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Feel Like a Native of Istanbul!
The essence of Istanbul’s cuisine lies in its Ottoman past. We say “Oh that is very Ottoman" when we spoon a delicious eggplant purée and braised lamb.
We refer to the food as “very Ottoman“ because it is an Ottoman classic. At the empire’s most flourishing days, the sultans employed some 1300 cooks in the ceramic –domed kitchens of Topkapı Palace, each assigned for his entire career to cooking a single type of dish.
Today, Istanbul’s cooking combines the best of the Mediterranean and the Middle East. It relies heavily on the freshest vegetables, fragrant olive oil, grilling and the flavours of many ingredients. Combined to this Mediterranean sensibility are Middle Eastern notes–lamb, rice, dried fruits, grape leaves and yogurt. The spicing of Istanbul food too is Middle Eastern: cinnamon and saffron appear in savoury dishes, mildly spicy Urfa and Maras peppers are set out on tables as salt and pepper are abroad. Our cuisine also relies on seafood from a simple grilled Blue fish to rice-stuffed musells and spicy octopus salad.
Turkish food is not complicated cooking, it is about getting simple cooking absolutely right. We delight in every detail of the preparation, in every stage of its development.
With its magical minarets and bazaars, traffic and grit, and glitzy Eurasian high life, Istanbul is a hallucinatory experience. The richness of its cuisine contributes to the thrill. While there is no shortage of transnational dining, its worth seeking out traditional Turkish cuisine at the establishements we will suggest to you. Istanbul with literally a restaurant at every turn is a real culinary treat and a snackers paradise. Once in Istanbul we will also suggest you the best restaurants as well as the typical ones where you can eat mezes and drink raki...
Istanbul… An almighty city for which wars were made and millions of lives were lost through thousands of years… A huge metropolis connecting continents, different cultures and religions; being home to eleven million people and one of the greatest business and cultural center of the region…
Istanbul is both the nearest European city to Asia and the nearest Asian city to Europe. It has been a merciful shelter to people since 3000 B.C. and the great capital of Byzantium and Ottoman Empires. An irresistible beauty with its precious Bosphorus, unique historical inheritances adorning its silhouette, and of course its hospitable people…
No corner of Istanbul is like any other. Even districts that stand right next to one another are very different, from their houses to their shops, and their streets to their traders. You can find everything in the world that you might be looking for and more in Istanbul, where people from all walks of life live together in a tremendous hustle and bustle: The mystery of the East and the practicality of the West. In local markets one can find a wide range of peppers, honey, varieties of local cheeses, dried spiced beef, sausages, braised beef, an astonishing variety of medicinal herbs, different teas, and even herbs and charms to ward off the evil eye which are to be found in every Turkish home. The city of Istanbul itself is one great big bazaar!
With Turkish Flavours you will learn see and feel Istanbul!
As nomads, the Turks were limited by what the land offered and by what could be prepared over a crude open fire, so it's not a stretch to understand how kebaps and köfte became the centerpieces of Turkish cooking. Turkish food today concentrates on simple combinations, few ingredients, and fresh produce.
With access to vast cupboards stocked with ingredients from the four corners of the empire, the palace chefs developed a more complex cuisine. The majority of these recipes, recorded in Arabic script, were regrettably lost in the language reforms. Some Ottoman favorites have made it to us nevertheless, like the hünkar begendi (the sultan was pleased), imam bayildi (the priest fainted; Barbara Cartland might have likened it to a woman's "flower"), and hanim göbegi (lady's navel), a syrupy dessert with a thumbprint in the middle. These have become staples in many run-of-the-mill restaurants, but true Ottoman cuisine is difficult to come by. Several restaurants in Istanbul have researched the palace archives to restore some of those lost delicacies to the modern table, providing a rare opportunity to sample the artistry and intricate combinations of exotic flavors in the world's first fusion food. The Turkish kitchen is always stocked with only the freshest vegetables, the most succulent fruits, the creamiest of cheeses and yogurt and the best cuts of meat. But, unless you're a pro like the chefs to the Sultans, whose lives depended on pleasing the palate of their leader, it takes a lot of creativity to turn such seemingly simple ingredients into dishes fit for a king.
