The Turkish Cuisine

Trivia:

There are three recognized world cuisines...French, Chinese and Turkish! True or False: Turkish cuisine is somewhere between Morrocan and Indian food...hot and spicy...................................False! Rarely is any spice used other than a melted butter drizzle with a spice such as paprika...........The key to Turkish cuisine is the balance of flavours of the ingredients...........Yoghurt has its origins in early Turkish (Mongol) nomadic history.

The following is my article written for a food column in the Mediterranean Life magazine about the Turkish cuisine

A little background history:

The Byzantines and later, the Persians greatly influenced and inspired the Turkish, Armenian and Georgian culture and culinary expertise. It is tempting to assume that Turkish food is like Greek food where actually the reverse is true due to 400 years of Turkish rule. The Turkish Empire once covered southeastern Europe, Anatolia and the Arab world. In 1680 the Turks helped Hungarian rebels against the Habsburg (Austrian) rule and Vienna was under siege by Turkish armies in 1683. In 1483 parts of Greece were under Turkish rule and remained so until the 19th century.

Such 'typically' Greek hallmarks such as the bouzouki, ouzo, and mezédes are just a few examples of Turkish influence. The bouzouki is an instrumental variation of the saz, a member of the lute family brought by the Turks to the Balkan and Greek countries. Ouzo is Greek style raki, and many other famous 'Greek' dishes are really Turkish in origin. Mezédes is a word derived from the Turkish 'meze' which means appetizers or hors d´oeuvre. The well-known Greek 'dolmadakia' or stuffed grape leaves is of Turkish origin (dolmak is a verb in Turkish meaning 'to fill or stuff'.)

Toward the end of the Ottoman rule, the Greeks suffered harshly and are naturally resentful of any mention of Turkish influence. Still one cannot intelligently deny that the food, bouzouki music and of course the dance (especially the sirtaki) is more Turkish than Greek. There are hardly any pre-Ottoman manuscripts on Greek music or food as it was prior to Ottoman occupation. One of the oldest cookbooks written is Turkish and dates from 700 AD.

Turkish cuisine (palace cuisine) was so advanced in the Ottoman dynasty (1299 to 1923), highly developed and specialized that very little foreign influence occurred until Turkish foreign policy opened to the western world (French and English). The use a bechamel sauce is an example of French influence.

Egypt remained part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuries, from 1517 to 1917. Napoleon's brief interlude in Egypt in 1798 was dispelled by an Anglo-Ottoman alliance in 1801. Under Ottoman rule, Egypt flourished and experienced an economical Golden Age as the gateway between Europe and the East. Much architecture and culinary influence remains today of the Turkish occupation and its classical music reflects the Turko-Arabic influence.

The arts, architecture, music and culinary expertise were the benefits of Turkish rule left behind in all occupied countries long after the Ottoman decline and are still present today.

"During the course of its historical evolution from the Turkish tribes of Central Asia to the present day, Turkish cuisine has acquired an individual character which expressed in the layout of the kitchen, the cooking utensils, the range of dishes and cooking methods, the presentation of food and serving customs. Every branch of cookery is treated as equally deserving of being rich in variety and succulence.

The evolution of Turkish Cuisine has 3 major eras:

Central Asian (before 1038)

Seljuk and Principalities (1038-1299)

Ottoman (1299-1923)

These three eras have left their marks on the evolution of the Turkish cuisine. Although Turkish cookery keeps its origins dating back from these eras, some traces of foreign influence can be seen and today there is a conscious effort to eliminate these traces and restore Turkish cooking to its origins.

from "The Historical Evolution of Turkish Cuisine" by Nevin Halici, Image of Turkiye, Issues 42-43, 1991.

Today and in spite of fast food chains and modern living, Turkey zealously preserves its vast culinary treasury. It is one of the few countries capable of producing all of its own food.

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The Turkish Cuisine...

is one steeped in an ancient and rich heritage that reached its finest in the Ottoman dynasty. Nutrition laws and high standards were set as to the freshness and quality of produce and preparation. The kitchens of the Topkapi palace in Istanbul invented and devised the most sumptuous feasts from the elaborate to the simplicity of a simple but delicious soup. What was good enough for the Sultan, was good enough for his people and so recipes eventually made their way to the masses. There are forty ways to prepare an eggplant and endless ways to prepare vegetables or fruit in the Turkish cuisine. Vegetarians or not can choose from a vast menu and be more than pleased.

The beauty of Turkish cooking is the simplicity of basic cooking techniques, impressive variety and the honesty of the final product - food not hidden under sauces or masked by heavy handed use of herbs or spices. Always, the main ingredients must come to the fore, other flavourings must 'hint' in the background - hence, aubergine (eggplant) tastes like aubergine and chicken like chicken.

