While the food in Turkey is among the richest in the world, it is
a complete and delicious combination of Eastern and European colours
and tastes. Good restaurants are in abundance in this unique city
but it is worth wandering off the beaten track where the real gems
of Turkish cuisine are to be found.
Because you are on the shores of the Bosphorous, locals would strongly
recommend that you try one of the many seafood restaurants that line
the banks of the river. One fish dish which proves extremely popular
is Lakerda, an appetiser made with bonito fish. And to finish try
baclavar, a flaky pastry with nuts soaked in honey accompanied by
a Turkish coffee or kahve but tell the waiter how sweet you want it
when you order as the sugar is added as its being made.
And of course there is the obligatory kebab. While this is one meal
that has truly make its mark in the Western world, it is clear that
Istanbul has a great deal more than dishes with shish or donor in
the title to offer. Nevertheless, the kebabs too are well worth sampling.
These guys will show you what a real one should taste like.
For those who travel to engage in culinary pursuits, 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 each craft involved 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. A practically-minded child watching Mother cook “cabbage
dolma” on a lazy, grey winter day is bound to wonder: “Who on earth
discovered this peculiar combination of sauteed rice, pine-nuts, currants,
spices, herbs and all tightly wrapped in translucent leaves of cabbage,
each roll exactly half an inch thick and stacked up on an oval serving
plate decorated with lemon wedges? How was it possible to transform
this humble vegetable to such heights of fashion and delicacy with
so few additional ingredients? And, how can such a yummy dish also
possibly be good for you?” The modern mind, in a moment of contemplation,
has similar thoughts upon entering a modest sweets shop where ‘baklava”
is the generic cousin of a dozen or so sophisticated sweet pastries
with names like: twisted turban, sultan, saray (palace), lady’s navel,
nightingales nest... The same experience awaits you at a ‘muhallebici”
(pudding shop) with a dozen different types of milk puddings. One
can only conclude that the evolution of this glorious cuisine was
not an accident, but rather, as with the other grand cuisines of the
world, it was a result of the combination of three key elements. A
nurturing environment is irreplaceable. Turkey is known for an abundance
and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional
differentiation. Secondly, the legacy of an Imperial Kitchen is inescapable.
Hundreds of cooks, all specializing in different types of dishes,
and all eager to please the royal palate, no doubt had their influence
in perfecting the cuisine as we know it today. The Palace Kitchen,
supported by a complex social organization, a vibrant urban life,
specialization of labor, worldwide trade, and total control of the
Spice Road, all reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing
of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire. Finally, the longevity
of social organization should not be taken lightly either. The Turkish
State of Anatolia is a millenium old and so, naturally, is its cuisine.
Time is of the essence, as lbni Haldun wrote, The religion of the
King, in time, becomes