A typical Turkish meal begins with a selection of mezes, or appetizers. These often become a meal in themselves, accompanied by an ample serving of raki, that when taken together, form a recipe for friendship, laughter, and song. The menu of mezes often includes several types of eggplant, called patlican; ezme, a fiery hot salad
of red peppers; sigara böregi, fried cheese "cigars"; and dolmalar, anything from peppers or vine leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts, cumin, and fresh mint.
The dilemma is whether or not to fill up on these delectables or save room for the kebaps, a national dish whose stature rivals that of pasta in Italy. While izgara means "grilled," the catchall phrase kebap simply put, means "roasted," and denotes an entire class of meats cooked using various methods. Typical kebaps include lamb "shish"; spicy Adana kebap, a spicy narrow sausage made of ground lamb; döner kebap, slices of lamb cooked on a vertical revolving spit; patlican kebap, slices of eggplant and lamb grilled on a skewer; and the artery-clogging Iskender kebap, layers of pide, tomatoes, yogurt, and thinly sliced lamb drenched in melted butter. Turks are equally nationalistic over their köfte, Turkey's answer to the hamburger: flat or round little meatballs served with slices of tomato and whole green chili peppers. But even though signs for kebap houses may mar the view, Turkish citizens are anything but carnivores, preferring instead to fill up on grains and vegetables. Saç kavurma represents a class of
casseroles sautéed or roasted in an earthenware dish that, with the help of an ample amount of velvety Turkish olive oil, brings to life the flavors of ingredients like potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, and beef chunks. No self-respecting gourmand should leave Turkey without having had a plate of manti, a meat-filled ravioli, dumpling, or kreplach, adapted to the local palate by adding a garlic-and-yogurt sauce. Pide is yet another interpretation of pizza made up of fluffy oven-baked bread topped with a variety of ingredients and sliced in strips. Lahmacun is another version of the pizza, only this time the bread is as thin as a crepe and lightly covered with chopped onions, lamb,
and tomatoes. Picking up some "street food" can be a great diversion, especially in the shelter of some roadside shack where the corn and gözleme -- a freshly made cheese or potato (or whatever) crepe that is the providence of expert rolling pin-wielding village matrons -- are hot off the grill.
Desserts fall into two categories: baklava and milk-based. Baklava, a type of dessert made of thin layers of pastry dough soaked in syrup, is a sugary sweet bomb best enjoyed around teatime, although several varieties are made so light and fluffy that you'll be tempted to top off dinner with a sampling. The milk-based desserts
have no eggs or butter and are a guilt-free :)) pick-me-up in the late afternoon hours, although there's no bad time to treat yourself to some creamy sütlaç (rice pudding). The sprinkling of pistachio bits is a liberal addition to these and many a Turkish dessert, while comfort food includes the irmik helva, a delicious yet simple family tradition of modestly sweet semolina, pine nuts, milk, and butter.
So what's the deal with Turkish delight? Otherwise known as lokum, this sweet candy is made of cornstarch, nuts, syrup, and an endless variety of flavorings to form a skwooshy tidbit whose appeal seems to be more in the gift giving than on its own merit.
In Turkey, tripe soup, called Iskembe Çorbasi or Kokoreç, is a widely accepted remedy for a hangover.
Rather than the question, "Would you like something to drink?" Turkish hospitality leaps immediately to the "What?"
Tea, called çay (chai) in Turkish, is not so much a national drink as it is a ritual. Boil the water incorrectly and you're in for trouble. Let the tea steep without prior rinsing and you've committed an unforgivable transgression. What's amazing is that so many tea drinkers manage to maintain white teeth, and as you'll see, some don't. Tea is served extremely hot and strong in tiny tulip-shaped glasses, accompanied by exactly two sugar cubes. The size of the glass ensures that the tea gets consumed while hot, and before you slurp your final sip, a new glass will arrive. If you find the tea a bit strong, especially on an empty stomach, request that it be "açik" or "opened," so that the ratio of water to steeped tea is increased.
