Delicious spicy food and hot summer weather are two of Turkey’s greatest assets. But when these two ingredients combine, you’re going to need something to keep temperatures from getting out of hand. Thankfully, Turkey has you covered on this front too, with a drink so refreshing, it’s a mystery to some why everyone hasn’t heard of it.
This is ayran, a deceptively simple mix of fresh yogurt, water and salt. After a sweltering or strenuous afternoon in the sun, slurping down a chilled glass of this tasty combination will leave your body gasping with appreciation.
It may not match everyone’s taste, and will be off-limits to some dietary requirements, but the appeal of ayran — pronounced eye-ran — is undeniable. It’s been drunk in the region where Europe meets Asia for centuries and today is sold in various forms across Turkey and several other countries.
And its refreshing properties get a big thumbs up from science.
“Consuming ayran is an important means of restoring mineral balance lost through perspiration in the summer, due to its natural mineral content and the presence of added salt,” Professor Barbaros Özer from Ankara University’s Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Dairy Technology told CNN. He explained that the beverage contains valuable minerals and protein.
That’s not all. Another surprising benefit is the drink’s effects on digestive and intestinal health. “Ayran plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of gastrointestinal health and the intestinal microbiota,” added Özer.
A thousand-year-old refreshment
Turkic peoples are believed to have been producing ayran for at least a millennium — making it about 900 years older than Coca-Cola.
Thanks to Besim Atalay, a Turkish linguist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ayran’s roots have been traced back to the 11th century, gaining a mention in Mahmud al-Kashgari’s Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, the first-known dictionary of Turkic languages, written at the time.
It’s safe to say that ayran is a product of necessity. Fermented food and drink like cheese, yogurt and ayran are perfect for long journeys. Turkic nomads prepared fermented dairy products to extend their usability, helping overcome the formidable climate of the steppes, the vast, treeless grasslands they called home.
While Turks migrated from Central Asia to Anatolia (the land that makes up most of modern day Turkey), ayran moved with them. Editor and gastronomy researcher Merin Sever told CNN that we know through historical travelogues that people in Anatolia prepared ayran. Their daily meals also included “bread chopped into yogurt or bread added as a supplement to ayran.”
During their migration, Turks probably left traces of the drink, influencing other cultures.
Iran’s doogh is similar to a type of ayran, called yayık ayran, in Turkey, a byproduct of buttermilk production. Central Asian Turkic people have chal and kumis. However, these two are made of fermented milk — camel milk and mare’s milk, respectively.
While most ayran is made of yogurt, the commercial mass production of the drink includes a milk fermentation process. “Industrial ayran is produced in two different ways: either by diluting yogurt to the targeted protein content, or by fermenting milk after it has been diluted to the target protein level,” explains Özer.
A true Turkish experience
Today, ayran is not only a part of a thousand-year-old Turkish culinary tradition but also among the most commercialized drinks in modern Turkey. From shelves in large supermarkets to street food vendor barrels, it quenches thirst and accompanies meals across the country.
Even global fast-food brands like McDonald’s and Burger King include ayran as an option in their meals in Turkey
At a kebab restaurant or a büfe — small food vendors that serve Turkish fast food such as döner sandwiches — when you order ayran, you may be asked: “Do you want open ayran (açık ayran) or closed ayran (kapalı ayran)?”
To make sense of this, you need to be familiar with ayran culture. Closed ayran is packaged and mass-manufactured, while open ayran is freshly mixed to order in restaurants and vendors.
Most Turkish people prefer open ayran because… Well, it’s somehow more delicious.
Anyone looking for a genuine traditional experience should look for places where ayran is served in copper cups, such as kebab shops called “ocakbaşı,” where you can sit in front of the grills and watch your meal order prepared on metal skewers.
To watch meat cook slowly over sizzling embers — liquid fat dripping down, spreading an appetizing smell — and sipping ice-cold ayran from its copper cup is a true Turkish experience.
Or, following a night out in Istanbul’s buzzing Taksim district, stopping at a food carts selling pilaf (rice dish) with several toppings — mostly chicken or chickpeas — in Taksim Square or on İstiklal Street and checking to see if they have a plastic barrel with a tap. Inside are liters of delicious homemade ayran.
In fact, pilaf and ayran are among the methods Turks use to combat hangovers.
A simple drink with hundreds of recipes
While it’s simple and straightforward to prepare ayran, there are many variations.
Susurluk ayran, local to the Susurluk district of Balıkesir, a city in northwestern Turkey, is usually prepared from a yogurt with a higher content of fat, which creates a foam on the drink’s surface.
Yayık ayran is another widespread type that is a byproduct of butter making. Buttermilk replaces yogurt, which creates a highly frothy texture and a less tangy taste.
Turkey’s eastern Malatya region is known for its spicy ayran, prepared with green or red hot chili peppers. It has a distinct taste that appeals to fans of sweet and sour, or sweet and salty foods.
There are likely hundreds of other recipes. For example, you can add a pinch of mint for extra refreshment, or even skip adding salt. Sometimes, sparkling mineral water is used instead of still for a crisper taste.
Many factors affect the taste of ayran besides extra ingredients like pepper, salt, or mint. Mostly, however, it comes down to the yogurt. “Which milk was used to make the yogurt, how fatty was the yogurt, the yeast that was used to make it, and how it was used — industrial or traditional methods were used — all impact the taste of ayran,” Sever, the gastronomy researcher, explained.
Associate Professor Özge Samancı, head of the Gastronomy and Culinary Arts Department at Turkey’s Özyeğin University, agrees: “A good, fatty yogurt gives ayran its flavor.”
A sour taste?
So, despite its widespread consumption in and around Turkey, why is ayran not popular worldwide?
Samancı says it’s largely down to unfamiliarity.
“Turkish cuisine is generally not well-known abroad, and related products are unavailable in the market,” she told CNN. “Turkish restaurants are few in number and limited. Secondly, the taste of classic ayran, without additions like mint etc., is strange to foreigners, who often do not like this sour taste.”
But which version of ayran should visitors to Turkey try to get the best experience? It’s all a matter of personal taste — for instance Özer, the gastronomy professor, prefers industrial ayran because of its hygienic properties, while Samancı and Sever choose open ayran.
“If I pass through a region famous for its dairy products, I definitely try to taste the local, freshly made open ayran,” Sever said.
Samancı specifically enjoys Susurluk ayran, which she says pairs perfectly with a traditional Susurluk melted cheese sandwich.
Whichever you choose, once you’ve enjoyed that refreshing ayran taste, you’ll almost certainly be back for more.
The post The greatest hot-weather drink you’ve probably never heard of appeared first on CNN.
