Şalgam

Although the Turkish word şalgam literally means "turnip", şalgam is made with the sour and salty brine of purple carrot pickles, salted, spiced and flavoured with aromatic turnip (çelem) fermented in barrels with the addition of ground bulgur and rock salt. It is sometimes sold by street vendors who serve it from large goblets, but there are also specialized shops that sell pickles called turşucu that sell non-industrial versions of şalgam. There is no standard production technique used by the industry, but the traditional method uses sourdough fermentation and carrot fermentation. Since 1996 there exist factories for large-scale industrial production of şalgam in Turkey. The biggest producer of şalgam is the company Doganay Gida, whose market share of the annual production is nearly 95%. While the drink is exported to both Europe and Japan, there exists no large-scale importation into America; a company called Ersu tried to sell it as "black miracle drink" but the campaign was eventually cancelled. While the industrial method takes 4–5 days, the traditional method takes 10–12 days. The special taste of şalgam comes from lactic acid and ethanol. The special process is an adaption of yeast fermentation and spontaneous lactic acid fermentation. ==Health benefits==