Meet Boza: A Turkish Fermented Beverage

This is an interesting drink from my childhood; quite simple to make and very rewarding with it's sweet and creamy goodness... Low in alcohol, and some even call it proto-beer and have you ever wondered where word booze came from:

Boza: best served with cinnamon...

Photo is from my Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLvBbvcgRJU/

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Comments

Gabriele_Di_Cerbo_40805

how did you make it?

wolfiegirl

Yeah, what's in it!?

utku

It's a drink made of grains/cereal (proto-beer). The traditional grains used in this beverage is millet; but I used wheat (actually bulgur from durum wheat) and some rice. The steps are simple:

Soak the grains overnight (for rice it's not necessary)

Boil and simmer the grains. Blend in a high-power blender (add some sugar to taste, it's a sweet drink); pass through a fine sieve and discard the remains.

Cool down to room temperature and experiment fermenting it (you can use wild yeast/sourdough or instant yeast and yogurt; each have different taste profiles). Reserve cold and serve with some cinnamon or feel free experiment with flavor profiling...

Act_Out_257882

This looks very interesting! How long do you boil the grains? Is the sugar only for taste or is it required for fermentation? When is the fermentation finished? Is it obvious like kefir or is it a matter of taste, like fermented vegetables? Sorry, I'm interrogating---just love learning about different ferments🤓

utku

Hey,

Sorry for the late reply

I've boiled the grains around 30-45 minutes, I guess this is good enough for the hydration of the starches... I think you can ferment without the sugar, as we're aiming for a really low amount of alcohol. But for the taste, it's somewhat essential;)

Fermentation is somewhat obvious when you start seeing the bubbles on top. Never tried fermenting more than 1-2 days.

I hope these answers help

Act_Out_257882

Thank you! I will give it a try this weekend.

utku

Have you tried? How did it go?