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Smoothies are chilled, blended drinks typically made from a combination of fresh or frozen fruits, crushed ice, and fruit or vegetable juices. For a thick consistency banana, yoghurt, sherbet or sorbet is also used. It does not contain ice cream, as this is a base for milk shakes.

Drinks made from puréed fruit based on recipes that came from Brazil were first sold in health food stores in the West coast of America in the 1930s. It wasn’t until a decade later when the public was introduced to recipes for a “banana smoothie” and a “pineapple smoothie’ that were made available through the Waring Blendor cookbooks published in the 1940s. The term “smoothie” was then used to refer to any smooth product made using blenders. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s, with the resurgence of macrobiotic vegetarianism in the USA that smoothies began to become popular. These early smoothies were essentially a blend of fruit, fruit juice, and ice. In the 1970s ice milk was added to the blend to create fruit shakes which were served at local health food restaurants stores, along with other health foods such as tofu, fruits and carob. Within the same period smoothies became commercialized when chains such as Smoothie King began to sell blended fruit drinks under the name of ‘smoothie’.

The history of smoothies dates back to centuries farther when we consider similar traditional drinks in India such as lassis and sharbats. Made from yogurt that is thinned with water, cooled with ice and flavored with spices, salt, fruit and honey, lassis have been enjoyed in the said region for at least 4,000 years. Meanwhile, sharbats have also been in existence since the time of the Moghul emperors when syrups made from fruits and/or extracts of flowers and herbs were diluted with water and ice. From these obervations it can be said that modern smoothies with their base of frozen yogurt and fruit are more similar in its constituents to Indian lassis than to the fruit juice drinks of Brazil.

This refreshing drink is simple to prepare. Here are a couple of recipes for classic fruit smoothies which you can easily try making yourself:

Blackberry Smoothie Ingredients: 220g frozen blackberries 1 banana 180ml apple juice 125ml plain yogurt

Method: Combine the fruits and juice in a blender. Pour the yogurt over the top then process until smooth. For an even healthier treat, try yogurt containing probiotics. Pour into a chilled glass and enjoy!

Berry Blue Smoothie Ingredients: 300g frozen blueberries, slightly thawed 250g vanilla yogurt 180ml milk 360ml pineapple juice 3 tbsp runny honey 15 ice cubes

Method: Combine the blueberries, vanilla yogurt, milk, pineapple juice and honey in a blender and process on high speed until smooth. With the blender still running add about 3 ice cubes at a time until all the ice cubes have been added and broken up into the smoothie. Continue blending until smooth then divide between four glasses and serve immediately.

Keep these recipes in mind the next time you thirst for a refreshing yet healthy drink.