Şalgam is a traditional Turkish fermented beverage made from black carrots. It is salty, sour, and often quite spicy. For foreigners, it is often either love at first sip or a lifelong trauma.
The home of this beverage is southeastern Turkey, specifically the area around the cities of Adana, Mersin, and Hatay. In this region, where summers tend to be relentlessly hot and the local cuisine is renowned for fatty meat and bold spices, the existence of şalgam makes extraordinary sense.
Şalgam is a functional part of the dining experience that arose from a natural need. Local people understood long ago that after a heavy meal, digestion needs a boost from something fermented, and that in the heat, the body loses salt which plain water cannot replace.
The name comes from the Persian word for turnip, which is a bit of a paradox because although the turnip plays its role in the recipe, the color and most of the flavor are provided by a completely different vegetable. The base of the drink is a special variety of purple carrot, called black carrot in Turkey. It is precisely this carrot that is responsible for the opaque, inky purple color and the specific earthy sweetness that forms the body of the drink. Other vegetables used are turnip and white radish. To start the fermentation process, a starter made from crushed wheat (bulgur) or chickpeas is traditionally used.
Şalgam is drunk strictly chilled; it is an inseparable partner to street food, especially döner kebab or lahmacun. Be aware that in neighboring Iraq, a different delicacy hides under the same name (derived from turnip): turnip slowly cooked in thick date syrup.
Şalgam is just as popular in Turkey as ayran. If you like trying something new, give this drink a try too. But be warned, it is truly an acquired taste. I completely rejected it after the first tasting, but during subsequent visits to Turkey, I couldn’t resist and returned to it. Now I love şalgam and cannot imagine Turkish cuisine without it.
Cheers!
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