Turkish vodka crawfish: features, popular brands, culture of consumption

Tourists, vacationers in Turkey, have repeatedly witnessed how the local people use in restaurants and bars a strange drink that looks like milk. Observant foreigners probably noticed that it is obtained by mixing two completely transparent liquids: water (a dining room or a soda) and special vodka - crayfish. Our article will be devoted to this last drink. Why does Turkish vodka have the ability to whiten like milk when mixed with water? What is the history of the drink? And whether it is possible to use cancers undiluted or as part of alcoholic cocktails? Do you want to bring a gastronomic souvenir from Turkey? From this article you will learn which brand of crayfish to purchase is preferable.

History

So far, heated debate is about where the Turkish vodka came from. The name of the Balkan raki should not be misleading. Serbs and Bosnians met with the drink after the Ottoman conquest. But the Greeks claim that their vodka - ouzo - became the prototype of the Turkish crayfish. But the etymology of the product name has Iraqi roots. It was there that they came up with the idea to expose grape squeezes to distillation. Those who have ever seen a home-made device know that the distillate oozes by drop. This property also gave the name of the drink: "arak" in Arabic - "sweat". But the Turks claim that their national drink did not come to them from Iraq, but was born to them in their homeland. Allegedly for real crayfish is taken the mash of grapes of Razaki variety. He gave the name to vodka. For a long time in Muslim Turkey, the crayfish was banned, like any alcohol. But this did not reduce the popular love for this drink. His production was carried out by Christians living in Turkey: Greeks, Bosnians. Kemal Ataturk, thanks to his authority as the leader of the nation, made crayfish a truly Turkish drink, because he was very fond of it. Since then, no feast without aniseed vodka .

Production

We have already mentioned that the ancestor of the crayfish is the Iraqi arak. This strong distillate is obtained by distilling the pulp - the raw material used in the production of wine. And in this ancient drink cancers can be compared with the Italian grappa. After all, it is also made on grape vizhimki. But the Turkish vodka of crayfish began to differ from the Italian in the seventeenth century, when it began to insist on the root of anise. A powerful smell serves as a "calling card" for crawfish. And the aroma of anise brings together Turkish vodka with Greek ouzo and French pastis. Crayfish produced in an industrial way is distilled twice, and then at least one month is aged in oak barrels. But in Turkey, often make home anise tincture - not only from grapes, but also from dates, figs, other fruits. Thus, the strength of the drink can differ from the 45-degree factory crayfish. The alcohol content can be 40% or 55%.

Turkish vodka crawfish: characteristic

If you have never tasted drinks or lollipops with anise, the taste may not like you. Moreover: he can remind you of a medicine cough remedy. But do not immediately abandon the use of cancer. Turkish aniseed vodka instantly raises the mood. Because the degree of the drink is quite high. But drinking it undiluted in the Turks is considered bad form. Pure crayfish burns the receptors of the tongue and has an intense anise smell. But to mix Turkish vodka with juices, and even more so with other alcohol, is also not recommended. In that case, how to be?

Turkish vodka crawfish: how to drink

The ritual of using this distillate was formed in the nineteenth century. Cancers are drunk in two ways. The first - the most common - is called "lion milk". In a special vessel for crayfish (similar to a glass "shot" with a thick bottom and high walls of thin glass) pour cooled to eight to ten degrees vodka. The glass is filled halfway. Next, pour the same amount of water - a dining room or mineral water. Turkish vodka immediately becomes white and opaque, like milk. This is because the anise oil, dissolved in alcohol, is released in the form of a dispersed emulsion. Since the proportions of vodka and water are one to one, the strength of the drink is reduced to twenty-five degrees. But do not abuse this cocktail, otherwise from the "lion's" it can turn into "the milk of a mad cow."

The second way of using cancers is similar to the first. You drink a sip of vodka and then make another - ice water. In hot days, you can put a couple of ice cubes in a glass with "lion milk". But not the other way around! If you pour the crawfish into a glass of ice, the anise will crystallize and the drink will lose its flavor and taste.

Ritual

Turkish vodka is not drunk alone and without snacks. It must accompany the dishes. At least meze - slices of melon, feta cheese, olives, meat sliced. They clink glasses with crayons for cancer with thick bottoms, while saying "sharafa", which means "For your honor!" The first glass is taken to be drunk at a salvo, and all subsequent - gradually, in small sips. Cancers accompany all the feast - and snacks, and hot dishes.

The best brands of Turkish vodka

Until recently, the production of cancers was a state monopoly. It was produced in Izmir under the brand name "TEKEL". But now there are other brands. A real popular favorite, appreciated for a good quality and very democratic price, is the Turkish vodka "YeniRaki". Also a good and inexpensive drink is "TekirDag". Like any vodka, the crayfish also has a "Premium" classification. In the highest price segment is Alinbas.