Besides the absolute freshness and quality of the ingredients, the key to delicious Turkish food is the fine balance of the ingredients combined to flavour the dish. A Turkish housewife will always prefer to use fresh tomatoes than a prepared sauce or paste and seasoning is usually used singly or sparingly such as mint, parsley, bay leaf or dill. Oregano or Thyme - omnipresent in Greek cooking - are seldom used. Of the spices, lemony sumac, pepper, piment (allspice), cinnamon and paprika powder are the most common. A favourite garnish is a drizzle of melted butter with a little paprika and perhaps a dash or two of cayenne. Onions play an important role in the dishes. Garlic, currants, tomatoes or even yoghurt add another dimension to flavouring possibilities.

Though there is no singular food or method that can be instantly identified with Turkish food as in 'pasta' with Italy and 'sauces' with France, it is interesting to note that typically meat in small quantities is cooked with vegetables for flavour as well.

On several visits, I stayed in Yenikoy a suburb outside of Istanbul at the apartment of a lady friend of mine and remember the meals and view of the Bosphorus Sea where one could watch the Russian cargo ships make their way to the Black Sea. We shared a typical breakfast of tomatoes, feta cheese (fresh white cheese) black olives, ekmek (bread) with a preserve and perhaps an egg.

Lunch often started with a soup (as did dinner) and a variety of vegetables and fish or meat. Dinner would always open with a selection of mezeler (meze-singular) and are what tapas are for the Spanish. These are exquisite delicacies served in small containers in the center of the table with a pile of Turkish bread cut into wedges. Stuffed grape leaves, salads of tomato and cucumber or other, manti (a Mongolian specialty - a kind of ravioli, but much thinner and lighter), boreck (a kind of spinach, cheese or other filled filo pastry), roasted eggplant puree, cauliflower fritters, cacik (yoghurt, cucumber and garlic dip). One sampled and savoured a little of all these appetizers.

Then came the main course of perhaps a pilav (a rice speciality), more vegetables and a meat or fish dish. The meal would end with fruit. All the dishes for a meal are served at the same time. In any case, the zeytinagli course was always present. (This is the 'olive oil' course usually consisting of roasted peppers, tomatoes, beans or eggplant etc. and is always served room temperature.) Anything sautéed in butter was served warm.

After a rest, one was tempted with an array of dessert specialties served with coffee. If one ate heavily for lunch, then one ate lighter in the evening, or the other way around. For little hungers in between, there were always raw vegetables, fruits or more tomatoes and cheese with bread or of course meze.

Sigh. Those were the days. I miss them, Yenicoy and the little 'hamam' (Turkish bath) in the next village. But that is another story!

Iç Pilav

On pilav...

Info on:

Methods

The Basics

pee-LAHF (also pilau, pilaw, pilaff) is the name for rice cooked by the absorbtion method using stock instead of water and is one of the specialties Turkey is famous for. It may be relatively plain as in Beyaz Pilav or more elaborate as in Iç Pilav pronounced EEj Pilav. Reis used is long grain rice, but not Basmati Rice as this rice requires a relative short cooking time. I have given the original salt amounts called for, however I use much less, especially if the broth has been salted. I usually use 1/2 t. sea salt per 200 g. rice. Butter used is sweet butter. Following are a few points to remember in cooking pilav: (Needless to say, so called 'converted rice' or instant rice is not an option.) A pilav always starts with sautéing the rice, usually in butter and is further cooked with a broth of some kind, such as chicken or meat. Older methods required that the rice was soaked for an hour in hot, salted water, then washed very well. Using today's rice, rinsing well before pouring over the very hot water and allowing to cool before washing and draining well is sufficient. However, do test using your favourite rice. Use a heavy pot for cooking rice. The heat will be even and will be better retained. Rice is either sautéed in the butter first then hot or boiling broth is added or it is added to boiling broth. In either method below, rice is at one point covered with a cloth laid over the rim of the pot and tightly lidded. Do not lift the lid until the time is almost up to check the rice. Fluff with a fork before serving. A successful pilav has kernels that are moist, yet separate - not dry or over cooked and never sticky. Method 1 Pour enough salted boiling water over rice and allow it to soften for 45 to 60 min. Rinse in cold water until the water runs clear, then add to the boiling broth. Bring again to the boil uncovered, stir a few times, reduce heat to very low, cover and allow to simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 20 minutes. (Some cooks forgo the soaking in this method, however it must cook over very low heat for 25 to 30 minutes. There is more chance of rice that sticks together or a burned pot bottom or hard crust with this variation.) Method 2 Pour enough salted boiling water over rice and allow it to soak until the water has cooled off. Allow to drain well while you continue with other preparations. Melt butter, sauté the onions if recipe requires, add the well drained rice and sauté, stirring frequently. Add very hot broth, stir, bring again to the boil uncovered, stir a few times, turn off heat, cover with a cloth, lid tightly and allow to sit 30 minutes. PILAV RECIPIES ARE ON THE RECIPE PAGE.


*The Basics* (a selection of ingredients that may be found in various pilav recipes)
Ingredients:
	long grain rice (never basmati)	Meat: lamb lamb liver chicken chicken liver	Vegetables/Fruit: aubergine (eggplant) carrots peas tomato onion apricots Nuts: pine nuts almonds pistachio
	Seasoning: salt broth butter dill
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