EXPRESSIONS
"Afiyet Olsun" ! is an expression used to wish that a meal be enjoyed. Unlike other culturesş the expression is used both before and after a meal.
When anybody wants to express appreciation about food prepared by somebody elseş he says "Elinize Sağlık"! which means" May God give health to your hands". When proposing a toast, the expression "Şerefe" is used whichliterally means "to your honor".
TYPES OF TURKISH RESTAURANTS
LOKANTA
This kind of restaurant is typically Turkish and offers home cooking style food. From a selection of meals, it ispossible to go to the window and choose whatever you like.
KEBABÇI
This is the type of restaurant where you can eat Turkish Kebabs. Kebap is roasted, broiled or grillled meat prepared in many different ways, each of them named by adding a word describing the kebap; döner kebap- is lamb meat roasted on a revolving spit, şiş kebap- is cubes of marinated chicken or lamb meat on skewers, patlıcan kebap- meat and eggplant on skewers etc.
DOUGH SPECIALTY SHOPS
Turkish dough specialty shops would be a borekci, pideci, lahmacuncu or a mantıcı.
Borek is a flaky pastry filled with cheese, eggs, vegetables, or minced meat, then fried or baked. Gozleme is a thin dough filled with cheese and parsley and baked on thin iron plate placed in wood or charcoal fire. Pide is a thick dough base filled or covered with any combination of meat, cheese, eggs, etc. It is quite similar to pizza but served with butter and grated cheese. Lahmacun is a thin round dough base covered with a spicy mixture of minced lamb meat, onions, tomatoes and parsley. Mantı is a kind of pasta filled with minced lamb meat and served with yogurt and garlic.
In the times before there was fast food, people went to these restaurants to eat tripe or chicken soup either for breakfast or after heavy nights of drinking. These places also sell a special food: Kokoreç, roast and grilled lamb intestines, also sold in push carts by peddlers in the streets.
FISH RESTAURANTS
First, a large variety of soguk (cold) meze, (hors d'oeuvres) will be offered on a big tray among which you can choose a few, then you should sample a few sicak (hot) meze before the main dish. The main dish is either fish or meat. After having desserts or fruit, it is time to drink a cup of Turkish coffee.
Soguk meze: White cheese, olives, lakerda (salted bonito), dolma (stuffed vegetables), cacik (chopped cucumbers with yogurt and garlic), piyaz (beans salad), Arnavut cigeri (spiced liver), fava (bean paste), imam bayildi (stuffed eggplant), pilaki (white beans), patlican kizartma (fried eggplant), etc.
Sıcak meze: Fried mussels or squid, various kinds of borek, fried potatoes, etc.
TATLICI is a place where they sell different kinds of sweets. There are many of them like baklavaci, muhallebici, dondurmaci, helvaci, etc.
Baklava is thin layers of flaky pastry stuffed with almond paste, walnuts or pistachio nuts in syrup. Its name comes from the shape in which it is cut; lozenge-shapes. Kaymak is thick clotted cream eaten with most sweets as well as on its own with honey or jam. Aşure (Noah's pudding) is made from numerous types of dried fruits and pulses. Sutlac is rice pudding. Kadayıf is shredded wheat in syrup. Kestane sekeri is glacé chestnuts. They are generally canned or kept in glass jars in syrup. It is common in Bursa. Lokum (Turkish Delight) is cubes of jelly like or gummy confection flavored with flower or fruit essences and dusted with powdered sugar. Pişmaniye is a sweet made of sugar, flour and butter which resembles flax fibers. Tahin-Pekmez is a mixture of both Tahin, sesame oil and Pekmez, molasses or treacle (heavy syrup obtained from grapes). Helva is a flaky confection of crushed sesame seeds in a base of syrup. Dondurma is ice cream.
ISTANBUL STREETFOOD
The best thing about Istanbul street food now is that different street vendors sell only things that they themselves know and love. Street vendors are usually out at work in the early morning, and they pack up their carts sometime between 6 and 8 P.M., depending on the type of food. Luckily, eating on the street is very much a part of local life. You can’t walk from corner to corner on a street, cross a bridge, enter a square or park without coming across one or more snack shops, street stalls (büfe) or street vendors. Prices are always reasonable on the street.
