6 Less-Known Local Turkish Drink
1- ŞALGAM
Şalgam is an authentic beverage from Adana, southern part of Turkey. It is a kind of turnip juice which is made with fermented black/purple carrot. As it is classified as digestive and anti-toxic, it is highly consumed with kebap and fish dishes. Two types of şalgam is available, spicy and plain. Spicy one is can be extra hot, so, be careful. J If I try to describe the taste of it, I could say it is similar to pickle juice, salty and sour. I order şalgam when I am having kebap always. If you go to southern or central Anatolian cities, you can also find home-made şalgam. However, you can find home-made version also in shops sells pickles mostly. It is also available in supermarkets.
2- PICKLE JUICE- TURŞU SUYU
Are you looking for unique tastes in Turkey? Pickle juice is surely one of them. However I should share my experiences. I have observations how the foreign friends’ faces change when they try pickle juice and şalgam. Most of travellers were gramicing their faces while they were drinking those two drinks. As well as those beverages are not sweet but sour, they are also very healthy and probiotic drinks. Furthermore, it is totally local. One of the must-to-do activity in Istanbul is eating fish-bread and pickle juice along with. Eminönü is an epicenter for this activity. You will see street-seller near to the boat stations. It could be a quick taste tour while you ar waiting fort he boat. There are also fish-restaurants under the Galata Bridge if you want to enjoy your meal with Bosphorus . They are made of mostly cucumber, cabbage, carrots, plums and green peppers, etc.
3- ŞIRA
Şıra is a non-alcoholic sweet fermented grape juice. Even its taste can remind you şerbet, the difference is sherbet is not a fermented beverage. Its history is also going back Ottoman Empire times and that’s one of the reason Bursa is a famous city when şıra comes to mind. It is usually served with İskender Kebap which is a famous kebap in Bursa also. If you came across with şıra somewhere, don’t miss to taste this sweet full of vitamin, anti-oxidant cure.
4- BOZA
Another groovy winter drink, which goes back Ottoman era, is boza. Boza, simply, is a fermented bevarage made of semolina, millet, sugar and water. It can be produced with any kind of grain as well. It is served with leblebi and cinnamon at topping. It is anti-bacterial, probiotic drink and people drink it mostly in the cold weather to warm up and strenght their bodies. There was an old tradition which I’ve witnessed relatd with boza time to tim. In the winter nights, I heard people were yelling “boooozaaaaa” many times when I was a child. It shows how boza has an old and important tradition in Turkish culture. Some street vendors keep this tradition alive at any time in a day. If you ar elucky, you can testify it. However, don’t worry if you can’t catch them. We have a very old family owned shop called Vefa Bozacısı from 19th century. It is located in old autenthic Ottoman neighborhood. You can hit the high spots of Istanbul by visiting this place. It is very close to gorgeous Süleymaniye Mosque as well.
5- SALEP
Salep is a hot milk beverage which is based on orchid flour and generally consumed in the cold winter time. Simply, salep is a flour from orchis family which are growing in Turkey. After harvesting process of tubers of orchis, they are collected for salep. At the final process of salep, it is mixed with hot milk. Mostly served cinamon at topping. They are supplied mostly from Kahramanmaraş, which is also leading city in ice-cream. Maraş ice cream is made of salep also and you will see many vendors perform an ice-cream show in Istanbul. That’s the reason I feel like I am drinking hot milky Maraş ice-cream when I drink salep. It is both healthy and natural drink. You can find this softy drink in pastry and grocery shops.
6- SHERBET
Sherbet was very famous drink during the Ottoman Empire time. It is a natural, soft and refreshment beverage especially in the summer. It has a different kind of flavours such as hibiscus, pomegranate, tamarind, rose. Sherbet was consumed mostly during Ramadan and traditional ceremonies in the past. However, you can find it in some restaurants and coffee shops. As it is a very light drink, you can consume it after your meal as well.
