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{{short description|Fermented grain-based beverage}}
{{for|people with the name|Boza (name)}}{{for|computer virus|Bizatch}}{{For|the dessert|Booza}}[[File:Boza bg.jpg|thumb|upright|A glass of Bulgarian boza]]
[[Image:boza.jpg|thumb|upright|Boza from Turkey]]
'''Boza''', also '''bosa''', is a [[fermented beverage]] originating from Central Asia and made in parts of the [[Balkans]], [[Turkey]], [[Central Asia]], the [[Caucasus]], and [[North Africa]]. It is a [[malt]] drink made by fermenting various grains: [[maize]] (corn) and [[wheat]] in Turkey. It is one of the oldest Turkic beverages.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.findbgfood.com/recipe-boza | title=Boza - a Bulgarian drink }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Arthur Jr| last=Goldschmidt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQNSAQAAQBAJ&q=buza|title=Historical Dictionary of Egypt|date=2013|orig-year=1994|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8025-2|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|77}}<ref>{{Cite book|last=Alpion|first=Gëzim I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ikb8zMXSViMC&q=buza|title=Encounters With Civilizations: From Alexander the Great to Mother Teresa|date=2011|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-1831-5|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|46}} It has a thick consistency, a low alcohol content (around 1%), and a slightly acidic sweet flavor.

== Etymology ==
According to Turkish etymological dictionary ''[[Sevan Nişanyan|Nişanyan Sözlük]]'', ''boza'' is etymologically [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] in origin.
The dictionary states that [[Old Turkic]] ''buχsı'' or ''buχsum'' are [[Cognate|cognates]], yet it is unclear from which language it was ultimately derived and which one took it as a [[loanword]]. [[Ármin Vámbéry]] says it is an ancient Turkish word found in ''[[Kutadgu Bilig]]''.

The oldest written account of the drink is under the name ''buχsum'' and is attested from the 1073 [[Middle Turkic languages|Middle Turkic]] dictionary ''[[Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk]]'' by [[Mahmud al-Kashgari]]. Modern Turkish word ''boza'' is believed to be cognates with the Old Turkic ''buχsı'' or ''buχsum''. The drink under the name ''boza'' is first attested in [[Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati]]'s early 14th century [[Kypchak Turkic|Kipchak Turkic]] work ''[[Kitab al-'idrak li-lisan al-'atrak]]''<ref>{{Cite web|title=boza|url=https://nisanyansozluk.com/?k=boza|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Nişanyan Sözlük}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Boza and Boem šnita in Sarajevo.JPG|thumb|Boza and ''Boem šnita'' desserts in [[Sarajevo]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]]]
{{refimprove-section|date=January 2015}}
Fermented cereal flour (generally millet) drinks have been produced in [[Anatolia]] and [[Mesopotamia]] since the 9th or 8th millennia BCE, and [[Xenophon]] mentioned in the 4th century BCE how the locals preserved and cooled the preparations in earthen pots that were buried.<ref>{{cite book
| last1=LeBlanc | first1= Jean Guy
| last2= Todorov | first2= Svetoslav Dimitrov 
| year= 2011 
| chapter-url =http://www.formatex.info/microbiology3/book/1311-1320.pdf 
| url-status=usurped 
| chapter= Bacteriocin producing lactic acid bacteria isolated from Boza, a traditional fermented beverage from Balkan Peninsula – from isolation to application
| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613155939/http://www.formatex.info/microbiology3/book/1311-1320.pdf 
|archive-date=2018-06-13
| editor-last= Méndez-Vilas
| editor-first= A. 
| title= Science against microbial pathogens : communicating current research and technological advances
| place= Badajoz 
| publisher=Formatex Research Center
| pages =  1311–1320
}}</ref> There are references mentioning boza-like "fermented (ground) millet drink" in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] and [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] texts; the beverage is said to be respectively ''arsikku'' and ''ar-zig''.<ref>page 20 of Hungarian-Mesopotamian dictionary by prof. Alfred Toth, Mikes international, 2007 http://www.federatio.org/mi_bibl/AlfredToth_Mesopotamian.pdf</ref> In the 10th century CE, the drink was called ''Boza'' and became common amongst Central Asian [[Turkic peoples]].<ref name=perry19>{{Cite conference|author=Charles Perry|title=Food in Motion: The Migration of Foodstuffs and Cookery Techniques Vol 1|conference=Oxford Symposium|year=1983|publisher=Prospect Books|page=19|isbn=9780907325154|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rbDzAYGcUa8C&pg=PA19}}</ref> Later it spread to the [[Caucasus]] and the [[Balkans]]. It enjoyed its golden age under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], and ''boza''-making became a common trade in towns and cities.

Until the 16th century, boza was drunk freely everywhere, but the custom of making the so-called Tartar boza laced with opium brought the wrath of the authorities down on the drink, and it was prohibited by sultan [[Selim II]] (1566–1574). He describes a type of non-alcoholic sweet ''boza'' of a milk white color usually made by Albanians.

In the 17th century, Sultan [[Mehmed IV]] (1648–1687) prohibited alcoholic drinks including ''boza'', and closed down all the ''boza'' shops. This prohibition would be reinforced and then loosened several times in the history of the empire. The 17th century Turkish traveler [[Evliya Çelebi]] reports that ''boza'' was widely drunk at this time, and that there were 300 ''boza'' shops employing over a thousand people in [[Istanbul]] alone.