Doner- Traditionally large, thin layers of lamb and beef are skewered on a giant rod, and roasted vertically over charcoal fire. This version is served inside a pide, a puffy, yeastless, oven-baked bread, with slices of tomato and pickles as garnish with no sauce.
Midye tava ( Fried Mussels) sandwich - Deep-fried mussels dressed with a creamy garlic sauce and served inside a crusty quarter loaf of bread.
Lahmacun Crispy, thin-crust pastries topped with finely minced lamb meat, onions and spices. It's traditionally served with stems of parsley, sumac marinated red onions and a slice of lemon.
Icli Kofte Deep fried balls of bulgur wheat filled with minced lamb meat, walnuts, parsley, and red pepper flakes Kavurma Conical hunk of meat conisting chunks of sheep meat (all parts, all kinds) and fat. It's then rendered down on a grill either by itself or with tomatoes and green peppers.
Kofte-meatballs – It is believed that there are 291 different kinds of meatballs (kofte) in Turkey. Make sure to eat at least once this Turkish delicacy.
Islak Burger Inside a burger bun, an unknown mixture of ground meats and spices , flaky, savory pastry. They come in different versions: plain (sade) or stuffed with pieces of cheese (peynirli), mince (kıymalı) or olives (zeytinli) grilled inside a panini press. The whole thing is then basted with deluded tomato paste.
Pogaca Flaky, savory pastry. They come in different versions: plain (sade) or stuffed with pieces of cheese (peynirli), mince (kıymalı) or olives (zeytinli).
Muhallebici -pudding house This concept of "Muhallebici" is one of those great traditions most Turkish people take for granted. This is where some great traditional Turkish desserts are served until late night (well into the morning) and some simple dishes such as Pilav with roast chicken and chicken noodle soup are also served. “Keskul", a traditional pudding made out of an almond base and milk. It's fragrant, rich and often topped with ground pistachios and coconut, you can also add a scoop of sweet cream ice cream on top.
Midye dolma These filled mussels are perfect any time from dusk till dawn, especially as a stomach liner for all the alcohol when you are out bar-hopping. The mussels are shelled, cooked with a lot of olive oil into a pilav, and then refilled into the shells. The vendor will re-shell them for you and serve so that you can eat them without getting your fingers oily.
Simit – A crisp, ring-shaped, savory roll covered with sesame seeds. Delicious when fresh and preferably washed down with ayran (salty liquid yoghurt).
Acma (Achma)– This doughnut lookalike is ring-shaped just like the simit, but doesn’t have a crust. It’s soft and oilier, hence less dry.
Corn on the Cob – During the summer, you can find street sellers offering freshly boiled or grilled corn (mısır) on the cob. Unless you want it generously sprinkled with salt, make sure to tell the seller in time to go easy on it.
Roasted Chesnuts -Kestane – Street vendors selling corn in the summer, mostly shift to roasted chestnuts in winter time.
Street Stalls (Büfe)
Near busy public transportation hubs or in popular (tourist) areas, you’ll find plenty of small kiosks on street corners. These bufes typically sell cigarettes, phone-cards and non-alcoholic cold drinks in cans or small bottles, but most of them also sell inexpensive, tasteful thin roasted sandwiches (tost) and hot dogs (sosisli sandvich). Do try out the kasharlı tost, a sandwich with melted cheese.
Pastry Shops (Borekchi)
These too are excellent places. A borekci is usually a tiny shop, with only a handful of chairs and tables, offering tea, coffee or a small selection of cold drinks and borek for a quick breakfast or lunch.
Borek is a flaky pastry existing of several thin layers. There are different kinds, based on their shape, filling and cooking method. You may want to try out the juicy su boregi (something in between a pastry and a lasagna), peynirli borek (with cheese filling), patatesli borek (with potato filling), ıspanaklı borek (with spinach filling) or kıymalı borek (filled with minced meat).
Most of these shops also sell pide which is a pita like baked dough with the same filling options as börek.
Kumpir It’s a baked potato, split open and stuffed with butter and cheese, then topped with any and/or all of the following: pickles, sweet corn, corn drenched in spicy tomato sauce, spicy tomato sauce by itself, green olives, black olives, sausage, steamed peas, carrots, mushrooms, Russian salad, mayonnaise, ketchup...
