About Turkish Foods

Food in tourist areas of Turkey can be disappointing. The worst thing to do is to try and eat as you would as if you were at home. While many small restaurants and cafes will try to cater to European palates the results are usually uninspired. There are, of course, exceptions to this trend but on the whole eating 'International Cuisine' means paying too much for something that may look right but probably doesn't taste the way you thought it would.

If you get at all off the beaten track then you're going to be eating Turkish food. Most of the time this is a good thing. Many guide books will tell you that Turkey has one of the world's 3 great cuisines. This is probably true but it's unlikely that you'll get to sample much of it for yourself. The great dishes of Ottoman tradition tend to rely on a house full of women at home all day with nothing to do but prepare intricate and subtle dishes. You'll probably only sample Turkish cuisine at this level if you're prepared to pay for it, or, if you're invited into peoples homes.

What you will find however is enough variety to keep you interested for a couple of weeks. Turkey has some great street food and if you find a good restaurant then you'll enjoy the freshest of ingredients prepared with care.

A quick run down of the forms of eating available might be helpful:

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Street Food - This covers the majority of kebaps, lahmacun, pide and an assortment of burgers and sandwiches. Things you can eat quickly and cheaply and available wherever 2 or more are gathered together.
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Lokantas - Usually cheap Turkish restaurants serving pre-cooked food kept warm over burners. Most night bus stopovers carry dishes of this type and although they may not look great they're often pretty good.
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Iskembe joints - Iskembe is a tripe based soup that claims to prevent hangovers as long as you eat it at 3:00am. In any large town or city there will be somebody selling Iskembe when you need it.
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Restaurants - In all the areas frequented by tourists you'll find general purpose restaurants serving Turkish food and dishes influenced by European and American tastes. It will probably be worth your while to seek out the more authentic places. Not necessarily very easy in places like Marmaris or Kusadasi. You're going to be petitioned by waiters as you walk past anyway and this doesn't make it any easier to take your time. Anywhere selling food has to post a price list, by law, and as long as you know how much you're going to be paying it's difficult to be ripped off.
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Fish Restaurants - In Istanbul, Ankara, other big cities and, of course, on the coast, you'll find some good fish restaurants. The general idea is that you start with hot or cold Meze (starters) and then move on to a plate of fish. Not cheap, especially compared to the street price of fish, but usually pretty good. The safest situation to drink raki in.

What you'll find:

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Kebaps - more than some meat on a stick
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Pide - Turkish Pizza? Well, kind of

About Turkish Food

Turkey has a rich variety of cuisine that makes it worthwhile just to take a culinary tour of the country. You cannot identify one dominant Turkish food like the Italian pasta or the French sauce, but the Turks have perfected their cuisine to a fine craft that reflects their refinement of culture.

Turkey has a long repertoire of ancient recipes that were perfected by the chefs eager to please the Sultans. Turkish food is simple in presentation, its natural flavor not camouflaged by sauces; ever since the Ottomans passed laws to regulate freshness of food, leftovers are seldom found in Turkish homes.

It is said that travelers in Turkey, "come for the history but stay for the food". Make sure you carry home a Turkish food item like a Turkish Delight as a souvenir from Turkey.

Turkish CHICK PEA SALAD

CHICK PEA SALAD Ingredients
250 gr. chick peas
1/3 glass sesame oil
2-3 lemons
3/5 glass olive oil
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon salt




Preparation :
Soak chick peas in warm water overnight. Boil chick peas in a saucepan with a lot of water. Strain the chick peas and puree them. Blend the sesame oil with the puree of chick peas. Add lemon juice to the mixture until its taste becomes sour. Add the red pepper and salt. Mix the salad well so that it is liked mashed potatoes. Put the salad into a serving dish and add a dressing of olive oil and red pepper before serving.

Turkish Baklava

Ingredients :
1 glass flour
1/4 glass water
2 eggs
1/5 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/3 glasses starch
Filling :
1 glass melted margarine
1 1/2 glasses ground walnuts
Syrup :
2 glasses granulated sugar
2 glasses water
2 teaspoons lemon juice





Preparation :
Prepare the dough according to the dough for the baklava recipe. Place the dough pieces on each other on a woodwn board. Cut these pieces according to the size of the tray where they will be cooked. Grease the tray lightly and place one layer of dough over. Pour 1/2 tablespoon melted margarine evenly over the dough. Place only half of the pieces of dough on the tray so that there is one layer of dough, and margarine over that. When half of the dough is used up, sprinkle ground walnuts over. Over the walnuts place another layer of dough, spread some margarine, then another layer of dough, continue until all the pieces of dough are used. Cut the pieces of dough into the shape of baklava, place in a moderately heated oven and cook for an hour until the colour of the baklavas turn golden brown. Put granulated sugar, water and lemon juice into a pan, melt the sugar over moderate heat and boil for about 15 minutes until the mixture becomes a syrup. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, brush with but.

Turkish CHICKEN ROLLS

ngredients
1 chicken
4 eggs
2 glasses of fine white or all purpose flour
2 glasses of olive oil
2 tablespoons of margarine
2 tablespoons of flour
1 pinch of ground coconut
2 glasses of broth of chicken
salt and black pepper to taste



Preparation :
Clean the chicken and boil it until cooked. Take off the legs and flake the rest. Season with salt and black pepper and put aside. Saute flour with margarine in a saucepan. Pour chicken stock into the saucepan gradually and cook until pasty. Add the flaked chicken meat and ground coconut to the saucepan. Stir a few times over heat, remove from heat allow to cool. When it cools down, take egg-size pieces of the paste and make them into oval shapes. Put them on a floured tray and sprinkle flour over them. Beat the eggs well in a bowl. Heat the olive oil in a pan, then take the balls, dip them in beaten egg and put them into the pan one by one. Let them fry until golden. Drain the meatballs, put them in a serving bowl and garnish with parsley.

