Turkish drinks. Like Turkish kvass Turkish drinks: Salep

Although Türkiye is an Islamic country, decent restaurants serve alcoholic drinks, beer (bira) or wine (sarap) with lunch. This is not the case in simple taverns. Turkish beer from the Ephesus brewery is a very pleasant drink, but Turkish wine does not stand up to criticism. Turks typically drink ayran - salted yogurt diluted with water - or mineral water (maden suyu; bottled drinking water is called kaynak suyu) with lunch. The "national drink" is tea. In good tea gardens (cay bahcesi) you can even get a samovar if you wish. Turkish mocha (kahve) served with coffee grounds. In the evenings, Turks readily drink aniseed vodka (raki), mixed with water, which gives it a milky hue.
Alcoholic drinks
The most popular alcoholic drink in Turkey is raki (aniseed vodka). “Raki” is Turkish vodka. Distilled with anise. It is the most popular alcoholic drink in Turkey. The word “raki” comes from the name of the grape variety, Razaki, from which this drink is prepared. Raki has 45-50% ABV. Having prepared raki, it is not immediately bottled, but poured into barrels and kept there for 1 or 3 months. Raki is drunk from special narrow glass glasses, usually mixed with regular or mineral water. The most popular appetizer for raki is feta cheese with melon. It is served in tall glasses and is usually mixed one to one with water.
Among the wines produced from high-quality grapes grown in Turkey, Kavaklıdere, Doluca and Tekel come to the fore.
Ayran
In the sweltering summer heat, ayran is an excellent refreshing drink that quenches thirst. Ayran is yogurt diluted with water and slightly salted. Ready-made Ayran can be bought in any store or cafe. It is sold in bottles, cardboard and plastic cups. Of course, the most delicious ayran is prepared at home.
To prepare ayran you will need yogurt, salt, and water.
Method of preparation.
Beat the yogurt with a fork or mixer, add salt and add water, stirring gradually. The thickness of the ayran depends on the thickness of the yogurt. You need to beat the mixture until foam appears. Refrigerate before use.
Salep
Salep is a warming hot drink infused with orchis. Actually, real salep is prepared from the roots of an orchid, but since it is almost impossible to find orchids in our climate (except in a botanical garden), we will replace the orchid root with the usual raspberries (of course, not roots, but berries).
To prepare you will need 50 g of orchis (in our case, as agreed, raspberries), 50 g of starch, 200 g of sugar, half a liter of milk, 1 coffee cup of water, cinnamon.
Cooking method:
Boil the milk. Place sugar, starch, and raspberries in a bowl. Stir. Add hot milk, stirring constantly. Bring to the point of sour cream. Then pour everything into boiling milk and simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes. Once thickened, remove from heat. Pour into tea cups and sprinkle cinnamon on top. The dish can be served.
Turkish coffee:
This delicious drink is prepared by boiling water and roasting ground coffee in a Turkish coffee pot. Sugar is added to taste. It is served in small cups, at the bottom of which the grounds settle. Rich in tradition and flavor, Turkish coffee remains a favorite today.

An interesting fact is that "FAL" (coffee grounds fortune telling) is popular among women, and most holiday meals always end with a cup of Turkish coffee.
Turkish tea:
Drinking Turkish tea occupies an important place in the daily life of the people of Turkey. Turkish tea (Turkish also means tea) is the most preferred drink among Turks. Regardless of where you go, you will always be offered Turkish tea or coffee... And even in a restaurant after a meal you will definitely be offered tea. They drink tea in Turkey always, everywhere at any time of the day, day or evening... And also drinking tea is an important part of the official day. When visiting Turkey, you may notice that one of the most common places are tea gardens (tea houses).

Turks always drink only their own black tea. Chai (Turkish tea) is a type of black tea and is produced on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. The preparation method is not complicated: 2 special kettles (çaydanlık), which are placed one on top of the other, after the water in the large kettle boils, a few spoons of dry tea are placed in the upper kettle and filled with boiled water from the lower kettle. Tea is drunk in small glasses to enjoy the taste of hot tea.
Shalgam:
(turnip juice) is a popular drink in Turkey. Its origin lies in Adana. The full Turkish name for the drink is shalgam suyu (or shortened to shalgam), which literally means “turnip juice.” Traditionally, shalgam is served cold in large glasses with long pieces of pickled carrots called dene. This hot or cold popular drink is served with the famous Adana Kebap.