Fish Sandwiches (Balik ekmek)
Fish sandwiches being prepared on a boat. Balik ekmek is another typical Istanbul snack, and pretty tasteful and safe when prepared fresh. It’s pretty straightforward – a grilled or fried fresh fish inside a large piece of bread.
Tulumba - a traditional Turkish dessert also sold by street vendors at touristic locations. The dough is deep fried and then soaked in sugar syrup.
What would a Turkish Breakfast be without cheese?
Visitors to Turkey are usually astonished when they learn that there are about 160 varieties of local cheese( peynir – in Turkish).They come in many shades of pale,from pearly white to creamy to crumbly.
Few cultures feature cheese as a breakfast food so spectacularly as Turkey. When a Turk wakes up, he wants breakfast –even if it is well after noon. Visitors find cheese, olives, tomatoes,cucumbers and eggs laid out on the breakfast table with butter, honey, crusty bread and freshly brewed Turkish tea, this is the way a Turk begins his day.
Apart from breakfast cheese is used in cooking. Several cheeses melt well over pizzas, the unsalted lor is used in a rolled up fried pastry known as Sigara Böregi and in Antakya a local cream cream cheese melts into shredded pastry for a warm dessert known as künefe.
Turkish tost is the local derivative of a melted cheese sandwhich, compressed using a special waffle iron. Kaşer(kasher)cheese is the preferred choice here.
Some of the rich and rounded ewe’s milk cheeses make the most Turkish accompaniment to the country’s aniseed-based alcoholic drink, rakı. Many small dishes are served as starters or with an aperitif and these are called meze and resemble hors d’oeuvres. Ezine and Edirne cheeses are favoured,often with walnuts, with alcoholic drinks. Mushroom caps stuffed and grilled with Kaşer cheese make a tasty hot meze.
Popular Turkish Cheese
Beyaz Peynir - ( White cheese) is a general term for the white crumbly ewe’s milk cheese that you will see mostfrequently and which every Turkish housewife has on her table.
It teams up well with black or green olives,wines ,grapes and apples. It is one of the popular cheese to serve with rak? and as part of a selection of meze.
Kaşer- This is Turkey’s best known and most popular cow’s milk cheese. It resembles a mild or medium Cheddar and they both have the same pale yellow colour and texture and gain their uniqaue flavour after being left on shelves tomature over several months. Taze Kaşer comes in commercially produced, vacuum packed rectangular logs but this is not the same as thereal thing which is Eski (old) Kaşer, produced in wheel shaped moulds,mostly around Van and Kars.The cheese seller cuts off as much as you require.The European side of Turkey also makes a Kaser called Trakya Kaşer but the flavour is not as rounded as expansive as its Anatolian cousin.
The making of Kaşkaval cheese was a Jewish tradition and the Jewish residents of Trakya( European Turkey) were well known for their excellent cheeses. They produced cheese here well into the 1930’s. It is widely believed that the name of this cheese, Kaser , was an adaptation of the word Kashkaval which probably meant “kosher cheese”.
Lor – A soft white ,moist cheese which stays fresh for only a few days. It is often compared to Italian ricotta cheese. The best is made from ewe’s milk. The lack of distinct flavour makes it ideal for cooking or baking.
Tulum – This versatile cheese resembles Cheshire in its slightly mealy taste and crumbly texture. It is perfect withbread or toast also accompanies olives or pickles as an energizing snack.
TURKISH COFFEE, RICH IN FLAVOUR AND TRADITION
"One neither desires coffee nor a coffeehouse. One desires to talk with others, coffee is but an excuse."
A Turkish saying
From the days of the Ottoman Empire through to the present, coffee has played an important role in Turkish lifestyle and culture. The serving and drinking of coffee has had a profound effect on betrothal and gender customs, political and social interaction, prayer, and hospitality traditions throughout the centuries. Although many of the coffee rituals are not prevalent in today's society, coffee has remained an integral part of Turkish culture.
