Boza And Boem šnita In Sarajevo
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Boza, also bosa, is a
fermented beverage This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, Fermentation in food processing, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to ethanol, alcohol using yeas ...
originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
,
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
, the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
, and
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
. It is a
malt Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting". Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
drink made by fermenting various grains:
maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...
(corn) and
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
in Turkey. It is one of the oldest Turkic beverages. It has a thick consistency, a low alcohol content (around 1%), and a slightly acidic sweet flavor.


Etymology

According to Turkish etymological dictionary '' Nişanyan Sözlük'', ''boza'' is etymologically Turkic in origin. The dictionary states that
Old Turkic Old Siberian Turkic, generally known as East Old Turkic and often shortened to Old Turkic, was a Siberian Turkic language spoken around East Turkistan and Mongolia. It was first discovered in inscriptions originating from the Second Turkic Kh ...
''buχsı'' or ''buχsum'' are
cognates In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the soun ...
, yet it is unclear from which language it was ultimately derived and which one took it as a
loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
.
Ármin Vámbéry Ármin Vámbéry (born Hermann Wamberger; 19 March 183215 September 1913), also known as Arminius Vámbéry, was a Hungarian Turkologist and traveller. Early life Vámbéry was born in 1832 in the Hungarian city of Szentgyörgy within the ...
says it is an ancient Turkish word found in ''
Kutadgu Bilig The ''Kutadgu Bilig'' or ''Qutadğu Bilig'' (; Khaqani Turkic: ) is an 11th-century work written by Yūsuf Balasaguni for the prince of Kashgar. The text reflects the author's and his society's beliefs, feelings and practices with regard to qu ...
''. The oldest written account of the drink is under the name ''buχsum'' and is attested from the 1073
Middle Turkic Middle Turkic is a term used by linguists to refer to a group of Karluk languages, Karluk, Oghuz languages, Oghuz and Kipchak languages, Kipchak languages spoken during much of the Middle Ages (c. 900–1500 CE) in Central Asia, Iran, and parts o ...
dictionary ''
Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk The ' (; translated to English as the ''Compendium of the languages of the Turks'') is the first comprehensive dictionary of Turkic languages, compiled between 1072–74 by the Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari, who extensively documented t ...
'' by
Mahmud al-Kashgari Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Kashgari; ; , Мәһмуд Қәшқири; , Махмуд Қашғарий was an 11th-century Kara-Khanid scholar and lexicographer of the Turkic languages from Kashgar. His father, Husayn, was the mayor of ...
. Modern Turkish word ''boza'' is believed to be cognates with the Old Turkic ''buχsı'' or ''buχsum''. The drink under the name ''boza'' is first attested in
Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati Abū Ḥayyān Athīr ad-Dīn al-Gharnāṭī (, November 1256 – July 1344 CE / 654 - 745 AH), whose full name is Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf bin ‘Alī ibn Yūsuf ibn Hayyān (), better known as Abū Ḥayyān al-Gharnati (, was an Andalusian Sunni ...
's early 14th century Kipchak Turkic work ''
Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak Kitab (, ''kitāb''), also transcribed as kitaab, is the Arabic word for "script" or "book" and may refer to: * ''Kitaab'', a 1977 Indian Hindi-language film * ''Kithaab'' (also ''Kitab''), a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language play * ''Kitab'', the R ...
''