Buza (with emphasis on the last syllable):
This drink, amazing for a European, is made from ground millet, which is mixed with water and left for some time to ferment. Buza has an unusual taste - sweet and sour, plus it is usually decorated with cinnamon and toasted chickpeas (chickpeas).
Buza
Compound:
oat flakes 600 g,
butter 100 g,
yeast 30 g,
wheat flour 50 g,
sugar 500 g,
water 6-7 l.

Preparation:
Pour cold water over the flakes and leave to swell for 30 minutes, then strain, drain the water, transfer the flakes to a baking sheet, dry in the oven and grind into flour.
Combine the wheat flour and the resulting oatmeal, add boiling oil, pour in 2 cups of boiling water and stir until a homogeneous dough-like mass is formed. After this, close the container with a lid and leave for 30 minutes, then dilute the mass with 2 liters of warm boiled water.
When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, add yeast diluted in water, a glass of sugar and leave to ferment for 2 hours.
Then dilute with the remaining warm boiled water, mix thoroughly and strain. Add the remaining sugar to the strained buza and place it in a warm place.
The finished buza is a thick drink the color of baked milk with a sour taste.

Scotland is whiskey, Japan is sake, Czech Republic is beer. Everyone knows this. But perhaps not everyone realizes that these names are just a drop in the sea of ​​exotic, unusual traditional drinks of the peoples of the world...

Many traditional Turkish drinks are still popular today.

Ayran: It is made from yogurt, which is diluted with water, salted and served chilled. It is believed that on a hot summer day this is the ideal drink to quench your thirst.

Buza (with emphasis on the last syllable): this drink, surprising for a European, is made from ground millet, which is mixed with water and left for some time to ferment. Buza has an unusual taste - sweet and sour, plus it is usually decorated with cinnamon and toasted chickpeas (chickpeas).

Raki: Turkey's most popular alcoholic drink was once made from leftover grapes that were no longer used to make wine. Now “crawfish cooking” is an absolutely independent branch of industry.

Most Turks drink raki by diluting it with water and adding ice. Due to the fact that the drink acquires a cloudy white color when interacting with water, the popular name for crayfish is “m” (“lion’s milk”).

Tea: Along with coffee, it is the most common drink in Turkey. They drink it morning and evening, at work and at home. Tea is served in special small transparent glasses so that you can see the rich red color of the drink. They call it "rabbit blood" here.

Coffee: Although you won't find coffee plantations in Turkey, coffee here is more than a drink. This is a ritual. Depending on your preferences, you can order coffee without any sugar (sade), with a small amount of sugar (az sekerli), with a medium amount (orta) or completely sweet (sekerli).

Salep: This winter drink is made from the dried and powdered roots of the mountain orchid. Thick in consistency, it is garnished with cinnamon and is often used as a medicine for colds.

Turnip Juice (Salgam Suyu): A sour, dark red drink made by boiling turnips and carrots in water and vinegar. It is believed that this is a very good drink to drink with raki.

On the eve of the New Year holidays, the issue of having anti-hangover remedies on hand becomes of serious relevance. Despite the fact that a universal remedy has not yet been invented. The arsenal already contains various kvass in ripening form, a dozen bottles of almost sour kvass, and brine from soaked sloe. I can add that cucumber pickle is bad for a hangover, while cabbage pickle is good, but rather weak.

So, an attempt on the knee to reproduce the drink of distant Turkey şalğam suyu (salgam suyu - they called it from the heart, I give you shalgam). In Turkey, it is sold both on the street and in stores in PET bottles. It is made from purple local carrots, Turkish turnips with the addition of spices, garlic, pepper or hot pepper brine and fermented with bulgur and Turkish peas. To taste - beetroot brine, slightly carbonated, spicy, served with pickled cucumber and julienned carrots. Turks wash down shalgam (if anyone doesn’t know), spicy kebabs, local aniseed strong drink raki and recover from a hangover.

So, five minutes of hardcore, senseless and merciless. One of the most popular recipes on the Internet:

2 cups (tea) bulgur;

1 tablespoon dry yeast;

2 tablespoons sugar;

3-4 tablespoons of salt;

3-4 turnips, cut into discs;

10-15 purple (black) carrots, sliced ​​lengthwise;

8-9 liters of water.

This is where the lyrics end and the homespun reality of the Moscow region begins.

Getting even 3 black Turkish carrots now is like pouring real hemp oil on pea jelly.

Since both beets and black Turkish carrots have the same coloring component - anthocyanic betanin glycoside, but belong to different botanical families.

