Boukha

There have been many stories regarding the origin of the name Boukha. Many have said that it stems from “steam of alcohol” in Arabic, although the explanation is much simpler.

Once Yaakov Bokobsa managed to produce his “Eau-de-Vie” from figs, he naturally called it Vodka.

In Russian, vodka is spelled as follows:водка.

Because Tunisians could not read the Russian language nor the Cyrillic alphabet, they took the Russian word водка, and pronounced it the way it looks: BOUKHA[1]

It is obtained by simple distillation of Mediterranean figs. Its alcohol percentage ranges between 36 and 40 percent.

Boukha can be consumed straight at room temperature or cold,[2] or serve as the basis for cocktails and for fruit salad.

The production of Boukha was closely linked to the Jewish community in Tunisia and was seen as a threat by the French colonial authorities in Tunisia as something that would have a malicious and violent effect on Muslims in the region in comparison to French alcoholic products. In addition, the production of Boukha was creating an alcohol market that could not provide tax revenue for the French colonial authorities and thus was subject to alcohol laws that deliberately targeted indigenous Maghrebi drinks as they could be easily produced and consumed for less due to the lack of tax.[3]

• Mahia