Ayran -- Turkish Buttermilk

While I'm on a yogurt craze, here's a recipe for a very popular drink in Turkey that is easy to make out of yogurt. It took me a while to get used to it, but I love it now. It's nutritious and delicious.

When we make Ayran at home, we keep it very simple. Mix plain, whole yogurt with a bit of water and salt to taste. You want the consitency to be like buttermilk. Chill, or serve with ice. I usually prefer mine chilled without ice.

Here's a recipe from Samples from Turkish Cuisine that's a different version:

Ingredients:

3 cups yogurt (750 g)
2 cups milk (500 g)
2 ½ cups water ( 600 g)
1 ½ teaspoons salt (9g) (I use sea salt)

Directions:

Place yogurt in a bowl. Beat with a fork or a hand mixer untill well blended. Add milk gradually, mixing well. Stir in iced cold water. Add salt; mix well. Serve cold.

Cultural Note:

[Ayran] is a very popular drink all over the country. It is served with kebabs, kőftes, meat dishes and pilafs as a beverage or it is just served as a refreshment during summer months. Amount of yogurt can be reduced to 1/3 cup per person for a thinner consistency. Only milk, or only water, can be used a liquid. It should always be served cold.

Great Turkish Cookbook

One book that I highly recommend, if you can get your hands on it, is Samples from Turkish Cuisine, edited by Ayşe Baysal. This is a fabulous collection of authentic Turkish recipes and is by far the Turkish cookbook I use the most.

My copy was a gift from my husband when we were living in Turkey. He got it free through his job. Now I see it's selling for quite a bit online. But I'll try to provide as many of the best recipes as I can without violating fair use.

One of the things I like best about this cookbook is that it includes measurements in both metric and English systems. Thus I was able to use it easily while living in Turkey and then back in the US.

I have another Turkish cookbook I like quite a bit: The Delights of Turkish Cooking by Neşet Eren.

I prefer Samples from Turkish Cuisine because its recipes are the more common, everyday foods Turks cook themselves, whereas The Delights of Turkish Cooking tends to be a bit more gourmet, though it does have delicious recipes, and I will include some in this blog.

Homemade Plain Yogurt

Here's a snippet from the vows for marrying a Turk: "I promise to love, honor, and eat yogurt every single day of my life." Well, practically... Turks love their yogurt!

Yogurt is very easy to make, once you've tried it and are familiar with the process. Homemade yogurt may not be as thick as commercial, but tastes better without the additives.

Ingredients:

• 1 quart whole milk (nonhomogenized if you can get it, thus cream will form on top)
• a yogurt or candy thermometer
• ½ cup starter plain yogurt (can be from commercial--make sure with live cultures, or from a previous batch of homemade)

Directions:

Slowly heat the milk to 180 degrees F, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat and allow milk to cool to 110 F. Stir in the starter yogurt. Transfer the mixture to a container for incubating and leave for several hours or overnight (6-9 hours). The longer you leave, the firmer it will get, but also the taste will get more bitter.

There are cheap yogurt incubators on the market that do a great job. You can also put it in a glass, enamel, or stainless steel container, cover, and put in a warm spot. Some people have success in the oven with a pilot light on or in a dehydrator. I've wrapped mine in towels or a blanket and put in a warm spot. The best reults I've had were with the incubator, but also in the oven with a pilot light have yielded good results as well.

Learning how to make good yogurt at home will save money and provide a better quality yogurt than what is readily accessible in many parts of the US. Until my local co-op opened, if I wanted good, plain whole yogurt, I had to make it myself. Many, many Turkish recipes call for plain whole yogurt. And the health benefits are wonderful. See a few links from the post below on Garlic-Yogurt Sauce.