First brought to Istanbul in 1555 by two Syrian traders, coffee became known as the "milk of chess players and thinkers." By the mid-17th century, Turkish coffee became part of elaborate ceremonies involving the Ottoman court. Coffee makers with the help of over forty assistants, ceremoniously prepared and served coffee for the sultan. Marriage customs and gender roles also became defined through coffee rituals. In ancient times, women received intensive training in the harem on the proper technique of preparing Turkish coffee. Prospective husbands would judge a woman's merits based on the taste of her coffee. Even today, when a young man's family calls to ask a girl's parents for her hand in marriage, a formal coffee is served even in the most modern households.
For both men and women, coffee has been at the center of political and social interaction. During the Ottoman period, women socialized with each other over coffee and sweets. Men socialized in coffee houses to discuss politics and to play backgammon. In the early 16th century, these coffee houses played host to a new form of satirical political and social criticism called "shadow theatre" in which puppets were the main characters. Over the years, Turkish coffee houses have become social institutions providing a place to meet and talk. Today, Turkish coffee houses continue their role in society as a meeting place for both the cultured citizen and the inquisitive traveler. Istanbul offers many new and delightful cafe-restaurants where friends and family meet to discuss topics of the day over a cup of traditional Turkish coffee.
Derived from the Arabica bean, Turkish coffee is a very fine, powder-like grind. An aromatic spice called cardamom is sometimes added to the coffee while it is being ground. One can also boil whole seeds with the coffee and let them float to the top when served. Turkish coffee has various levels of sweetness ranging from bitter to very sweet. Because sugar is not added to the coffee after it is served, spoons are not needed. As the coffee begins to heat, it begins to foam. A rule of the Turkish coffee ceremony dictates that if the foam is absent from the surface of the coffee, the host loses face. Turkish coffee is served hot from a special coffee pot called a cezve. Tradition states that after the guest has consumed the coffee and the cup is turned upside down on the saucer and allowed to cool, the hostess then performs a fortune reading from the coffee grounds remaining in the cup. Rich in tradition and flavour, Turkish coffee remains a favourite today, not only in Turkey, but also among discriminating coffee drinkers around the world.
Reference: Newspot/BYEGM
THE MEYHANE CULTURE and RAKI
The meyhane culture tells a great deal about Turkey. Like the country, it offers almost infinite possibilities because it blends the heritage of so many different peoples. It encourages discourse and deepens friendship, but because thefood is brought unbidden by a waiter instead of ordered from the menu, it does not require any action, any decision, any act of choice other than turning away dishes that do not strike one’s fancy. Raki can either evoke determinationor resignation, a desire to rebel or an acceptance of the inevitability of submission.
An evening at the meyhane is centered around raki, but raki never stands alone. It is only one component, albeit the essential one, of a highly stylized ritual. With raki always come meze, small plates of food that appear stealthily, a few at a time. Theoretically, meze are appetizers leading to a main course, but often the main course, like Turkey’s supposedly great destiny, never materializes. No one complains about that because eating meze while sipping raki is such a supreme pleasure in itself. The path is so blissful that the idea of a destination seems somehow sacrilegious.
Rakı, the national alcoholic drink of Turks has a high degree alcohol and should not be consumed quickly. Most people drink it by mixing it with water. Colorless rakı turns milky white when mixed with water. Mindful drinkers fill 1/3 of their glass with rakı then add water and finally ice. Ice is never put in the glass first. If rakı is met with ice before water, it crystallizes and the taste changes. Some people drink rakı straight. In addition the rakı should be cold. One sip rakı, one sip water – it softens this strong drink. Rakı goes well with and often inspires good conversation. It is customary to eat meze (various foods served in small plates) while drinking rakı.
Here are some guidelines to observe when drinking rakı: First, wait until everyone has been served their rakı, then join in the toast all together. Try not to raise your glass higher than the rest. Never drink rakı with other liquors – it does not mix well and you may indeed find yourself feeling ill or suffering a terrible hangover the next day. Rakı is not a one-shot-liquor as vodka or tequila..
There is a saying in Turkish that goes something like this: “If you want to know a person, either travel with them or go and drink rakı with them”. Use good judgment when choosing whom to drink rakı with as it is quickly intoxicating. When you sit down at a Meyhane, you will first order your drinks and then a waiter will most likely bring a large tray of meze to the table and you can pick and choose which ones you would like. Don’t forget to order some butter with toasted bread as eating them will help you tolerate the alcohol. Usually, main course dishes follow the hot mezes. If you are not sure what to order, look around at the nearby table and point to something you find appealing. If you happen to sit at a table that is already loaded with mezes, send back the ones that you do not want (without touching them of course) so as not to be charged for them on bill.