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 loris used in a rolled up fried pastry known as Sigara Böreği 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. Kaşar(kashar)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 Kaşar 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 most frequently 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 rakı and as part of a selection of meze.
Kaşar- 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 to mature over several months. Taze Kaşar comes in commercially produced, vacuum packed rectangular logs but this is not the same as thereal thing which is Eski (old) Kaşar,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 Kaşar called Trakya Kaşar 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, Kaşar , was an adaptation of the word Kaşkaval 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 with bread or toast also accompanies olives or pickles as an energizing snack.
TURKISH WINES UNLIMITED
Owing to its favourable climatic conditions and good soil a wide variety of grapes can be grown in Turkey. Visitors in Turkey are beginning to discover that there are some very good wines being made here. Turkey ranks sixth in world grape production. Although vineyards are spread all over the country, productıon is maınly concentrated in the Aegean, Mediterranean and Central Anatolian regions. Most Turkish wines are made from native wine grape varieties. Turkish wine producers are also using the native grapes in combination with European varieties to create high quality new wines with a new taste for the world wine market.
Some of the native grapes and their characteristics:
SULTANIYE
Produced in the town of Manisa and Denizli, situated in the Aegean province of Turkey bordering the Mediterranean province the grape is being produced at 200 meters above sea level and 1200 meters high in the town of Denizli. Sultaniye grape is light in texture, producing pleasant wines with fruit and spice aromas. It is highly recommended with all seafood, chicken and cheese as well as with all sweet pastries.
NARINCE
Produced in Tokat a town situated in North Central Anatolia region close to Black Sea province. Narince is a variatel wine with a yellow and greenish color. This elegant wine has flowery and strong fruit aromas. Goes well with seafood, chicken and cheese.
MISKET
The original name is Misket of Bornova.This variety is mostly grown in Izmir. The grains are medium size and round shaped.When ripe it has a red colour. It does not have too much must.This variety has a characteristical flavour and savour which consists of tropical fruits, flower, citrus, thyme anddaphne. Both dry and sweet Muscat wines are produced. Produces aromatic,live,light,easy to drink,clear golden yellow colored wines. Has basil,rose,mint,honey,bergamot,jasmine, melisa,orange blossom, daisy,grapefruit and melon aromas. Misket wine is a perfect aperitif wine. It is very coherent with neutral cheese,nuts,appetizers with sea food and slades that do not overshadow its aroma.
KALECIK KARASI
Produced from the grapes of Kalecik town in Ankara. The characteristics of this wine is burgundy red with bright purple hue, fresh red fruit at first followed by vanilla, banana, cherry, caramel aromas. Displays medium body and leaves velvet softness in the mouth. Kalecik Karası is goods for aging 8 to 10 years. Recommend either with red meat and cheese.
OKUZGOZU
Produced from the grapes of certificated Okuzgozu vineyard in Elazıg near the Euphrates river in Southeastern region of Turkey. The characteristics of this wine is medium body, well balanced, good quality soft tannins, dark in color with purple hue, very in rich aromas of red fruits also soft touch of tobacco and leather notes. This special wine aging very well and good up to 8 years. Recommended with red meat, kebabs and steaks, spaghettis, pastas & cheese.
BOGAZKERE
Produced from the grapes of certificated Bogazkere vineyards of Elazıg near the Tigris river in Southeastern region of Turkey. The characteristics of this wine is strong body, very enjoyable long finishing, dark red color with dark blue hue, very rich and strong aromas of dried red fruits, spices. Good for aging up to 10 years. Recommended with red meat kebabs, turkey, salmon and cheese. Especially eastern Anatolian cheddar or Gruyere cheese.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
selin@turkishflavours.com
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