Product Code Database
Boza, also bosa, is a fermented beverage originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the Balkans, Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: maize (corn) and wheat 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.
The oldest written account of the drink is under the name buχsum and is attested from the 1073 Middle Turkic dictionary Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk by Mahmud al-Kashgari. 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's early 14th century Kypchak Turkic work Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak
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 (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 (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 reports that boza was widely drunk at this time, and that there were 300 boza shops employing over a thousand people in Istanbul alone.
In this period, boza was widely drunk by the Janissaries 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 in Poland, 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.
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.
|
|
