Ayran or doogh (Azerbaijani: ayran, Turkish: ayran, Kazakh: ?????, Persian: ?????) is a cold yogurt beverage mixed with salt. It is popular in Iran, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, North Caucasus, the Balkans, Afghanistan and Lebanon. Its primary ingredients are water and yogurt, and ayran has been variously described as "diluted yogurt" and "a most refreshing drink made by mixing yogurt with iced water".
Ayran is served chilled and often as an accompaniment to grilled meat or rice especially during summer.
Yogurt drinks are popular beyond the Middle East region--ayran has been likened by some to the South Asian lassi.
Video Ayran
History
According to Shirin Simmons, doogh has long been a popular drink and was consumed in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran). Described by an 1886 source as a cold drink of curdled milk and water seasoned with mint, its name derives from the Persian word for milking, dooshidan.
According to Nevin Hal?c?, ayran is a traditional Turkic drink and was consumed by nomadic Turks prior to 1000 CE. According to Celalettin Koçak and Yahya Kemal Av?ar (Professor of Food Engineering at Mustafa Kemal University), ayran was first developed thousands of years ago by the Göktürks, who would dilute bitter yogurt with water in an attempt to improve its flavor.
A c. 1000 CE Turkish dictionary, D?w?n ul-Lughat al-Turk, defines ayran as a "drink made out of milk."
Turkish national drink status
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, a conservative Turkish politician who has held the posts of President and Prime Minister, has promoted ayran as a national drink. Speaking at a 2013 WHO Global Alcohol Policy Conference held in Istanbul, Erdo?an contrasted ayran with alcohol, which he claimed was a recent introduction to Turkey.
Nevertheless, sales of ayran in Turkey may lag behind other non-alcoholic beverages. According to a 2015 joint statement from the Soft Drink Producers Association, the Sparkling Water Producers Association, and the Milk Producers and Exporters Union of Turkey, ayran consumption during Ramadan has declined every year for the years 2010 to 2015.
In 2015, Turkey's Customs and Trade Ministry, controlled by Erdo?an's party, imposed a 220,000 TL fine (approximately $70,000) on state-owned Çaykur manufacturers for "degrading ayran" in one of their advertisement for iced tea, in which the protagonist raps that ayran makes him sleepy, and halted advertisements of Çaykur's competing, ice-tea product.
Maps Ayran
Variations
Salt (and sometimes pepper) is added, and dried mint or pennyroyal can be mixed in as well, as well as lime juice. One variation includes diced cucumbers to provide a crunchy texture to the beverage. Some varieties of doogh have carbonation.
Similar beverages
- Calpis, Japanese yogurt-based soft drink
- Chal, fermented camel's-milk
- Chalap, beverage consisting of fermented milk, salt, and carbonated water
- Kefir, fermented milk drink made with yeast grains
- Kumis, fermented mare's milk drink
- Lassi, yogurt-based drink from the Indian Subcontinent
- Qatiq, fermented-milk beverage
- Chaas, yogurt-based drink made with yogurt, salt and water, and occasional mint and coriander leaves
- Borhani, a popular bengali yogurt drink mixed with mint leaves, sugar, salt and pepper among others
See also
- List of fermented foods
- List of yogurt-based dishes and beverages
Notes
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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