Until ice cream was invented in the eighteenth century, the only frozen confection available in Europe was sherbet, also known as sorbet. These mixtures of fruit syrup and granular ice were introduced to the rest of Europe by the Italians, who had been taught how to make them by the Turks, who had learned from the Arabs, who in turn had learned from the Chinese. The name of the refreshment does not go back quite that far, however, as it takes its origin from Arabic, but not Chinese. The ancient Arabic equivalent of the English verb slurp was shariba, equivalent because both words probably developed as imitations of the lip-smacking sounds made by someone eagerly drinking or lapping up a delicious refreshment. This Arabic verb led to the noun form sharbah, meaning a drink, which Turkish borrowed as sherbet; it was this Turkish form of the word that English borrowed at the beginning of the seventeenth century. A few decades before this, however, another form of the word had already been adopted: sorbetto, which the Italians had derived from the Turkish sherbet, entered French as sorbet and was then adopted by English. Today, both words continue to be used, but sorbet is considered the more exotic. A third word, far more familiar than either sherbet or sorbet, also developed from the Arabic shariba. This word is syrup, which developed from the Arabic shariba via the Medieval Latin siropus. Of sherbet, sorbetto, and syrup, the word syrup is by far the oldest, appearing for the first time in English at the end of the fourteenth century.
This frozen dessert is comprised of fruit juice, sugar, milk, and frequently egg whites.
Sherbet, originally a refreshing beverage of Oriental origin, consisted of fruit juice. However, the term now refers to a concoction comprising sweetened fruit juice and, in certain instances, beaten egg whites. This mixture is then frozen to create a delightful frozen dessert resembling ice.