In this period, boza was widely drunk by the [[Janissaries]] in the army. It contained only a low level of alcohol, so as long as it was not consumed in sufficient quantities to cause drunkenness, it was tolerated as a warming and strengthening beverage for soldiers. As Evliya Çelebi explained in the first volume ("Istanbul") of his ''[[Seyahatname]]'' (Travelogues), "These ''boza'' makers are numerous in the army. To drink sufficient ''boza'' to cause intoxication is sinful but, unlike wine, in small quantities it is not condemned."<ref name="ÇelebiTekin1989">{{cite book|author1=Evliya Çelebi|author2=Şinasi Tekin|author3=Gönül Alpay-Tekin |author4=Fahir İz  |title=Evliya Çelebi seyahatnamesi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wAoNAQAAMAAJ |year=1989 |publisher=Harvard Üniversitesi Basımevi}}</ref> In the 19th century, the sweet and non-alcoholic ''boza'' preferred at the Ottoman palace became increasingly popular, while the sour and alcoholic type of boza went out of style. In 1876, brothers Haci Ibrahim and Haci Sadik established a boza shop in the Istanbul district of [[Vefa]], close to the then center of entertainment, Direklerarası. This ''boza'', with its thick consistency and tart flavor, became famous throughout the city. It is the only ''boza'' shop dating from that period still in business today, and is now run by the founders' great-great-grandchildren.

In the 1910s, boza also reached [[Białystok]] in [[Poland]], where it was introduced by Macedonian immigrants, and is now designated a local traditional beverage by the [[Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland)|Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland]].<ref name=gov>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.pl/web/rolnictwo/buza-boza|title=Buza / boza|website=Ministerstwo Rolnictwa i Rozwoju Wsi - Portal Gov.pl|access-date=9 November 2024|language=pl}}</ref>
<gallery>
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4901.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Shop from across street
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4878.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci distribution area
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4888.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Consumption area
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4898.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Glass used by Atatürk
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4881.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Transfer to smaller vessel
File:Istanbul Vefa Bozaci 4896.jpg|Istanbul Vefa Bozaci Transfer to smaller vessel
</gallery>

==Production and storage==
Boza is produced in the Balkans, notably Bulgaria and most of the Turkic regions, but not always using [[millet]]. The flavour varies according to the cereal which is used. Measuring boza samples made from maize, wheat, and rice flours, researchers determined an average of 12.3% total sugar, 1.06% protein, and 0.07% fat.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The use of starter cultures in the fermentation of boza, a traditional Turkish beverage|journal=Process Biochemistry|volume=38|issue=10|pages=1405–1411|doi=10.1016/S0032-9592(03)00033-5|year=2003|last1=Zorba|first1=Murat|last2=Hancioglu|first2=Omre|last3=Genc|first3=Mahmut|last4=Karapinar|first4=Mehmet|last5=Ova|first5=Gulden}}</ref> The boza in Białystok, Poland is made from millet groats, with the addition of [[raisins]], [[lemon]] and sugar.<ref name=gov/>

Boza spoils if not kept in a cool place, therefore boza fermenters in Turkey did not sell boza during the hot summer traditionally, instead selling alternative beverages such as grape juice or lemonade. They produce it in the summer now due to increased availability of refrigeration, and revenue from high demand. Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Albania, and North Macedonia produce boza as a refreshing beverage year-round.

==In popular culture==
* Mevlut Karataş, the main character in [[Orhan Pamuk]]'s 2014 novel ''[[A Strangeness in My Mind]]'' (''Kafamda Bir Tuhaflık''), is a boza [[hawker (trade)|vendor]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/books/review-orhan-pamuks-a-strangeness-in-my-mind.html?_r=1|last=Garner|first=Dwight|date=October 20, 2015|title=Review: Orhan Pamuk's 'A Strangeness in My Mind'|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 4, 2016}}</ref>
* The Serbian band [[Zana (band)|Zana]] mentions boza in the title track from their album ''Nisam, nisam''.
* A popular drink in Bulgaria, usually accompanied by a [[Banitsa]] or [[Gevrek]]

==Similar beverages==
{{Portal|Food|Drink}}
Other beverages from around the world that are traditionally low-alcohol and [[Lacto-fermentation|lacto-fermented]] include:
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Kvass]]
* [[Bragă]]
* [[Chicha]]
* [[Ibwatu]]
* [[Mageu]]
* [[Makgeolli]]
*[[Oshikundu]]
* [[Palm wine|Toddy]]
* [[Tejuino]]
* [[Tongba]]
* [[Maksime or Baksime]] of Circassians
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Commonscat-inline}}

{{Cuisine of Turkey|beverage}}{{African cuisine}}
[[Category:Types of beer]]
[[Category:Balkan cuisine]]
[[Category:Cuisine of the Caucasus]]
[[Category:Central Asian cuisine]]
[[Category:Middle Eastern cuisine]]
[[Category:North African cuisine]]
[[Category:Ottoman cuisine]]
[[Category:Bulgarian drinks]]
[[Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina non-alcoholic drinks]]
[[Category:Albanian drinks]]
[[Category:Culture in Białystok]]