= TURKISH CUISINE =
= TURKISH CUISINE =
I.
AN INTRODUCTION TO TURKISH CUISINE
“Do not dismiss the dish
saying that it is just food.The blessed thing is an entire civilization in
itself !”
Abdulhak Þinasi
For those who travel to
engage in culinary pursuits,the Turkish Cuisine is worthy of exploration.The
variety of dishes that make up the cuisine,the ways they all come together in
feastlike meals and the evident intricacy of each craft involed offer enough
material for life-long study and enjoyment.It is not easy to discern a basic
element or a single dominant feature,like the Italian pasta or the French sauce.Whether
in a humble home,at a famous reataurant,or at dinner in a Bey’s mansion,familiar
patterns of this rich and diverse cuisine are always present.It is a rare art
which satisfies the senses while reconfirming the higher order of society,community
and culture.
A practically-minded child
watching Mother cook “cabbage dolma” on a lazy, grey winter day is bound to
wonder:"Who on earth discovered this peculiar combination of sauteed rice,
pinenuts, currentsi spices, and herbs all tightly wrapped in translucent leaves
of cabbage, each roll exactly half an inch thick and stacked up
on oval serving
plate decorated with lemon wedges?How was it possible to transform this humble
vegetable to such heights of fashion and delicacy with so few additional
ingredients?And, how can such a yummy dish also possibly be good for you?"
The modern mind, in a
moment of contemplation, has similar thoughts upon entering a modest sweets shop
where “baklava” is the generic cousin of a dozen or so sophisticated sweet
pastries with names like twisted turban, sultan, saray (palace), lady’s navel,
or nightingale’s nest.The same experience awaits you at a “muhallebici” (puding
shop) with a dozen different types of milk puddings.
One can only conclude that
the evolution of the world, it was a result of the combination of three key
elements, a nurturing environment, the imperial kitchen, and a long social
tradition.A nurturing environment is irreplaceable.Turkey is known for an
abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional
differentiation.Secondly, the legacy of an imperial kitchen is inescapable.Hundreds
of cooks, all specializing in different types of dishes, and all eager to please
the royal palate, no doubt had their influence in perfecting the cuisine as we
know it today.The palace kitchen, supported by a complex social organization, a
vibrant urban life, specialization of labor, worldwide trade, and total control
of the Spice Road, all reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing
of culture in the capital of a mighty empire.Finally, the longevity of social
organization should not be taken lighty either.The Turkish State of Anatolia is
a millennium old and so, naturally, is its
cuisine.Time is of the esence, as
Ibn’i Haldun wrote, “The religion of the King, in time, becomes that of the
people,” which also holds true for the King’s food.Thus, the 600-year reign of
the Ottoman Dynasyy and a seamless cultural transition into the present day of
modern Turkey led to the evolution of a grand cuisine through differentiation,
the refinement and perfection of dishes, and the sequence and combination of the
meals in which they are found.
It is quite rare when all
three of the above conditions are met, as they are in French, Chinese and
Turkish Cuisine.Turkish suisine has the added privilege of being at the
crossroads of the Far East and the
Mediterranean,resulting in a long and complex
history of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia(where they mingled
with the Chinese) to Europe(where their influence was felt all the way to Vienna).Such
unique characteristic and extensive history have besotwed upon Turkish cuisine a
rich selection of dishes all of which can be prepared and combined with others
to create meals of almost infinite variety,but always in a non-arbitrary way.This
led to a cuisine that is open to improvisation through development of regional
styles,while retaining its deep structure,as all great works of art do.The
cuisine is also an integral aspect of the culture.It reflects spirituality,in
forms that are specific to it,through symbolism and practice.
Anyone who vists Turkey or
has a meal in a Turkish home,regardless of the particular cook,is sure to notice
the uniqueness of the cuisine.Our intention here is to help the uninitiated
enjoy Turkish food by achieving a more detailed understanding of the repertoire
of dishes and their related cultural practices as well as their spiritual
meannig.
II. A
NURTURING ENVIRONMENT
Early historical documents
show that the basic structure of Turkish cuisine was already established during
the Nomadic Period and in
the first settled Turkish States of Asia.
Culinary attitudes towards
meat,dairy products,vegatables and grains characterized this early period still
make up the core of Turkish thinking.Early Turks cultivated wheat and used it
liberally in several types of leavened and unleavened breads either baked in
clay ovens,fried on a griddle,or buried in embers”Mantý”(dumpling),and “buðra”(the
ancestor of”börek”,orfilled pastries,named for Buðra Khan of Türkestan)were
already among the much-coveted dishes of this time.Stuffing not only the pastry,but
also all kinds of vegatables was common practice,and still is,as evidenced by
dozens of different types of”dolma”.Skewering meat as well as other ways of
grilling,later known to us as varieties of”kebab”,and dairy products,such as
cheeses and yoðurt,were convenient staples of the pastoral Turks.They introduced
these attitudes and practices to Anatolia in the 11th century.In retun they met
rice,the fruits and vegetables native to the region,and hundreds of varieties of
fish in the three seas surrounding the Anatolian Peninsula.These new and
wonderful ingredients were assimilated into the basic cuisine in themillennium
that folowed.
