In Taiwan there’s a popular sweet, eight treasure pudding. To my surprise, there’s a similar sweet in Turkey which is called Aşure.
Aşure is dated from the word “Ashura” in Arabic which means “tenth” in the first month of the Islamic calendar. On the day lots of vital historical events took place. For example, on that day Adam met Eve, Abraham was set off from fire and the landing of Noah’s Ark etc. The most famous legend of Aşure is from the landing of Noah’s Ark . The flood water receded and Noah’s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat. Few groceries was left but they managed to cook something. Thus, they collected what was left such as grains and dried fruits to make a sweet. Noah’s family celebrated their landing with this special dish, distributing it to all the people there. In addition, with the view of Islam, it’s Imam Husayn ibn Ali’s martyr day. People give away aşure on that day in memory of this event as well.
The recipe of Aşure varies from home to home but what can be sure is that it consists at least 10 ingredients. The picture is the Aşure I ate. The nuts, dried fruits as well as chick bean blend well with the yellow soup. I think the rose water in it makes it extremely extinct but a little like you are tasting perfume. Just like another Turkey desserts, it’s very sweet. If it isn’t so sweet, it might be one of my favorite sweet of Turkey desserts. With a bowl Aşure, we can get a glimpse of the fertile land of Turkey. It’s not only nutritious but full of cultural meaning.
As for the eight treasure pudding, it’s quite like Aşure but much more nutritious and healthy. It’s helpful to keep our physical system run regularly and so popular that it’s even made to cans. Generally speaking, there are green beans, red beans, job’s tears, rice, dried longan, tree fungus, red kidney bens and lotus seeds these eight ingredients. All of these do well to our health. If you are hungry anytime, it’ll be a suitable sweet. If you try it, you must love it!