Pamir | Hot Fermented Carrot Juice | Acili Salgam | 33.8 fl oz (1 L)

Hot salgam from Pamir, bottled in Mersin - the label calls it Tarsus salgami, Tarsus-style salgam from the Mersin region of southern Turkiye. Purple carrot and turnip, fermented, salty and sour, with hot pepper in it.

Highlights

• Hot - acili - hot pepper is on the ingredient list, so this is the spicy bottle, not the mild one
• Tarsus salgami - Tarsus-style salgam, made in Mersin, Turkiye
• No sugar and no preservatives - both stated on the label; 0 g sugars per 100 mL
• Superior Taste Award 2021 - from the International Taste Institute in Brussels, printed on the bottle
• 33.8 fl oz (1 L) - the table bottle, enough for a family meal

How to Serve

Cold, in small glasses, beside kebab, lahmacun or anything off the grill. The salt and sourness work against rich, fatty food, which is why it turns up at kebab tables all over Turkiye.

Shake the bottle before opening - the label asks for it, because the solids settle. It is a savoury drink, not a sweet juice: sip it rather than drink it like lemonade. If the heat is too much, cut it with a mild salgam rather than water, which flattens the flavour as well as the heat.

What Is Salgam?

Salgam is a fermented vegetable drink from southern Turkiye. It tastes salty and sour, a little like the brine from a jar of pickles, with an earthy note from the carrot. The deep purple colour comes from purple carrot, not from the turnip in the name.

The ingredient list on this bottle shows how it is made: water, purple carrot, turnip and salt, with boiled and pounded wheat (bulgur) and yeast to start the ferment, and garlic and hot pepper for flavour. If you have never tried it, think of it as a drinkable pickle - and serve it very cold.

Product Details

Also known as: acili salgam, salgam, acili salgam suyu, salgam suyu, pamir salgam, tarsus salgami, hot salgam, hot turnip juice, black carrot juice, fermented carrot juice, sogam, saljam, shalgam