Anatolia is the region
known as the”bread basket of the world.”Turkey,even now,is one of the seven
countries in the world which produces enough food to feed its own populace and
still has plenty to export.The Turkish landscape encompanying changes in scenery,temperature,altitude,humidity,vegetation
and weather.The Turkish landscape has the combined characteristics of the three
oldest continents of the world(Europe,Africa,and Asia) and an ecological
diversity surpassing any other country along the 40th latitude.Thus,the
diversity of the cuisine has taken on that of the landscape with its regional
variations.
In the eastern region,you
will encounter rugged,snow-capped mountains where the winters are long and cold,along
with the highlands where the spring season with its rich wild flowers and
rushing creeks extends into the long and cool summer.Livestock farmings is
prevalent.Butter,yoðurt,cheese,honey,meat and cereals are the local food.Long
winters are best endured with the help of yoðurt soup and meatballs flavoured
with aromatic herbs found in the mountains,folowed by endless servings of tea.
The heartland is dry stepe
with rolling hills,and endless stretches of wheat fields and barren bedrock that
take on the most incredible
shades of gold,violet, and cool and warm greys,as
the sun travels the sky.Along the trade routes were ancient cities with lush
cultivated orchards and gardens.Among these,Konya,the capital of the Selçuk
Empire(the firs Turkish State in Anatolia),distinguished itself as the center of
a culture that attracted scholars,mystics,and poets from all over the world
durring the 13th century.The lavish cuisine that is enjoyed in Konya today.,with
its clay-oven (tandýr)kebabs,böreks,meat and vegetable dishes and helva desserts,dates
back to the feasts given by Sultan Ala ad-Din Keykubad in 1237 A.D.
Towards the west,one
eventually reaches warm,fertile valleys between cultivated mountainsides,and the
lace-like shores of the Aegean where nature is friendly and life has always been
easy-going.Fruits and vegetables of all,sea food ! Here,olive oil becomes a
stable and is used both in hot and cold dishes.
The temperate zone of
Black Sea Coast,to the north,is protected by the high Caucasian Mountains and
abounds in hezelnuts,corn and tea.The Black Sea people are fishermen and
identify themselves with their ecological companion,the shimmering”hamsi”,a
small fish similar to the anchovy.There are at least forty different dishes made
with hamsi,including desserts !Many poems,anecdotes and folk dances are inspired
by this delicious fish.
The southeastern part of
Turkey is hot and desertlike offering the greatest variety of kebabs and sweet
pastries.Dishes here are spicier compared to all other regions,possibly to
retard spoilage in hot weather,or as the natives say,to equalize the heat inside
the body to that outside !
The colinary center of the
country is Marmara Region,including Thtace,with Ýstanbul as its Queen City.This
temperate,fertile region boasts a wide variety of fruits and vegetables,as well
as most delicately flavoured lamb.The variety of fish that travel the Bosphorus
surpasses that of other seas.
Bolu,a city on the
mountains,supplied the greatest cook for the Sultan’s Place,an deven now,the
best chefs in the country come from Bolu.Since Ýstanbul is the epicenter of the
cuisine,a survey of the Sultan’s kitchen required to undersand it.
111.KITCHEN OF THE
IMPERIAL PALACE
The importance of culinary
art to the Ottoman Sultans is evident to every visitor to Topkapý Palace.
The huge kitchens were
housed in several buildings under ten domes.By the 17th century some thirteen
hundred kitchen staff were housed in the Palace.Hundrest of cooks,specializing
in the different categories,such as soups, pilafs,kebabs, vegetables,fish,breads, pastries,candy
and helva,syrups and jams,and beverages,fed as many as ten thousand people a day,and,in
addition,sent trays of food to others in the city as a royal favor.
GRAINS: BREAD TO BÖREK
The foundation of Turkish
food is,if anything,dough made of wheat flour.
Basides”ekmek”(ordinary
white bread).”pide”(flat bread)”simit”(sesame seed rings),and “mantý”(similar to
ravioli),a whole family of food made up thin sheets of a pastry
called”börek”falls into this category.
GRILLED MEATS
“Kebap” is another
category of food which,like the börek,is typically Turkish dating back to the
time when the nomadic Turks learned to grill and roast meat over camp fires.