It is a good idea to finish your meze before ordering any main course as you may very well find that you are full and satisfied with just the meze. If you are ordering fish, go lightly on the meze or you will be too full to enjoy its delicate flavor.
Often there are musical groups performing which will roam throughout the restaurant. If you do not want them to visit your table, tell the owner or manager immediately. If they do come to your table and play for you it is customary to give a tip. You need only tip one of them, but make the tip visible for all to see, so that they don’t keep standing there playing and coercing you into giving even yet another tip.
THE SEPHARDIC CUISINE IN TURKEY
The Sephardic Jews arrived in the Ottoman Empire in 1492. They came from Spain when there was the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish king and queen, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabel of Castille decided to make a united Catholic Spain so they ordered all the Jews and Muslims to either convert or leave. About 200.000 Jews were exiled and came to the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Bayezid II received them and was happy with the technology and knowledge they brought. The Jews settled mainly in the Aegean region, Istanbul, Thrace and the Balkans.
Sefarad is the name given to Spain in Hebrew, and as these Spanish Jews came from Sefarad, they called themselves Sephardim, their culture Sephardic. So when we talk about Sephardic cuisine, we are talking about the cuisine of these Spanish Jews, who brought their culinary traditions with them from Spain and Portugal. Some of these people did not come straight from Spain to the Ottoman Empire. There were numerous Jews who came via France, Italy and then of course the Balkans, which already belonged to the Ottomans at the time. It is not so easy to characterize what we call “Sephardic Cuisine” because ever since the 15th century, wherever the Sephardim went, they adapted their cooking to the techniques, tastes and ingredients that they found in the lands to which they migrated, all the while remaining faithful to their ancient cultural traditions and Iberian culinary heritage.
The Jews in the Ottoman Empire lived in their own areas, not because they were pressured to do so but because they preferred to live with the people from the regions they came from. However, as these were not “ghettos” , some amount of interaction was inevitable with the cultures around them and of course mutual borrowing between, Jews, Greeks, Armenians and Muslim Turks occurred naturally. Cooking rules and recipes were passed down from mother to daughter and resulted in a treasury of culinary ideas that continued being transmitted throughout the centuries up to the present day.
Two important factors characterized Sephardic cooking in Turkey: the Spanish heritage and the Turkish culture with additional traditions, flavors and techniques imported from the Greeks, who were very famous for their culinary skills. An interchange of culinary traditions, the borrowing of the tasty from one’s neighbors seemed to be common usage in the days when people socialized with their neighbors. We read a lot of stories of Muslims visiting their Jewish neighbors on their religious holidays and being offered of their traditional dishes and of Jews visiting their Muslim neighbors on their holidays to partake of the delicious sweets and desserts.
ESNAF LOKANTASI (Trademen's restaurant)
These restaurants don't usually make it onto the must-visit restaurant lists, but these are the kinds of places that keep the Turkish cooking alive. There is a trademen's restaurant in almost every neighborhood that attracts customers from other neighborhoods as well.
There is no definition for a trademen's restaurant; the term is actually an informal name used by and made up by the public. "The working class cannot go home for lunch, but they want to be able to eat food that tastes like it is homemade. The only place most people find this kind of taste is at their neighborhood restaurant. Not only is it cheap but it also offers a warm environment. As you walk in, you are greeted with sincere waiters who immediately remember you. “It is like you are walking into someone's home," In other words, people go to these places solely to eat a meal. They don't go there to see friends or enjoy chit-chat. That kind of enjoyable activity is usually saved for restaurants that people go to in the evening, and that is why those places get more media coverage.
There are so many restaurants in Istanbul that there must be some criteria to define a restaurant as a Trademen's Restaurant.
Generally they are narrow and long
Have small glass displays
Serve soup in the morning, generally offering two or three varieties
They buy the freshest vegetables and fruit from the market
They cook fresh dishes every day.
Most dishes are prepared by around 11 a.m.
Service stops around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m.
There are no alcoholic beverages.
The staff knows their customers and often works in the same place for many years.
Dishes are places on rectangular trays side by side on the counter.