History

Fermented cereal flour (generally millet) drinks have been produced in
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
and
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
since the 9th or 8th millennia BCE, and
Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
mentioned in the 4th century BCE how the locals preserved and cooled the preparations in earthen pots that were buried. There are references mentioning boza-like "fermented (ground) millet drink" in Akkadian and Sumerian texts; the beverage is said to be respectively ''arsikku'' and ''ar-zig''. In the 10th century CE, the drink was called ''Boza'' and became common amongst Central Asian
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
. Later it spread to the
Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...
and the
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
. It enjoyed its golden age under the
Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...
, and ''boza''-making became a common trade in towns and cities. Until the 16th century, boza was drunk freely everywhere, but the custom of making the so-called Tartar boza laced with opium brought the wrath of the authorities down on the drink, and it was prohibited by sultan
Selim II Selim II (; ; 28 May 1524 – 15 December 1574), also known as Selim the Blond () or Selim the Drunkard (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1566 until his death in 1574. He was a son of Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sul ...
(1566–1574). He describes a type of non-alcoholic sweet ''boza'' of a milk white color usually made by Albanians. In the 17th century, Sultan
Mehmed IV Mehmed IV (; ; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to b ...
(1648–1687) prohibited alcoholic drinks including ''boza'', and closed down all the ''boza'' shops. This prohibition would be reinforced and then loosened several times in the history of the empire. The 17th century Turkish traveler
Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...
reports that ''boza'' was widely drunk at this time, and that there were 300 ''boza'' shops employing over a thousand people in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
alone. In this period, boza was widely drunk by the
Janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...
in the army. It contained only a low level of alcohol, so as long as it was not consumed in sufficient quantities to cause drunkenness, it was tolerated as a warming and strengthening beverage for soldiers. As Evliya Çelebi explained in the first volume ("Istanbul") of his '' Seyahatname'' (Travelogues), "These ''boza'' makers are numerous in the army. To drink sufficient ''boza'' to cause intoxication is sinful but, unlike wine, in small quantities it is not condemned." In the 19th century, the sweet and non-alcoholic ''boza'' preferred at the Ottoman palace became increasingly popular, while the sour and alcoholic type of boza went out of style. In 1876, brothers Haci Ibrahim and Haci Sadik established a boza shop in the Istanbul district of Vefa, close to the then center of entertainment, Direklerarası. This ''boza'', with its thick consistency and tart flavor, became famous throughout the city. It is the only ''boza'' shop dating from that period still in business today, and is now run by the founders' great-great-grandchildren. In the 1910s, boza also reached
Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
, where it was introduced by Macedonian immigrants, and is now designated a local traditional beverage by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland. File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4901.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Shop from across street File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4878.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci distribution area File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4888.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Consumption area File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4898.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Glass used by Atatürk File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4881.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Transfer to smaller vessel File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4896.jpg, Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Transfer to smaller vessel


Production and storage

Boza is produced in the Balkans, notably Bulgaria and most of the Turkic regions, but not always using
millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
. The flavour varies according to the cereal which is used. Measuring boza samples made from maize, wheat, and rice flours, researchers determined an average of 12.3% total sugar, 1.06% protein, and 0.07% fat. The boza in Białystok, Poland is made from millet groats, with the addition of
raisins A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the word ''raisin'' is reserv ...
,
lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...
and sugar. Boza spoils if not kept in a cool place, therefore boza fermenters in Turkey did not sell boza during the hot summer traditionally, instead selling alternative beverages such as grape juice or lemonade. They produce it in the summer now due to increased availability of refrigeration, and revenue from high demand. Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Albania, and North Macedonia produce boza as a refreshing beverage year-round.


In popular culture

* Mevlut Karataş, the main character in
Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...
's 2014 novel ''
A Strangeness in My Mind ''A Strangeness in My Mind'' () is a 2014 novel by Orhan Pamuk. It is the author's ninth novel. Knopf Doubleday published the English translation by Ekin Oklap in the U.S.,vendor In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these term ...
. * The Serbian band Zana mentions boza in the title track from their album ''Nisam, nisam''. * A popular drink in Bulgaria, usually accompanied by a
Banitsa Banitsa ( Bulgarian: баница), also transliterated as banica and banitza, is a traditional pastry made in Bulgaria. It is also made in Budjak, where it is known as milina by Ukrainian Bulgarians; North Macedonia; and southeastern Serbia. ...
or
Gevrek Simit is a circular bread, typically wikt:encrusted, encrusted with sesame seeds or, less commonly, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds, found across the Ottoman cuisine, cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, especially in Armeni ...


Similar beverages

Other beverages from around the world that are traditionally low-alcohol and lacto-fermented include: *
Kvass Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and sweet-sour taste. Kvass originates from northeastern Europe, where grain production was considered insufficient for beer to become a daily drink. The first wr ...
* Bragă *
Chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...
* Ibwatu * Mageu *
Makgeolli ''Makgeolli'' (), sometimes anglicized to makkoli (, ), is a Korean alcoholic drinks, Korean alcoholic drink. It is a milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine that has a slight viscosity, and tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astr ...
* Oshikundu * Toddy *
Tejuino Tejuino is a cold fermented beverage made from corn and popularly consumed in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Oaxaca. Tejuino is usually made from corn dough, the same kind used for tortillas and tamales. The dough is mixed w ...
*
Tongba Tongba ( ) is a millet-based alcoholic beverage found in the eastern mountainous region of Nepal and neighbouring Indian regions of Sikkim and Darjeeling. It is a sign of respect to a guest, and the drink is also an important element of speci ...
* Maksime or Baksime of Circassians


References


External links

* {{African cuisine Types of beer Balkan cuisine Caucasian cuisine Central Asian cuisine Middle Eastern cuisine North African cuisine Ottoman cuisine Bulgarian drinks Bosnia and Herzegovina non-alcoholic drinks Albanian drinks Culture in Białystok