#daily knowledge

Alevis in Turkey cook this pudding traditionally and share it during the days of fasting to coincide Battle of Karbala in which they abstain from eating meat. 

Ashure is made in large quantities and distributed to friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, classmates, etc. regardless to their religion or belief. Ashure is offered with peace and love. It is traditionally made and eaten during colder months but now it is made year-round. 

Word Origin

The word comes from the Arabic word, Ashura (عاشوراء ), the meaning is tenth. In Turkish tradition, it is made on or after 10th Muharram in Islamic Lunar Calendar. Also, in Turkish Aş means food or mixed porridge. It is derived from the Persian word “Ashur” meaning mixing. 

Evliya Çelebi defined Aşure in his travel book (Seyehatname) as “Ashure is a porridge (aş) that should be cooked at the tenth of Muharram.”

History

It is claimed that when Noah’s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, Noah’s family celebrated with a special dish. They cooked this dish with the supplies that were left: grains, dried fruits… The ingredients were cooked together to form a pudding. Turkish families cook this dish to remember the event and they distribute it to families, friends, relatives and to the poor. 

Ingredients

This can be made variously as it doesn’t have only one recipe. Traditionally, it is said to be that it should have at least seven ingredients. Some say that it should follow the tradition of “ten”, and, Alevis use twelve ingredients. 

Wheat, barley, rice, white beans, chickpeas, sugar or molasses produced from grapes, pomegranates, beets, dried fruits (apricots, pears) and nuts like almonds, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Some variants are flavored with cinnamon, rose water, etc. 

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Thanks for reading! I will continue posting about the Turkish culture every Tuesday, you can keep up with the series below this text by clicking the links, I will keep updating the posts for adding links. Thank you :)

TURKISH DELIGHT (LOKUM) | {Turkish Culture 1/Türk Kültürü 1}

DONDURMA (MARAŞ DONDURMASI) | {Turkish Culture 2/Türk Kültürü 2}

TURKISH TEA (TÜRK ÇAYI) | {Turkish Culture 3/Türk Kültürü 3}

TARHANA (TARHANA ÇORBASI) | Turkish Culture 4/Türk Kültürü 4}

Turkey is one of the largest tea markets in the world; in 2004, Turkey produced 205,500 tons of tea, with 120,000 tons consumed and the rest exported. Furthermore, Turkey had the highest tea consumption in the world, at 2.5 kg per person, followed by the UK, 2.1 kg per person. 

Image: People drinking tea. 

Preparation

Traditional Turkish tea is prepared using two kettles called “çaydanlık”. Water is heated and boiled in the larger kettle called “çaydanlık” and tea is put in the smaller kettle on top to infuse, the smaller kettle is heated by the hot steam that the lower kettle makes.

Image: Çaydanlık, made of metal. Traditionally, it can be made of copper. 

 The tea is served in small glasses specially designed for tea called “çay bardağı”- a tulip-shaped glass (Turkish: ince belli çay bardağı). First, tea is poured from the kettle on top, and to dilute the tea, water is added from the bigger kettle. The consumer can choose either a strong (Turkish: koyu, meaning “dark”) or weak (Turkish açık, meaning “light”). The tea can be drunk with sugar. It isn’t taken with milk. 

Image: Strong (koyu/demli) tea or weak (açık) tea. 

Culture&History

Tea is a very important part of Turkish culture. Tea is the most commonly consumed drink, despite the country’s long history of coffee consumption. It’s a very important symbol of Turkish hospitality, as offering tea to guests is a very common tradition. It is consumed mostly everywhere— houses, shops…Mostly, Turkish people prefer to eat biscuits, either salty or sweet called “kurabiye” with tea. It is also drunk with “simit”, a bagel mostly eaten with/as the breakfast. 

Image: Tea and bagel (simit) with the view of the Maiden Tower in Istanbul. 

As mentioned before, tea is produced in Rize and eastern Black Sea region. The first people brought tea to that region are Zihni Derin, an agriculture engineer from Muğla, and Hulusi Karadeniz, a lawyer from Rize in the early 1920s from Russia.  It was actually encouraged as an alternative to coffee because, during WW1, coffee was expensive and sometimes unavailable. 

Image: Woman in tea fields, collecting tea. 

Especially after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and was lost in the southeastern territories, coffee became an expensive import. With the foundation of the Turkish Republic by Atatürk, Turkish people preferred more sustainable domestic products than imported products. 

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Thanks for reading! I will continue posting about the Turkish culture every Tuesday, you can keep up with the series below this text by clicking the links, I will keep updating the posts for adding links. Thank you :)

TURKISH DELIGHT (LOKUM) | {Turkish Culture 1/Türk Kültürü 1}

DONDURMA (MARAŞ DONDURMASI) | {Turkish Culture 2/Türk Kültürü 2}

TURKISH TEA (TÜRK ÇAYI) | {Turkish Culture 3/Türk Kültürü 3}

TARHANA (TARHANA ÇORBASI) | Turkish Culture 4/Türk Kültürü 4}