It is well known that our tourists save primarily on food, but in Turkey that would be an unforgivable mistake. After all, Turkish cuisine is one of the most diverse and richest in the world. So, armed with a culinary guidebook, my husband and I set off to explore local cafes and restaurants.
Traditions in Turkey are passed down from generation to generation, and today you can taste dishes whose recipes were created more than 700 years ago. In Istanbul, hungry after a whole day of sightseeing, we headed to kebabevi, a small kebab house, to try real Turkish kebap. There are about 50 varieties of kebaps in Turkey – they are baked, fried, roasted, or stewed. Kebaps here include skewered shashlik, meat roasted in a clay oven, and the lamb stew, and the familiar to us shawarma, doner kebap. We thought for a long time about which dish to choose, and finally settled on "Iskender kebab" (iskender kebabi), named after Alexander the Great. It is meat, spices, and tomato sauce laid on a Turkish flatbread pide, an analog of lavash. Such flatbreads are also used in Turkey for making sandwiches with spicy sausage and boiled eggs and are served with halva for dessert, while in Central Anatolia it is customary to eat them with pieces of shish kebab.
Turkish dishes have loud and attractive names – "Nightingale's Nest" (bulbul yuvasi) or kadinbudu kofte – "Woman's Thigh", which by themselves can whet any man's appetite. It was with the woman's thigh that a small mishap occurred. In Ankara, at turk lokantasi, a restaurant of traditional Turkish cuisine, we asked the waiter which dish he would recommend to try. The waiter, smiling, replied: "Woman's thigh". We were perplexed, taking the answer for a joke, but agreed. Everything became clear only at the sight of a juicy, fragrant lamb cutlet with cinnamon and spices.
During an excursion to the Topkapi sultan's palaces, while examining the rooms of the former harem and the rich collection of jewels and clothing, we learned an interesting story. When Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, was a guest in these palaces, she really liked a dish of eggplant with lamb. She even sent her chef to the sultan's head chef to learn how to cook it. Today this dish is served under the name hunkar begendi ("The Sultan Liked It") in many lokanta - Turkish restaurants. Now I cook it at home too - I dare to assure you, it is a win-win option. To any remarks from my husband, I boldly object that if the sultan liked it, then everyone else should like it too.
And eggplant in Turkey can be called the "king of vegetables" - no matter which little restaurant we entered, there was always a dish of eggplant. What I liked most was eggplant stuffed with onions, tomatoes, and herbs. The name also attracted me - "The Imam Fainted" (imam bayildi). Try making it yourself, and even if the eaters do not faint, they will certainly be impressed by your culinary skills.
You will need: 6 large eggplants, 8 cloves of garlic, a bunch of parsley, 3 tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 250 ml of olive oil, juice of half a lemon.
Peel the eggplants, make deep cuts in them without cutting all the way through and leaving 2 cm from each edge, soak in salted water for 20 minutes, then squeeze out. Sauté the onion in oil for 5 minutes. Add minced garlic, parsley, chopped tomatoes, salt, sugar, lemon juice. Lightly fry the eggplants on all sides, then place in a saucepan cut side up. Fill them with the prepared mixture, pour in 0.5 liters of water, and cover with foil. Stew the eggplants under a lid for 45 minutes over medium heat. Cool and place on a large dish.
A true temptation, impossible to resist, was for me pastane - Turkish pastries. I dare to assure you that even the most fastidious sweet tooth will be pleased with the choice. What is not there! "Nightingale's Nest" - a pastry with pistachios and syrup, or a refreshing drink made from rose petals with lemon juice and sugar, chestnuts in chocolate, and traditional Turkish pudding made from milk and rice flour, without eggs and butter. I broke my promise to lose weight, especially since the pudding was served with many sweets with nuts and nut paste. Nuts generally enjoy special love in Turkey. They stuff vegetables and fish with them, add them to sauces, halva, and pastries. And here is a piece of advice for mothers worried about their child's thinness - give them for breakfast a spoonful of ground pine nuts or walnuts mixed with raisins and sprinkled with cinnamon.
And, of course, one cannot help but mention meyhane - a traditional drinking house, where whole families come not only to drink a cup of coffee, but also to discuss news, watch TV, and play backgammon. Here we made a blunder by accidentally entering a hall intended only for men, and not for married couples and single women. And we were surprised that coffee in Turkey is brewed without sugar and served in small cups without a spoon and sugar bowl.
Of course, what has been said is only a part of what I have read and experienced, but you too will undoubtedly have exciting adventures and unexpected surprises. Just do not forget to take with you on the road the book "Turkey. A Culinary Guide" from the publishing house "Living Language".