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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.
If you are interested in learning more about participation in a culinary vacation in Istanbul, please do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
selin@turkishflavours.com
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