Adana Drink · Fermented Turnip Juice
Şalgam Suyu
Photo: E4024 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
The vivid purple color doesn't come from the turnip itself but from purple carrots fermented alongside it — turnip only lends the name and a sharper bite.
A deep purple, sour-salty drink made by fermenting purple carrots, sometimes with turnip, together with bulgur flour, salt and a sourdough starter, şalgam is served ice-cold, either plain or spiked with chili. It's the standard companion to Adana kebab, drunk straight from the glass between bites.
Why it's made this way: Adana and the Çukurova region's fermented-drink tradition grew up specifically to cut through the fat and heat of the region's kebabs, making şalgam as regionally inseparable from Adana kebab as ayran is from most other Turkish grills.
More from Turkey
Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.