Can you guess which English word derives from the word boza? A clue: it’s one of the oldest drinks in Turkey. As fermented food and drinks have become more popular, so too has boza. We’ve all heard about the health benefits of fermented beverages, so let’s examine boza, a curious drink that can be made of fermented millet or semolina. Could this drink be really a super food?
It began life in Mesopotamia with known references mentioning a boza-like fermented millet drink in Sumerian texts in the 9th BC.
The drink got its name Boza only in the 10th century when Central Asian Turks began to produce it. The first written reference to name the drink appeared in 1070 and suggests the name was borrowed from a Bulgarian grey kvass-like drink of the time called buzá, which is the Slavic name for millet.
Some etymologists believe that the drink spread across the Middle East where Dutch explorers got a chance to taste it. They returned home to Europe naming all alcoholic drinks…have you guessed it yet?…booze.
Boza was not an alcoholic drink, with only around 1% alcohol due to the fermentation process, and was drunk freely in the Ottoman Empire until 16th century when the custom of lacing the drink with opium spread and lead to its prohibition.
English readers were introduced to the drink in the 17th century. The first written record appeared in a 1656 dictionary and described boza as “a drink in Turkey made of seed, much like new mustard, and is very heady.” Boza was a drink with a colour and turbid consistency that did not appeal to everyone.
Boza recipe
Nowadays the drink is still produced and consumed in Turkey and the Balkans, but every nation has its own recipe. Boza can be made of millet, semolina, bulgur and even rice seeds or directly from flour; these are mixed with yeast water and sugar. The traditional Turkish boza is served mainly in winter with cinnamon and roasted chickpeas.
Although it’s been named a super drink, a lot of sugar needs to be added to get the taste right, but of course alternative sweeteners can be used as well.
