Tahn

Did You Know?

• The word ayran is derived from the Old Turkic root meaning 'to separate'.
• Ayran was developed in Central Asia by Turkic tribes, and a c. 1000 CE Turkic dictionary defines it as a 'drink made out of milk'.
• Similar drinks include doogh in Iran, t’an in Armenia, and lassi in the Indian subcontinent.

Preparation

Tahn is a chilled yogurt drink, often served with grilled meat, bread, or rice in hot weather. It combines yogurt with cold or iced water, and may include mint or carbonation. Described as diluted yogurt, it is a refreshing summer beverage.

Variations

Salt, black pepper, dried mint, and lime juice can be mixed into tahn. Diced cucumbers may be added for a crunchy texture. Some varieties are carbonated. In Balkan countries, the drink is often consumed for breakfast or lunch, typically with pastries like banitsa, börek, or other pastries. In Turkey, three registered ayran variations exist, including Susurluk Ayranı, where the drink is drawn from a vat and rapidly poured back through a narrow pipe to create foam from the fat. In eastern parts of Turkey, a mixing method produces a very frothy drink called Yayık Ayranı. The Malatya region has a spicy ayran known as Malatya Spicy Ayran, which received registration and a patent. In Afghanistan, ayran (doogh or shromba) is a summer beverage made with yogurt, salt, mint, diced cucumbers, lime, and sometimes carbonated, drunk alongside bolani and flatbread. In Albania, dhallë is made exclusively with yogurt, salt, and water, served cold. In Southern Cyprus, ayrani uses sour sheep yogurt, water, salt, and mint. In Russia and some Eastern European countries, a variant called kefir has a similar taste but is made from fermented milk using kefir grains.

Turkish national drink status

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promoted ayran as a national drink, contrasting it with beer at a 2013 WHO Global Alcohol Policy Conference. However, ayran sales in Turkey lag behind other non-alcoholic beverages; a 2015 joint statement noted that ayran consumption during Ramadan declined each year from 2010 to 2015. In 2015, Turkey's Ministry of Customs and Trade fined state-owned Çaykur 220,000 TL for an advertisement that insulted ayran.