Raki (alcoholic beverage)
Encyclopedia
Turkish cuisine
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe...
unsweetened, anise
Anise
Anise , Pimpinella anisum, also called aniseed, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. Its flavor resembles that of liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :...
-flavored hard alcoholic drink
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Serbia, and other Balkan countries as an apéritif
Apéritif and digestif
Apéritifs and digestifs are alcoholic drinks that are normally served with meals.-Apéritifs:An apéritif is usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. This contrasts with digestifs, which are served after a meal for the purpose of aiding digestion...
. It is often served with seafood
Seafood
Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...
or meze
Meze
Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch, with or without drinks. In Levantine cuisines and in the Caucasus region, meze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals....
. It is similar to several other alcoholic beverage
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
s available around the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and in Colombia, e.g., pastis
Pastis
Pastis is an anise-flavored liqueur and apéritif from France, typically containing 40–45% alcohol by volume, although alcohol-free varieties exist.-Origins:...
, ouzo
Ouzo
Ouzo is an anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece and Cyprus, and a symbol of Greek culture.-History:Traditionally, tsipouro is said to have been the pet project of a group of 14th century monks living in a monastery on holy Mount Athos. One version of it is flavored with anise...
, sambuca
Sambuca
Sambuca is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as white sambuca to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue in colour or bright red ....
, arak
Arak (distilled beverage)
Arak or Araq , is a highly alcoholic spirit from the anis drinks family. It is a clear, colorless, unsweetened anise-flavoured distilled alcoholic drink...
, and aguardiente
Aguardiente
Aguardiente , aiguardent , aguardente , and augardente are generic terms for alcoholic beverages that contain between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume...
.
In the Balkans, however, "raki" refers to a non-anise-flavored drink made from distilled pomace
Pomace
Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....
, similar to Italian grappa
Grappa
Grappa is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume...
, Greek tsipouro
Tsipouro
Tsipouro is a pomace brandy from Greece and in particular Thessaly , Epirus, Macedonia, Mani Peninsula, and the island of Crete . Tsipouro is a strong distilled spirit containing approximately 45 percent alcohol by volume and is produced from the pomace...
, Cretan tsikoudia
Tsikoudia
Tsikoudia is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Cretan origin that contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume. Tsikoudia is made by distilling of pomace, i.e., the pieces of grapes that were pressed for the winemaking process...
(which is also known locally as raki), Cypriot zivania
Zivania
Zivania or zivana is a Cypriot alcoholic beverage. Zivania is a distillate produced from the pomace of grapes that were pressed during the wine-making process mixed with local dry wines produced from local grape varieties of Cyprus such as Xynisteri and Mavro...
, and Spanish orujo
Orujo
Orujo is the name in north-west Spain for pomace brandy . It is a transparent spirit with an alcohol content over 50%...
.
Serving and drinking
In TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, raki is the national drink and is traditionally consumed either straight (sek, from the French "sec" meaning neat or dry), with chilled water on the side or partly mixed with chilled water, according to personal preference. Ice cubes are sometimes added. Dilution with water causes raki to turn a milky-white colour, similar to the louche
Ouzo effect
The ouzo effect is a phenomenon observed when water is added to ouzo and other anise-flavored liqueurs and spirits, such as pastis, raki, arak and absinthe, forming a milky oil-in-water microemulsion...
of absinthe
Absinthe
Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel...
. This phenomenon has resulted in the drink being popularly referred to aslan sütü ("lion's milk"). Since aslan ("lion") is a Turkish colloquial metaphor for a strong, courageous man, this gives the term a meaning close to "the milk of the strong."
Raki is commonly consumed alongside mezze, a selection of hot and cold appetisers, as well as at a rakı sofrası ("raki table"), either before a full dinner or instead of it. It is especially popular with seafood, together with fresh arugula
Arugula
Eruca sativa , is an edible annual plant, commonly known as rocket, roquette, rucola or arugula, not to be confused with Wild rocket. It is a species of Eruca native to the Mediterranean region, from Morocco and Portugal east to Lebanon and Turkey...
, feta
Feta
Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads Feta is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese,...
and melon. It is an equally popular complement to various red meat dishes like kebab
Kebab
Kebab is a wide variety of meat dishes originating in Middle East and later on adopted by the Middle East, and Asia Minor, and now found worldwide. In English, kebab with no qualification generally refers more specifically to shish kebab served on the skewer...
s, where it is often served with a glass of turnip juice.
The secularist Turkish leader Kemal Atatürk was very fond of raki, and his late-night rakı sofrası sessions were his favorite place to debate issues with his closest friends and advisors.
The Hanafi school of Islam, which accounts for around 40% of Muslims (including Turkey), does not prohibit ethanol, but intoxication, based on a different interpretation of the operative word, khamr, although the other three schools prohibit both ethanol and intoxication . One of the two great scholars of the Hanafi school, Abu Yusuf, drank a mildly alcoholic malt beverage, which was at the time used to provide energy.
