Homemade Italian orange soda (Aranciata)

1. Thinly pare the zest of one orange with a peeler, without the white pith.

2. In a small saucepan, boil the sugar with the water and orange zest for 3 minutes, then let it cool and remove the zest - this is your orange syrup.

3. Squeeze the oranges and the lemon and strain the juice through a fine sieve.

4. In a jug, mix the juice with the cooled syrup and chill well.

5. Just before serving, pour in the well-chilled sparkling water and stir gently once to keep the bubbles.

6. Pour into glasses with ice cubes and garnish each with an orange slice.

Tip: Sicilian blood oranges give the most beautiful colour; the syrup keeps for a week in the fridge, so you can mix it glass by glass, always fresh with the sparkling water.