The food of Turkey

We had a short and relatively unscheduled day today.. a couple of walking tours of the old Ottoman buildings and stuff around our hotel (the bus driver is getting some much needed time off!!) And I've probably given you more history than you anticipated, but it seems like everyone is interested in food. So I shall give you some outlines and some pictures.. and even some cats, of course.

I once read some noted food expert who said there were only three original great cuisines in the world.. the French, the Chinese, and the Turkish. While he'd clearly never had a chimichanga, his viewpoint is interesting and highly controversial. There is much similarity in the foods of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, but it's worth considering that the Turks (and the Ottoman Empire, naturally) spread some of the foundations for those magnificent cuisines.

The food generally is healthy food.. vegetable based meals are very common. The three vegetarians in our group have fared very well and had no significant problem eating well. There is bread at every meal, "ekmek" -- which is really what we call Italian bread at home.. nice long loaves with a light crispy crust. I have seen a more whole wheat version in Istanbul as well. Wheat is eaten in various forms, as well.

To start, take breakfast. I can say it has been EXACTLY the same in every hotel we've been in, except that some of the fancier places have had more choices in the same categories. First, is the ekmek. Baskets and baskets. Sometimes more than one variety, some with sesame seeds, some with a little cheese (that's pretty fancy). We have only had one hotel dining room that offered sweet rolls with breakfast, and that was pretty fancy. The bread comes with a variety of things to spread on it... different jams, particularly cherry. Butter or margarine is omnipresent, as is a Turkish variety of chocolate hazelnut spread something like Nutella. Then there is cheese. There is always "beyaz peynir" which is a fresh goat cheese cut in logs or squares. I love it but it is an acquired taste for some. There is usually at least one more variety, often a cheese similar to provolone or fresh mozzarella, usually cut in triangles. I have seen it in the bakkals in slices like our sandwich cheeses, but it tastes much better than Kraft singles! After the cheese come the olives... usually two or three varieties, sometimes more. Always both black and green. Sometimes seasoned with peppers or garlic or herbs like oregano. They are soooooo good. Then there will often be hot eggs in the shell... one fancier place we were at had both "3 minute" (soft boiled) and "5 minute" (harder boiled) eggs, but the hot hard boiled egg is the standard offering. Then to round out the meal, you get sliced or wedged fresh tomatoes (that taste better than any tomatoes in the world, even the ones we grow ourselves) and sliced peeled cucumbers. On rare occasion there is fresh fruit. And sometimes cereal is offered, though often without milk. To drink there is a choice of "Nescafe" (as distinguished from the wonderful muddy "Turkish Kahve" or strong brewed tea and some sort of juice. In our experience, the two things offered have been cherry juice and Tang. Large dispensers of Tang. Our gift to Turkish cuisine has been Tang and Nescafe.

I am told that a typical home breakfast would be similar. It apparently is not breakfast without bread, cheese, and olives.

Lunch on the town is often more complicated. I think Turkish cities and towns have more eating establishments than anywhere. Even the tiniest villages seemed to have many little lokantas/cafes/kebabcis. Even kind of nice street cafes follow the pattern of point and order. Generally while there may be a printed menu, it is considered much more logical and normal to go trouping in to the serving area and point. Sometimes in fancier restaurants they have brought huge demonstration trays for us to point at. Not just us, even the Turks order this way.

A typical lunch would have several components -- perhaps a cold stuffed pepper, eggplant in any one of a dozen forms, zucchini or spinach or green beans ditto, rice, chips (french fries done up in olive oil, considered a vegetable here!), potato salads, etc. One favorite of the group has been zucchini cooked with a a Bechamel sauce and finished with a nice hint of cheese. The green beans are almost always the broad type cooked with a savory tomato sauce and finished with lots of olive oil. Maybe a fresh soup -- almost always there is a bean or lentil soup plus something else like a yogurt based soup or a tomato soup. Meat is in limited servings... sometimes a "guvec" (pronounced gooo-vetch) which is a meat and vegetable stew. The meat is generally either chicken or beef. If you are in a specific kebab or meatball restaurant you'll have the choice of various kinds of kebabs or grilled meatballs, but they don't necessarily show up in regular lunch type restaurants. Liver and potatoes (cooked and crisped in olive oil, naturally, seems to be a very popular delicacy. I had it once and it was very well done.) An example.. my lunch today, chosen by our guide and the waiter with my acquiescence, had a small borek (pastry made of filo dough) stuffed with a tiny bit of ground meat, a little cheese and spinach. Then I had spinach and rice and cold zucchini with a yogurt dressing. The green salad with it was totally uninspired iceberg, but I needed to see a real salad, so it was okay!

To drink with lunch there is always "su" -- water. No one drinks tap water here... in fact, most of the hotels have had signs in the bathroom warning not to drink it. So bottled water is omnipresent and warm. No ice. Sigh. In the fanciest hotel we were in, they did bring ice.. in a tiny little miniature ice bucket, and ladled out tiny miniature cubes one at a time..... ) They have coke products everywhere.... regular coke, coke light, and coke zero. It is often cold, which is nice. My favorite drink with lunch is ayran... it's a drink made with water and yogurt, about the consistency of skim milk and a little bit salty. Don't gag till you've tried it. It's amazingly refreshing on hot days and quenches thirst very well. I'm told, for those of you in Tucson, that there's a market at Country Club and Glenn that sells several varieties (I'm also told the Palestinian variety is far too salty!) After the meal they offer cay (tea, pronounced chai) or nescafe or Turkish coffee. It is not made on the premises, but delivered from the nearest cay house... I usually have the cay... served in little glasses with sugar cubes, just as I remember it from our years in Izmir

Dinner is more of the same, but usually preceded by a variety of meze, or appetizers. I sometimes think they are the best part.. cheese, olives, eggplant, yogurt based spreads with dill, bread, Russian salad, which is a potato salad of small cubes of potatoes, carrots and peas, moistened with a little mayonnaise type dressing and dill. I rather like it. Some of our group rather like the little hot dog slices in tomato sauce, but I haven't quite got into them. After the meze would come the soup if you wanted soup, then the small main course with same lunch type veggies and rice or potatoes, and then, if you are still able to eat, a little desert. There are a million varieties of baklava like desserts, cakes soaked in honey syrup, and countless puddings that I find rather boring, but some people like them.

Then there's street food..... roasted ears of corn, simit (sesame seed crescents and doughnut shaped breads); ice cream of all sorts, fruit, (watermelon is in season right now and very very good.) There are corner stands for kebabs and meatball sandwiches, and more. There are a couple of kinds of pizza. One is pide... just what it sounds like... boat shaped slices of pita bread baked with toppings of cheese, tomato and meats. There is also Lamacun (lah-ma-june) that is more like our typical pizza but takes a long time to get.

Believe it or not, all of us have lost weight... but that's all the walking plus most of us skip a meal a lot of days since it is hot and it seems like way too much time eating! And portions are relatively small compared to a typical American serving. I must admit I like that. The only exception to small servings has been what I've seen when people ordered pasta..... oh my, those servings are huge. Pasta is quite popular here, sometimes with a meat or vegetable sauce, sometimes just with cheese.

Even fast food isn't. Meals are leisurely, and in a restaurant service is charmingly ??? slow..... and chaotic at times. Two people ordering the same things may get them 10-15 minutes apart. We have acquired the custom of sharing food... just order a bunch of stuff and something will show up to start on!

And there's always ekmek. Always. Life is good.

I have taken a bunch of pictures of meals... hope they look good.