Zerde is a Turkish dessert, a sort of sweet pudding from rice that is colored yellow with saffron. It is a festive dish popular at wedding, birth celebrations and during the first ten days of the sacred month of Muharram.
In Turkey, zerde is very popular in regions where traditionally paddy fields are found. In Edirne Province at Eastern Thrace, which provides almost the half of country's rice production, zerde is a favored dessert. Flavoring ingredients of zerde vary slightly from region to region in Turkey depending on the local fruits.
Zerde differs from rice pudding insofar as it is prepared with water instead of milk.
One serving of zerde has approximately 215 calories.
Typical ingredients of zerde are:
Put saffron in rose water to dissolve in two hours. Soak raisins in warm water to get plumped. Dissolve corn starch in 1/2 cup water.
The maiden sitting by her pool
Was first to hear my pleas
As she looked into the water
She recited these words to me:
Walk not down that road
I can not tell you where it goes
Ask me no more questions
Some things you weren't meant to know
The mother toiling in the fields
Her apron full of seeds
As she dropped them to the earth
She recited these words to me:
Walk not down that road
I can not tell you where it goes
Ask me no more questions
Some things you weren't meant to know
The greater mysteries
Cannot be shown
Divided by three
The are the maiden, the mother, the crone
Finally I found the crone
Walking through the trees
She looked in my eyes
As she recited these words to me:
Go before the maiden
Get down on your knees
Should you win her favor
She may tell you what she sees
The harvest is reaped
Seeds are shown
Multiplied by three