Alark is a distilled, colorless, unsweetened alcoholic beverage that often contains anise. It is made in the eastern Mediterranean, especially in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
Alark is not drunk directly, but it is diluted with approximately the same amount of water, and ice is added with it. This dilution causes the color of the vein to change from no color to an emulsion color. Alark is usually served with "meze", which is a variety of small dishes that consumers prefer to eat over the main course.
The well-known tradition is to add water before the ice, because if the ice is added first, an unpleasant layer will form on the face of the drink. For the same reason, the same cup cannot be used, and a new cup must be used. In restaurants, when ordering a logo, several glasses are brought with the bottle for the previous reason.
No, as long as the leaf is fermented grapes with the addition of anise, but there are differences in some countries. The name differs in countries such as Turkey, where it is called " raki", and it is called ouzo in Greece, Macedonia, and Bulgaria and in these countries it is made from many seeds, figs, peaches and potatoes. And among the variants of the race is the race of Iraq, which is made from fermented date juice, and raisins in Egypt. In Iran, it is called by the name " soy race" meaning dog race, and it is manufactured without anisone and has a high alcohol content.
It is believed that the drink was invented by Christians and Jews in the Islamic Middle East. When the Muslim scholar, Jabir Ibn Hayyan, invented a distillation device that facilitated the process of making arak.