Given the numerous types
of kebabs,it helps to realize that are categorized by the way the meat is cooked.The
Western world knows the “þis kebab” and “döner”introduced to them mostly by
Greek entrepreneurs,who have a good nose for what will sell ! Þiþ Kebab is
grilled cubes of skewered meat.Döner kebab is made by stacking alternating
layers of ground meat and sliced leg of lamb on a large upright skewer,which is
slowly rotated in front of a vertical grill.As the outer layer of the meat is
roasted,thin slices are shaved off and served.
A generic kebapçý will
have lahmacun(meat pide) and “Adana Kebap”(spicy,skewered ground meat,named
after the southern city where it was born)
“Izgara(grilled),is how
the main course meat dishes are prepared at a meat restaurant.Mixed grills are
likely to include lamb chops,”köfte”or “þiþ”The way of preparing ground meat
will be the “köfte”.
VEGETABLES
Along with grains,vegetables
are also consumed in large quantities in the Turkish diet.
The simplest and most
basic type of dish is prepared by slicing a main vegetable such as zucchini or
eggplant,combining it with tomatoes,green peppers and onions,and cooking it
slowly in butter and its own juices.Since the vegetables that are cultivated in
Turkey are truly delicious,a simple dish like this,eaten with a sizeable chunk
of fresh bread,is a satisfying meal in itself.
“Dolma”is the generic term
for stuffed vegetables,being a derivatie of the verb”doldurmak”(to
fill).There
are two caregories of dolmas:those filled with a meat mix and those with a rice
mix.The later are cooked in olive oil and eaten with a yoðurt sauce,and very
fequent one in the average household.Any vegetable which can be filled with or
wrapped around these mixes can be used as a dolma,including zucchini,eggplant,tomatoes,cabbage,and
grape leaves.
However,the green pepper
dolma with the stuffing,has to be the queen of all dolmas,a royal feast to the
eye and the palate.
“MEZE” DISHES TO ACCOMPANY
THE SPIRITS
In Turkey,despite the
Islamic prohibition against wine and anything alcoholic,there is a rich
tradition associated with liquor.
Drinking alcoholic
beverages in the company of family and friends, both at home as well as
intaverns and restaurants, is a part of special occasions.Similar to the Spanish
tapas, “meze” is the general category of dishes that the brought in small
quantities to start the meal off.These are eaten, along with wine or more likely
with “raký”, the anise-flavoured national drink of Turks sometimes referred to
as “lion’s milk”, until the main course is served.
The bare minimum meze for
raký are slices of honeydew melon and creamy feta cheese with freshly baked
bread.Beyond this, a typical meze menu includes dried and marinated mackerel,
fresh salad greens in thick yogurt sauce and garlic, plates of cold vegetable
dishes cooked or fried in olive oil, fried crispy savoury pastry, deep-fried
mussels and squid served in a sauce, tomato and cucember salad, and fish eggs in
a sauce.The main course that follows such a meze spread will be fish or grilled
meat.
When the main course is
kebab, then the meze spread is different.In this case, several plates of
different types of minced salad greens nd tomatoes in spicy olive oil, mixed
with yogurt or cheese, “humus” (chick peas mashed in tahini), bulgur and red
lentil balls, raw köfte, marinated stuffed eggplant, peppers with spices and
nuts, and pickles are likely to be served.
SEAFOOD
Four seas (the Balck Sea,the
Sea of Marmara,the Aegean,and the Mediterraean) the Turkish landscape.
“Hamsi” is the prince of
all fish known to Turks:the Black Sea people know forty-one was of making hamsi
inclu
ding hamsi börek,hamsi pilaf and hamsi dessert !
Another common seafood is
the mussel,eaten deep-fried,poached or as a mussel dolma and mussel pilaf.Along
the Aegean,octopus and squýd are added to the meze spread.
The places to taste fish
are restaurants and taverns.Not all taverns are fish restaurants,but most fish
restaurants are taverns and these are usually found on the harbors overlooking
the sea.The Bosphorus is for its fisherman’s,large and small,from Rumeli Kavaðý
to Kumkapý.The modest ones are small with wooden tables and offer delicious
grilled fish.Then there are the elaborate,fashionable ones in Tarabya and Bebek.Fish
restaurants always have an open-air section right by the sea.
THE REAL STORY
OF SWEETS: BEYOND BAKLAVA
The most well-known sweets
associated with Turkish Cuisine are Turkish Delight(Lokum),and “baklava,”giving
the impression that
these may be typical eaten after meals.
This,of course,is not true.First
of all,the family of desserts is much richer than just these two.
Secondly,these are not typical desserts served as part of a main
meal.For example,baklava and its relatives are usually eaten with coffee,as a
snack or after a kebab dish.So,to further our education in Turkish cuisine we
will survey the various types of sweets.
