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No one can grow up in Turkey without childhood memories of asure simmering in the largest sauce­pan in the kitchen, then being poured into a dozen or so small hotels, decorat­ed with dried nuts and fruits and dis­tributed to the neigh­bours, who return the bowls unwashed or filled with their own asure. 

The month of Muharrem, which this year falls in April, is the time for this ancient tradition, which goes back thousands of years and was almost certainly originally a cel­ebration of the bounty of the earth. 

This soup-like sweet dish of wheat, pulses, dried fruits and nuts is made at home by fewer and fewer people today, and is more often served in restaurants, where it has taken on a thicker con­sistency and joined the ranks of milk puddings. 

Legend has it that when Noah's Ark was grounded on a high mountain (Mount Ararat in Christian tradition and Mount Cudi to the south in Islamic tradition, both in eastern Turkey) as the flood  water receded, those aboard thanked God for their deliverance Of the supplies which had kept them alive on the Ark just a little remained in the bot­tom of the sacks. 

They decided to cook them all up together: haricot beans, broadbeans, chickpeas, wheat, sugar and dried fruit. 
Tipping it all into a cauldron with the holy water of life which God had sent them from heaven, they boiled it up to a hot, sweet soup. This last meal on the Ark was also the most delicious, and moreover one that all the creatures could share.

As they clambered down from the high mountain summit they promised one another to cook the same meal year after year in memory of the del­uge and in thanksgiving to God for the bounties of the earth. 

And so the tradition has been hand­ed down from generation to generation in Anatolia, among Jews, Christians and Muslims. 

But over time fresh disasters affecting later gener­ations prompted them to give new meanings to taining it returned unwashed to their owners. 
This type of asure contains bro­ken wheat, haricot beans, broad beans, chickpeas, rice, bul­gur (cracked boiled and dried wheat), red lentils, green lentils, raisins, cur­rants, pine nuts, pistachio nuts, wal­nuts, hazelnuts, apricots, prunes, dried peaches, dried mulberries, quinces, figs, oranges, bitter oranges, tangerines, p o m e g r a n a t e grains, apple peel, dates, almonds, cloves, cumin seed, sesame seeds, blackberries, cornelian cher­ries, saffron, basil, cinnamon, salt, sugar, rose water, lemon juice, milk and water. 


Of course the main ingredients are again wheat, beans, chick­peas and sugar, the others being added only in symbolic quantities. 


Salt has special important as an ingredient granted by God to give flavour to food, and some believe that the asure must actual­ly taste salty otherwise its sacred character as a food of thanksgiving is lost.

The people of Anatolia, of whatever faith, enjoy symbolism and hidden meaning. In this way they cany on the tradition of mystery and sacred sig­nificance embodied in this ancient soil, and  asure is one of the most important surviving vehi­cles of this tradition.


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  • Home
  • About Turkey
    • Blog
    • Brief History of Turkey
    • Geography
      • Flora and Fauna
      • Rivers of Turkey
        • Kızılırmak
        • Yesilırmak
        • Asi
        • Aras
        • Menderes
        • Gediz
        • Sakarya
      • Castles of Turkey
    • Demographics
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        • Military Service
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        • Health
      • Accessibility in Turkey
      • Non-Governmental Organizations
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      • Brief History of Turkish Politics
      • The Present Political System
        • Constitution
          • Laicisim
          • Presidency & Religious Affairs
          • Election System
          • National Anthem
        • Foreign Relations
          • Peace Keeping Role
          • with Middle East
          • with Russia
          • with Greece
            • Cyprus Question
          • in Balkans
          • in Aegean
          • Armenian Issue
          • Souther Caucacus
          • Central Asian
    • Economy
      • GNP
      • Growth
      • Industries
        • Mining
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