Turkish 101

[Frank_Deis]

Stuart, I don’t see your link – but I accept that that could be true. I hadn’t checked the bottles. The taste is identical, and for better or worse, I like both of them. If you travel beyond Turkey into the Middle East (the old Ottoman Empire) you find Arak, very similar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arak_(distilled_beverage)

According to the wiki article on Ouzo it’s 40-50% ABV. Twice that would be 100%

Ouzo

The wiki says Raki is 45% alcohol by volume, “identical”

Raki

Also the wiki articles dispute your idea that Raki came before Ouzo – Ouzo was put together by Greek monks in the 14th century. Muslims aren’t supposed to drink but Meyhanes in Istanbul (often owned and operated by Greeks) eventually attracted Muslim customers who liked the drink and made it their own in the 19th century.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

Raki vs Ouzo... get your spirits straight!

Frank…sorry. I thought I had posted the link. I meant to.

I know no more…than this. I don’t like either…or pastis or any of them. I’ve tried.

The link says that ouzo was an ancient drink…but was only revived in the 19th century after absinthe with wormwood was banned in Europe…so…

[Frank_Deis]

Remember that Istanbul was still Constantinople until 1495 – during the 14th and 15th Centuries. The Greeks asked for help in holding off the Turks but the Italians (and the Pope in Rome) turned them down. That’s why it’s Istanbul not Constantinople – and it’s nobody’s business but the Turks.

[J_B_a_s_k_a_m]

@Frank Deis

…BTW Raki is not “rah-key.” Rocky. The final “i” does not have a dot, and that makes it a very dark vowel, like a schwa (upside down e). So it is “rah-kuh” as in “so-fuh”…

My dad who was from Turkey pronounced it, “Rock’-Kur” I always liked it more than Ouzo, but of course I am half Turkish.

[John_Morris]

@Mark.Ricca

@Robert.Fleming

@Mark.Ricca

Frank,
I’m assuming you’re using sumac in some of your Turkish recipes. Where are you getting from around here?

Penzey’s sells sumac; there is a Penzey’s store in Summit if that’s close to you. Otherwise, easy enough to order on line: Sumac Berries | Penzeys

Thanks Bob.

The Istanbul Market on South Main Street in Paterson is a great source for all things Turkish.

[John_Morris]

@Frank Deis

Remember that Istanbul was still Constantinople until 1495…

1453! Please! A year that will live in infamy if your Christian, and glory if you’re a Turk. (And the Ottomans had the city pretty well surrounded, even on the European side, for a few years before that.)

As for the Pope abandoning the Byzantines that year, it wasn’t the first time Western Europe had turned on their eastern brethren. A couple centuries earlier, one band of Crusaders sacked Constantinople on their way to the Holy Land. In another episode, the poor Byzantines in Antioch, who had held out against and Arab siege for something like a year, awaiting rescue, were promptly slaughtered by the Crusaders when they arrived. (“First we kill the heretics, then the enemy.”)