Şalgam

One thing I can't get enough of is şalgam suyu, "turnip juice." Şalgam tastes like sour pickle juice, looks like reddish beet juice, and is made from some kind of red turnip. It is wonderful. You can buy it either mild or spicy hot. Usually it is served at kebab houses to accompany adana kebab, but it is also sold as a sour alternative to fruit juice. It really quenches a thirst on a hot day. It also is said to be a hangover cure.


There is one unique problem to şalgam drinking though. If you drink more than a little bit - and I drink a liter a day - what goes in red comes out blue. At first, I thought blue poo?... could be systemic renal failure. But no, it is just a harmless digestive color change. Nothing to see here, people, keep moving...