STEAMED SEA BREAM

STEAMED SEA BREAM Ingredients
2 medium sea bream
1 tablespoon margarine
16 medium mushrooms
1 green pepper
4 medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 glass dry white wine
2 tablespoons cream
1/2 lemon
1 bay leaf




Preparation :
Wash and dry the mushrooms thoroghly, trim the stalks. Slice the green pepper into rings, pell the tomatoes, scoop out their seeds and cube. Peel the lemon and slice in thin layers.
Melt the margarine over moderate heat, when it starts to sizzle add the mushrooms and pepper, stir continuously for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and salt and stir for one or more minutes. Add the wine and cook for one more minute. Remove the pan from the heat, add cream and stir. Place the sea bream in a deep pan and pour the tomato sauce over. Place the sliced lemon and bay leaf on top, cover and cook for 20 minutes on moderate heat. Serve.

Iskender Kebab with Meatballs

Inegol Kofte made from 500 gr medium ground veal

4 pieces of Asian Nan Pita bread or plain pide
or:
6 slice of Turkish or French bread, cut in bite size cubes

Garnish:
1 cup tomato paste, heated up with a few tbs of water
(or use canned crushed tomatoes)
2 tbsp butter
Turkish yogurt, plain, room temperature

First, fry the meatballs in a Teflon pan without oil. Then, place them over the pita or bread bread pieces. Pour the tomato sauce on top and place a few spoons of yogurt on the side. Lastly, melt the butter in a small pan. When it starts bubbling, pour over the tomato sauce.

Serve Iskender Kebab while still hot with roasted and peeled Cubanelle peppers by the side.

4 servings.

Ricotta Cheese with Green Pepper

1 sweet or hot long green pepper or Cubanelle pepper, discard the seeds, sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup salted Ricotta Cheese (Making Ricotta Cheese from Yogurt)

Soften the peppers with olive oil for about 2-3 minutes, do not over cook! Turn the heat off, put the ricotta cheese in it, toss.

Serve Peppered Ricotta Cheese as a breakfast with freshly baked Turkish bread, Turkish black olive and tomato slices.

Stuffed Zucchini with Bulgur

5 small zucchini, washed
150 ml hot water
1 tbsp crushed tomato
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Tomato slices

Filling:
150 gr medium ground beef
2 tbsp Turkish bulgur, large grain,rinsed and drained
2 green onion, chopped
50 ml water
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper
1 tbsp red pepper paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Sauce:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, mashed with salt
1 tsp mint
1-2 tbsp lemon juice

Wash the zucchini and cut off a thin slice of the bottom of each one, so that they can stand up straight. Cut off the tops (as in the picture) and carve out the insides.

Mix all the filling ingredients with a teaspoon and stuff the zucchini. Leave some room at the top. While filling the zucchini, don't push the filling in, instead tap the zucchini vertically on the counter. Then cover the zucchinis with the tomato slices. Place them in a small cooking pot.

Mix the hot water, crushed tomato and olive oil and pour into the pot from the side. Cover the lid and cook for about 20 minutes at medium heat.

To prepare the sauce; heat up the olive oil in a small pan. Add the garlic, mint and lemon juice, stir. Slowly pour the sauce all over the Stuffed Zucchinis. Close the lid. Turn the heat off in 2 minutes.

Place the cooked zucchini on a service plate. Pour some of the sauce from the pot on top of them. Serve it with lemon wedges.

Don't throw away the zucchini tops and insides. Grate or cut them into small pieces and make Zucchini Pate

Broiled Skewered Lamb

Ingredients

* 1 lrg Onion, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices & separated into rings
* 2 tbl Heavy cream
* 2 tbl Olive oil
* 4 tbl Lemon juice, fresh
* 2 tbl Salt
* 1/2 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
* 2 lb Lamb, lean boneless, prefer from the leg, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2 inch cubes
* 1 lrg Tomato, firm, ripe, cut crosswise into 4 slices
* 1 lrg Green pepper, cut into quarters, seeded & deribbed




Directions

- Drop the onion rings into a deep bowl and sprinkle them with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add the lamb and turn the pieces about with a spoon to coat them well. Marinate at room temperature for at least 2 hours, or in the refrigerator for 4 hours, turning the lamb occasionally.
- Light a layer of coals in a charcoal broiler and let them burn until a white ash appears on the surface, or preheat a stove broiler to its highest point.
- Remove the lamb from the marinade and string the cubes tightly on 3 or 4 long skewers, pressing them firmly together. Thread the tomato slices and green pepper quarters alternately on a separate skewer. If you are broiling the lamb in a stove, suspend the skewers side by side across the length of a roasting pan deep enough to allow a 1 inch space below the meat.
- Brush the meat evenly on all sides with the cream. Broil 4 inches from the heat, turning the skewers occasionally, until the vegetables brown richly and the lamb is done to your taste. For pink lamb, allow about 10 minutes; for well done lamb, which is more typical of Middle Eastern cooking, allow about 15 minutes. Watch the vegetables carefully; they will take less time to cook than the lamb and should be removed when done.
- Slide the lamb off the skewers onto heated individual plates. Serve with pilav and the broiled tomato and green pepper.