A đU RE (N O AH ’S A RK PU D D IN G )
Aure (pronounced "ah-shu-reh" in Turkish) is a traditional Turkish dessert m ade from about 7-15 different varieties of grains, nuts, and fruits m ixed together to form a porridge- like pudding. The w ord “aure” is derived from Arabic w ord “asor” w hich m eans “the tenth” or m ore literally as “the tenth day” as the Aure G ünü(w hich m eans “Day of Aure” in Turkish) usually falls on the tenth day of M uharram - the first sacred m onth of the year in the Islam ic calendar. O n this m onth (and especially on the Aure G ünü), preparations of this traditional dessert are being m ade in huge am ounts. This w ill be shared w ith fam ilies, friends, and sent to neighbors in several sm all bow ls of individual servings. Through the years, this has becom e a com m on practice traditionaly observed by m ost people in Turkey.
Aure has long been a part of the culinary tradition of Turkey. This traditional dessert originated from a very popular story or a legend about N oah and his ark.
To sum m arize briefly, the story tells of N oah and his fam ily together w ith som e anim als aboard a large vessel or the “ark” of w hich they built to save them selves from the great flood. After the long journey above high w aters, the great flood has finally subsided and the ark rested on dry land, yet N oah and his fam ily alm ost already run out of food. So in order to save them selves from starving, N oah im m ediately decided to gather all the left over fruits, nuts, and other rem aining grains in his storage and m ixed them together. The w ay N oah and his fam ily prepared and cooked all the ingredients that w ere left from their storage resulted in a porridge-like pudding w hich w e now call “aure” or N oah's Ark pudding.
The Turks love aure and valued the significance of the story that goes along w ith it. This m ay w ell be one of the reasons w hy aure has becom e one of the oldest and m ost cherished traditional dessert in the Turkish cuisine.
Every year, the M uslim and Christian Turks as w ell as those w ho m igrated to Turkey prepare huge am ounts of aure in their respective households to share individual bow ls of the pudding to its friends and neighbors. This practice has long been observed in alm ost all regions of Turkey to com m em orate the day w hen N oah and his com panions landed on dry land and feasted on a m eal m ade from the leftovers in the ark after their long m onths of journey during the great flood.
As this tradition has long been treasured so dearly for m any years, a festive celebration of this practice is done in Turkey every year – know n as the Aure M onth.
The tenth of M uharram (A shura ') is full of blessings and lessons
• O n the day of Ashura (tenth of M uharram ) Allah forgave Prophet Adam ,
• Allah saved Prophet N oah enabling his arch to land peacefully and victoriously,
• Allah saved Prophet Ibrahim from the tyrant N im rood,
• Allah united Prophet Yaqoob w ith his son Yussuf,
• Allah gave victory to Prophet M usa and split the sea for him and defeated Pharaoh
• Allah forgave Prophet Daw ud and granted Prophet Sulaym an great dom inion
• And on that day Allah brought Prophet Yunus safely out of the w hale
• O n tenth of M uharram Allah cured Prophet Ayoub
• O n that day the Battle of Dhat ar-Riqa occurred
• And on that day of Ashura', on Friday the year 61 after the hijrah, a great tragedy befell the M uslim s, the killing of the grandson of the m essenger of Allah peace be upon him , the killing of Im am Abu Abdullah al-H ussein the son of Im am Ali.
A shura of M uharram – A Shia M uslim O bservance
10th of M uharram (the day of Ashura / Ashoora) is observed as an im portant day by both Sunni and Shia M uslim s – how ever, for different reasons. M ost scholars believe that Ashura is nam ed as such because of “tenth” of M uharram (ten is translated as “Ashara” in the Arabic language)
Shia M uslim s observe Ashura as the day of m artyrdom of H ussein ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet M uham m ad at the Battle of Karbala. Shia M uslim s therefore consider this a day of sorrow and observe it as such by refraining from m usic, listening to sorrow ful poetic recitations, w earing m ourning attire, and refraining from all joyous events (e.g. w eddings) that in anyw ay distract them from the sorrow ful rem em brance of that day.
Below is the hom em ade aure or N oah’s pudding recipe
Ingredients:
• 1 cup barley
• 1 cup w hite kidney beans
• 1 cup chickpeas or garbanzos
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup sugar
• 10 cups w ater
• 10 pcs dried apricots (diced)
• 10 pcs dried figs (diced)
• 1 tbsp orange rind
• 1 tsp cinnam on
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lem on juice (optional)
G arnish :
• w alnuts (crushed)
• dried figs (diced & previously soaked in w arm w ater)
• dried apricots (diced & previously soaked in w arm w ater)
Preparation:
D ay 1
• W ash the barley thoroughly. M easure 4 cups of w ater in a pot and bring to boil in high heat. Im m ediately add the barley and cook for 10 m inutes. Stir occasionally. Turn the heat off and leave the barley (in this w ater) overnight.
• Repeat the sam e procedure for the chickpeas and w hite kidney beans leaving them overnight in the sam e w ater they w ere boiled in. D ay 2
• M easure 4 cups of w ater in (each) three separate pots. Boil the barley, w hite kidney beans and chickpeas until cooked. Discard the w ater they w ere cooked in and leave to drain.
• Rem ove the skins of the w hite kidney beans and chickpeas.
• In a big pot (this w ill be your m ain pot), put in 10 cups of w ater. • Add the barley, w hite kidney beans, chickpeas, rice, orange rind and bring to a boil for about 10 -15 m inutes over high heat.
• Stir and add the sugar, raisins, dried apricots, dried figs, and the rest of the ingredients w hile reducing the tem perature to m edium heat. You m ay also add w ater from tim e to tim e if its necessary since the barley absorbs a lot of w ater.
• Stir occasionally.
• Continue boiling for another 15-20 m inutes or until fully cooked.
• Turn off the heat and leave the pot to rest for about half an hour.
• Pour into sm all bow ls and garnish w ith diced dried figs & apricots, chopped w alnuts, and fresh pom egranate seeds (optional).