FOOD

A wonderful way to understand and appreciate a culture is by getting to know the way food is prepared and served. Great civilizations create grand cuisines where every dish is a reflection of how a people and a place (a nation and its country) spawn and sustain their togetherness in the act of enjoying a meal. “Do not underestimate the dish by calling it just food. The blessed thing is an entire civilization in itself!” said Abdülhak Şinasi Hisar, a Turkish Novelist. For those who travel to engage in culinary pursuits and for the ordinary tourist, the Turkish Cuisine is worthy of exploration. The variety of dishes that make up the cuisine, the ways they all come together in feast-like meals, and the evident intricacy of the craft 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 restaurant, 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. What makes Turkish Cuisine glorious? Turkish cuisine has the privilege of being at the crossroads of the Near 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 characteristics and extensive history have bestowed 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. Anyone who visits Turkey or has a meal in a Turkish home, regardless of the success of the particular cook, is sure to notice the uniqueness of the cuisine. A survey of the types of dishes according to their ingredients may be helpful to explain the basic structure of Turkish cuisine. All dishes can be conveniently categorized into grain-based, grilled meats, vegetables, seafood, desserts and beverages. For Turkish people, the setting is as important as the food itself. Therefore, food-related places need to be considered, as well as the dining protocol.   Adapted from Turkey.Home

Bread or “ekmek” as it’s known in Turkish, is central to Turkish culture, and arguably always has been. Nomadic Turks have been consuming bread for millennia, and bread is an indelible part of Turkish culture and Turkish cuisine. Almost every meal you eat will be served with fresh bread, and soaking up the juices or oils of another delicious Turkish meal is always one of its highlights. Bread is made in a wide variety of ways and differs from region to region within Turkey. Each region, and often each bakery, has their own secrets to how to produce the perfect bread and these secrets are passed down from generation to generation. There is a premium placed on freshness in Turkey the likes of which you’ll see in very few other countries in the world, with lines out the door in bakeries three times a day as the bread is baked freshly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In the Ottoman period, it was believed that Adam, after getting expelled from the Garden of Eden, was the Patron Saint of Bakers after he learned how to bake from the Archangel Gabriel. But bread touches all aspects of culture. It’s a binding food between the wealthiest and the poorest of society. It’s viewed as more than a “food” but a cultural product. It takes on a practically sacred air, and the labor that goes into making it is also revered. Indeed bakers will even invoke the name of God before placing the bread in the oven, and bread of course takes on an even greater importance during religious festivals. Almost every religious festival in Turkey, Christian, Jewish or Islamic, features its own varieties of breads, each baked and flavored in different ways. Bread is often seen as both the food of the poor and the food of the soldier. Peksimet (Romanian: pesmet), a form of hardtack, was the primary food source for many soldiers in World War I and the Turkish War of Independence. “Ekmek parasi,” or “bread money,” is the phrase used for the money one lives off of, tying the notion of bread with life itself. Bread is sold through government-regulated dealers, with the price determined by the state, though private bakers are permitted to sell at whatever price they deem fit.  Flatbreads were used commonly amongst central Anatolian Turkic tribes, with breads laid on top of one another and rolled up, ensuring that the inner layers stayed fresh and only the outer layers were exposed to the air. These sorts of unleavened breads are typically baked on what’s known as a “sac” in Turkish, a convex iron griddle that is either placed over a fire or filled with hot coals. But the types of breads in Turkey are endless, with the thickness and weight being a critical difference maker. The thickness is often determined by how breads are rolled out. Breads in Turkey are typically rolled on a long wooden rod called an “oklava.” They can be made with different quantities of wheat, barley or corn, and mixing and matching these ingredients is relatively common. Different flours and different seeds are added, and as bread is so common in every meal, they range from breads that are meant to be stuffed, used as pastries or used as loafs. So bread is tied to life and culture itself, and has been so for millennia both in Anatolia and from the origins of Turkish culture. When you come to Turkey, make sure you try as many varieties as possible – we can just about guarantee they’ll all be fresh! Adapted from Turkey.Home