Boza : The boza is a alcoholic drink fermented made of cereals (white, yellow, foxtail, red millet), wheat, corn…). Very popular under the Ottoman Empire, it was however banned for a time due to alcohol that it contained, even in very small quantities. Some tenants also took pleasure in fixing it with opium…(*).
A legacy of the Ottoman invasions, boza still remains quite popular today not only in Turkey, but also in Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, Kosovo and even Romania. Egyptian or Sudanese boza, pronounced bouza, is brewed from wheat,barley or k.
This drink is mainly drunk in winter. Due to its sensitivity to heat, it is poorly distributed during the summer months. The Russians have a drink of the same type, but with a different production process: kvass, a fermented drink made from bread.
A legend says that boza makes women's chests swell.
(*) Opium: Opium is the latex exuded by the sleeping poppy. It is harvested by letting it flow along incisions on the capsule of the plant, after loss of flowers. It contains a high concentration of alkaloids such as morphine or codeine, from which they are extracted. It gives, with preparation, a psychotropic consumer product.
Preparation of the boza: bulgur, corn or others cereals depending on the region, is cooked so that thestarch turns into dextrin which will ferment much more easily and quickly. Then sucre is added which will power the yeast in order to accelerate their effect. The whole thing is seeded with some rennet, ferments de yogurt or other cultures.
The whole mixture is left to ferment for five days. For taste, add two sticks de vanilla. In the Balkans, we will add in addition to cannelle.
In Türkiye in particular, the beverage is often served with Chickpeas grilled asamuse bouche.
The Egyptian or Sudanese boza is made in a similar way to the ancient beers Egyptian (zythum) or Mesopotamian (sikaru), that is to say, it is obtained from parts de pains fermented for four days. Light yellow in color, thick, it has an acidic taste and an alcohol content of 4-5% by volume.
In culture: Mevlut Karataş, the main character of the novel This strange thing inside me (2014) by Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, is a boza merchant.
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