot vouch for it, scald it first: heat to 72°C (160°F), hold 20 seconds, then cool it fast in a basin of cold water. Zrig made in the camp uses fresh raw milk straight from the animal.
- Pour the milk into a wide bowl or gourd and stir in the salt and the sugar until fully dissolved. The salt is barely detectable but it lifts the sweetness and rounds off the goaty edge.
- Add the cold water. The ratio is a matter of household taste and season, but roughly two and a half parts milk to one part water gives the classic thin, drinkable body; herders dilute further in the hot months.
- Now froth it. Beat with a whisk, or pour the mixture repeatedly from one vessel to another held high, or rock the closed gourd hard for 3 or 4 minutes, until a thick head of foam stands on top.
- Taste and adjust: zrig should be lightly sweet, faintly sour and salty at the back, never syrupy.
- Chill 2 hours, or set the vessel in wet sand in the shade, which is how it is cooled in the badiya.
- Froth once more just before serving, since the foam collapses as it stands.
- Pour into glasses or a shared bowl with the foam on top and serve very cold. Zrig is offered to arriving guests before anything else and is drunk in long draughts, not sipped.
Technique
- Camel milk behaves differently from cow milk. It is saltier and higher in vitamin C, its fat is finely dispersed so it does not throw a cream line, and it will not whip into stiff foam; the head you get is loose and bubbly, which is correct.
- Slightly soured milk is preferred over completely fresh in many households, giving the drink its faint tang. That souring must be a clean lactic one; if the milk smells sharp, cheesy or bitter, discard it.
- Raw-milk drinks carry real risk from brucellosis and other pathogens, which is why scalding is worth doing when the animal and its handling are unknown to you.
- The frothing is not decoration. Zrig poured flat is considered badly made, and a guest is served the foamy top of the bowl.
Substitutions
- No camel milk: goat milk is the traditional alternative and is closest; whole cow milk works but tastes noticeably sweeter and richer, so cut the sugar and add an extra pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime.
- For a soured character without waiting, stir 3 tbsp of plain live yoghurt into cow milk and leave it 30 minutes before diluting.
Variations
- Unsweetened zrig, just milk, water and salt, is drunk in the camps and considered the older form.
- Some families scent it with a drop of rose water or a little pounded gum arabic, which also thickens the foam.
History
Camel or goat milk is churned, thinned with water and lightly sugared; offering zrig to an arriving guest is the central gesture of Moorish hospitality.
Frequently asked questions
What is Zrig?
Zrig is a drink from Mauritania: frothed camel or goat milk diluted with water and sugar; hospitality drink. Camel or goat milk is churned, thinned with water and lightly sugared; offering zrig to an arriving guest is the central gesture of Moorish hospitality.
How long does Zrig take to make?
Zrig takes 10 min of preparation and 2 hr chilling of cooking. The recipe makes 4 large glasses. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Zrig?
Yes, within limits. No camel milk: goat milk is the traditional alternative and is closest; whole cow milk works but tastes noticeably sweeter and richer, so cut the sugar and add an extra pinch of salt and a squeeze of lime. For a soured character without waiting, stir 3 tbsp of plain live yoghurt into cow milk and leave it 30 minutes before diluting.
What is the most important thing to get right in Zrig?
Taste and adjust: zrig should be lightly sweet, faintly sour and salty at the back, never syrupy.
