Şalgam Is Not Optional

Hester Callow · 2 August 2026

Fermented turnip juice, served cold, dark red, and the standard accompaniment to everything grilled.

What You Are Drinking

Fermented purple carrot and turnip, salted, sour, and served in a tall glass with a pickled pepper in it. It is not sweet and it is not trying to be.

It comes acılı or normal, spicy or not. Ask for normal the first time. The spicy version is genuinely spicy and it will not be the pleasant discovery you were hoping for halfway through a kebab.

Why It Works

The kebab is rich and fatty and this is sour and salty, so it cuts straight through. That is the entire logic and it is a good one.

It is also the local drink in a way that transcends the meal, sold from carts and shops all over the city, and drunk on its own throughout the day.

If You Hate It

Plenty of people do on the first glass. Ayran is the standard alternative and nobody will think less of you.

Give it a second try later in the trip, though. It is one of those things that stops tasting strange after about the third encounter and then becomes the thing you miss.