Production
Raki is traditionally produced by twice distillingDistillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
grape pomace
Pomace
Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....
(or grape pomace that has been mixed with ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
) in traditional copper alembic
Alembic
An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube...
s of 5000 litres, and flavoring it with aniseed.
Etymology
The term raki entered English from TurkishTurkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
rakı. The word rakı is derived from the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
عرق ʕaraq, other variants being araka, araki, ariki. Araq means perspiration in Arabic, which is believed to metaphorically refer to condensation
Condensation
Condensation is the change of the physical state of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. When the transition happens from the gaseous phase into the solid phase directly, the change is called deposition....
, which likely refers to the condensation that forms outside of the chilled glass, the drop-by-drop manner in which Raki is distilled that is reminiscent of sweating, or the phenomenon of unexpected sweating observed in individuals engaging in excessive Raki consumption. Raki is sometimes referred to as "Lion's Milk".
History
In the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, until the 19th century, meyhane
Meyhane
A meyhane is a traditional restaurant or bar in historical Iran, Turkey and Balkans region. The word of meyhane comes from persian and the meaning is the place where people drink wine. "Meyhane" is composed of two Persian words: mey and hane .- History :History of meyhane starts from Byzantine...
s run by Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
and Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
would mainly serve wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
along with meze
Meze
Meze or mezze is a selection of small dishes served in the Mediterranean and Middle East as dinner or lunch, with or without drinks. In Levantine cuisines and in the Caucasus region, meze is served at the beginning of all large-scale meals....
, due to religious restrictions imposed by various sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
s. Although there were many Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s among meyhane attendants, sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
authorities could, at times, prosecute them. With the relatively liberal atmosphere of the Tanzimat
Tanzimat
The Tanzimât , meaning reorganization of the Ottoman Empire, was a period of reformation that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. The Tanzimât reform era was characterized by various attempts to modernize the Ottoman Empire, to secure its territorial integrity against...
Period (1839–1876), meyhane attendance among Muslims rose considerably, and raki became a favourite among meyhane
Meyhane
A meyhane is a traditional restaurant or bar in historical Iran, Turkey and Balkans region. The word of meyhane comes from persian and the meaning is the place where people drink wine. "Meyhane" is composed of two Persian words: mey and hane .- History :History of meyhane starts from Byzantine...
-goers. By the end of the century, raki took its current standard form and its consumption surpassed that of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
.
During this period, rakı was produced by distillation of grapes pomace
Pomace
Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....
(cibre) obtained during wine fermentation. When the amount of pomace was not sufficient, alcohol imported from Europe would be added. If anise was not added, it would take the name düz rakı (Straight Raki), whereas raki prepared with the addition of gum mastic
Mastic (plant resin)
Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree . In pharmacies and Nature shops it is called "arabic gum" and "Yemen gum". In Greece it is known as the "tears of Chios," being traditionally produced on that Greek island, and, like other natural resins is produced in "tears" or droplets...
was named sakız rakısı (gum raki) or mastikha, especially if produced on the island of Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
.
With the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and the establishment of the modern-day Republic of Turkey, grape-based rakı began to be distilled by the state-owned spirits monopoly Tekel
Tekel
Tekel, is a Turkish tobacco company. It was nationalised in 1925 from a French company, the "Regie Compagnie interessee des tabacs de l'empire Ottoman". Tekel evolved into the sole manufacturer and distributor of all alcohol and tobacco products in Turkey...
, with the first factory production taking place in 1944 in Izmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
. With increasing sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
production, Tekel also began to distill the alcohol from molasses
Molasses
Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet,...
, and a new brand of raki made from sugar-beet alcohol was introduced under the name Yeni Rakı 'New Rakı'. Molasses gave Yeni Rakı a distinctive bitter taste and helped increase the drink's popularity.
Today, with increased competition from the private sector, and the privatisation of Tekel in 2004, several new brands and types of raki have emerged, each with its own distinct composition and production method, although the overall qualities of the drink have generally been kept consistent. These include Efe Rakı, Çilingir Rakı, Mercan Rakı, Fasıl Rakı, Burgaz Rakı, Ata Rakı, and Anadolu Rakı. Sarı Zeybek Rakısı, another recent brand, is aged in oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
casks, which gives it a distinctive golden colour.
Types and brands
The standard Raki is a grapeGrape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
product, though it may be produced from fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s as well. Raki produced from figs, particularly popular in the southern provinces of Turkey, is called incir boğması, incir rakısı (Fig Raki), or in Arabic, tini. Tekel ceased producing Fig Raki in 1947.
Suma Raki, i.e. distilled Raki prior to the addition of Aniseed, is generally produced from raisins but Raki factories around established wine-producing areas like Tekirdağ
Tekirdag
Tekirdağ , the ancient Bisanthi , is a city in Eastern Thrace, in the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province, felt by the local people to be a quieter and more pleasant town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The city population as of 2009 was...