So, what can you draw on this topic before the New Year:

300-400 grams of our small beets, peeled and frozen at outside temperature to release excess sugars;

One medium turnip of the Petrovskaya variety, cut into discs;

Three medium carrots, cut lengthwise into strips;

A dozen chickpeas;

A little bit each of black pepper, allspice, Sichuan and single pepper, anise seeds, dill, a couple of bay leaves;

2 table salts;

3 tablespoons sugar;

Red pepper in all forms is still on the decline;

A liter of white kvass, up to three liters of water.

The drink ferments quickly and seriously; within a day you can pour it into yoke bottles without raisins and put it in cold storage.

The drink turned out to be spicy, quite thick, and does not have an unpleasant beet-cellar aftertaste; everything is very harmoniously balanced out by garlic and spices.

I can’t say how anti-hangover the drink is, but I suspect that it most likely works. The drink can be topped up a couple of times and enjoyed. Everything that is fermented with a bang goes into borscht - carrots, beets, turnips, and peas.

Contrary to popular belief, the national drink in Turkey is tea. In Turkish, this drink is called Türk Çay. Across the country, an incredible amount of tea is consumed every day. The national tea company Çayur (Riza, on the northwestern coast of Turkey) produces thousands of tons of this Turkish drink every month. Under no circumstances should you pay attention to the “tourist”, so-called. a shortbread version of tea, most often apple. Turks practically do not drink this strange drink. Instead, black tea is widely consumed, served in glass tulips and often sweetened with copious amounts of sugar. Read more about the non-alcoholic Turkish drink - tea - on our website.

Turkish drinks: Coffee

One Turkish proverb says that real coffee should be “black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.” Perhaps this most accurately reflects the taste and color of Turkish coffee, served in very small cups. Many foreigners find the taste of this Turkish drink to be extremely strong and taste similar to earthy black Chinese tea. Therefore, not every foreigner will love Turkish coffee. There is a special variety of "pseudo-coffee" based on the fruits of the Menengiç ("Menengich") - pistachio tree. This Turkish drink is also quite popular, but does not contain caffeine. This is a kind of cheap ersatz coffee, like chicory. Connoisseurs of the Turkish drink coffee prefer a special brand - "Dibek", which is coffee flour obtained by long-term manual grinding of coffee beans with a pestle in a mortar. Read more about the Turkish non-alcoholic drink on our website.

Turkish drinks: Ayran

The favorite national drink of children and adults in Turkey is Ayran. A very chilled jar of Ayran quenches thirst on a hot day better than Sprite or Pepsi Cola. Ayran is made only from natural products - yogurt, water and salt. Packaged in two-hundred-gram cups, Ayran is sold throughout Turkey. However, in a village cafe, most likely, you will be served a “homemade” mug of Ayran with a large foam cap.

The history of the best national drink - Ayran goes back to the nomadic Turkic tribes; Ayran is also found in other ancient cultures, for example, in the countries of Central Asia or the Arab East. Many foreigners hesitate at the thought of trying Ayran once they hear about its ingredients. At the same time, they will highly appreciate Ayran as soon as they start trying the national Turkish food - doner or kebab!

Turkish drinks: Shalgam

This national non-alcoholic Turkish drink does not delight many foreigners because its ingredients are incompatible. But is this true? The drink is brewed from purple carrots and shalgam turnips in a mixture of water and bulgur. The taste is both salty and spicy, and also spicy due to the addition of pepper. This Turkish drink was especially popular in the southeast, in the cities of Adana and Mersin. Shalgam is believed to be very beneficial due to its high concentration of vitamin C. Some Turks prefer to drink it with raki (it is believed to quench the effects of alcohol). Others say it's better to drink this national drink in the morning to quickly curb a nasty hangover.

Turkish drinks: Salep

Salep, made from the Orchid Genus flower, is a hot and steaming Turkish drink that locals prefer to drink during winter. In the city of Istanbul, street vendors offer it for sale in special containers (instead of Starbucks coffee). This non-alcoholic Turkish drink was incredibly popular in the 18th century not only in the Ottoman Empire, but also in the British Empire. True, in Foggy Albion it was gradually replaced by hot chocolate. Salep is brewed with hot milk, and its main ingredient is extracted from the flowers. By the way, it is used not only in the Salep drink, but also in the famous Kahramanmaras string ice cream. Read more about Salep in the section that we have posted on our website for you.