Classification and description

Sorbet is often confused with water ice, Italian ice, and sherbet.

The word "Sorbet" ( , /ˈsɔrbɨt/, or /sɔrˈbɛt/) is French ( ) for the Ottoman Turkish word "Sherbet". Sorbets/sherbets may also contain alcohol, which lowers the freezing temperature, resulting in a softer texture. In North America, sherbet is often misspelled sherbert.

Whereas ice cream has air whipped into it, sorbet has almost none, which makes for a dense and extremely flavourful product. Both sorbet and frozen yogurt are served as non-fat or low-fat (sometimes 3% fat) alternatives to ice cream.

In Italy a virtually identical dish called granita is made, which is only really different from sorbet in that it has a crunchier texture because of the freezing process. As the liquid freezes, it forms noticeably large-size crystals, which should not be present in sorbet because of the stirring. Granita is also often sharded with a fork to give an even crunchier texture when served.

Agraz is a type of sorbet, usually associated with the Maghreb and north Africa. It is made from almonds, verjuice, and sugar. It has a strongly acidic flavour, because of the verjuice. (Larousse Gastronomique)

American terminology

In US American usage, sorbet and sherbet are distinctly different products. For Americans, sherbet is the more widely-known term and typically designates a fruity flavored frozen dairy product with a milkfat content less than 3%. Sorbet, on the other hand, is considered by Americans to be a fruity frozen product with little to no dairy content, and is more likely to be referred to by a large number of Americans as Italian ice, with the term sorbet considered by manyWho: date=May 2009 as just a "fancier" name of this product.

The United States Food and Drug Administration does not have a classification for sorbet because it considers it a synonym for sherbet. Sherbet in the United States must also include dairy ingredients such as milk or cream to reach a milkfat content between 1% and 2%. Products with higher milkfat content are defined as ice cream; products with lower milkfat content are defined as water ice. The use of the term "sorbet" is unregulated and is most commonly used with non-dairy, fruit juice "water ice" products. Although the American legal definitions indicate that the terms "sorbet" and sherbet are interchangeable, actual usage by Americans and the manufacturers of these products bear a clear distinction. A similar situation occurs in the legal definitions by differing international state governments on what is considered beer.

Early history and folklore

Folklore holds that Nero, the Roman Emperor, invented sorbet during the first century A.D. when he had runners along the Appian way pass buckets of snow hand over hand from the mountains to his banquet hall where it was then mixed with honey and wine. The Chinese have made concoctions from snow, juice, and fruit pulp for several thousand years.