, Nevşehir
Nevsehir
Nevşehir, formerly Muşkara, , is a city and the capital district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. According to the 2010 census, population of the district is 117,890 of which 85,634 631 live in the city of Nevşehir...
, and İzmir
Izmir
Izmir is a large metropolis in the western extremity of Anatolia. The metropolitan area in the entire Izmir Province had a population of 3.35 million as of 2010, making the city third most populous in Turkey...
may also use fresh grapes for higher quality. Recently, yaş üzüm rakısı (Fresh-Grape Raki) has become more popular in Turkey. A recent brand, Efe Rakı, was the first company to produce Raki exclusively of fresh grape suma, called Efe Yaş Üzüm Rakısı (Efe Fresh Grape Raki). Tekirdağ Altın Seri (Tekirdağ Golden Series) followed the trend and many others have been produced by other companies.
The best-known and popular brands of Raki, however, remain Yeni Rakı, originally produced by Tekel, which has transferred production rights to Mey Alkol upon the 2004 privatisation of Tekel, and Tekirdağ Rakısı from the region of Tekirdağ
Tekirdag
Tekirdağ , the ancient Bisanthi , is a city in Eastern Thrace, in the European part of Turkey. Tekirdağ is the capital of Tekirdağ Province, felt by the local people to be a quieter and more pleasant town than the industrial centre of Çorlu, which it administers. The city population as of 2009 was...
, which is famous for its characteristic flavour, believed to be due to the artesian waters of Çorlu
Çorlu
Çorlu is a northwestern Turkish city in inland Eastern Thrace that falls under the administration of the Province of Tekirdağ. It is a rapidly developing industrial center built on flatland located off the E80 highway between Istanbul and Turkey's border with Greece and Bulgaria. As of the 2000...
used in its production. Yeni Rakı has an alcohol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
content of 45% and 1.5 gram
Gram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
s of anise per litre
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
; Tekirdağ Rakısı is 45% ABV
Alcohol by volume
Alcohol by volume is a standard measure of how much alcohol is contained in an alcoholic beverage .The ABV standard is used worldwide....
and has 1.7 grams of anise per litre. There are also two top-quality brands called Kulüp Rakısı and Altınbaş, with 50% alcohol.
Dip rakısı (Bottom Raki) is the Raki that remains in the bottom of the tanks during production. Bottom Raki is thought to best capture the dense aroma and flavour of the spririt, and is called özel rakı (Special Raki). It is not generally available commercially; instead, Raki factories reserve it as a prestigious gift for large clients.
See also
- Culture of TurkeyCulture of TurkeyThe culture of Turkey combines a largely diverse and heterogeneous set of elements that are derived from the Ottoman, European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions...
- Cuisine of TurkeyTurkish cuisineTurkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighbouring cuisines, including that of western Europe...
- List of anise-flavored liqueurs
- ArakArak (distilled beverage)Arak or Araq , is a highly alcoholic spirit from the anis drinks family. It is a clear, colorless, unsweetened anise-flavoured distilled alcoholic drink...
, a similar drink from the LevantLevantThe Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the... - OuzoOuzoOuzo is an anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece and Cyprus, and a symbol of Greek culture.-History:Traditionally, tsipouro is said to have been the pet project of a group of 14th century monks living in a monastery on holy Mount Athos. One version of it is flavored with anise...
, Greek anise flavoured drink - Ouzo effectOuzo effectThe ouzo effect is a phenomenon observed when water is added to ouzo and other anise-flavored liqueurs and spirits, such as pastis, raki, arak and absinthe, forming a milky oil-in-water microemulsion...
, the science behind the milky appearance - RakiaRakiaRakia is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by distillation of fermented fruit; it is a popular beverage throughout the Balkans. Its alcohol content is normally 40% ABV, but home-produced rakia can be stronger . Prepečenica is double-distilled rakia which has an alcohol content that may...
, a fruit brandy popular in the Balkans, France, and Italy - TsipouroTsipouroTsipouro is a pomace brandy from Greece and in particular Thessaly , Epirus, Macedonia, Mani Peninsula, and the island of Crete . Tsipouro is a strong distilled spirit containing approximately 45 percent alcohol by volume and is produced from the pomace...
, Greek distilled drink - TsikoudiaTsikoudiaTsikoudia is an alcoholic beverage, a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Cretan origin that contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume. Tsikoudia is made by distilling of pomace, i.e., the pieces of grapes that were pressed for the winemaking process...
, the tsipouro of CreteCreteCrete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits... - ZivaniaZivaniaZivania or zivana is a Cypriot alcoholic beverage. Zivania is a distillate produced from the pomace of grapes that were pressed during the wine-making process mixed with local dry wines produced from local grape varieties of Cyprus such as Xynisteri and Mavro...
, the ouzo/tsipouro of CyprusCyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...