TURKISH CUISINE
is one of the renowned three cuisines of the world.
The richness of Turkish cuisine is due to several
factors; the variety of products offered by the
lands of Anatolia, interaction with numerous
different cultures over a long historical process,
the new tastes developed in the palace kitchens of
the Seljuk and Ottoman empires have all played a
part in shaping the character of the Turkish
culinary culture.
VEGETABLES
The Ottoman tables bore an incredible wealth in hot
and cold vegetable dishes. Beans to the list,
followed by eggplants with its more than 40
varieties. Tomatoes, bell peppers, cabbage, okra,
squash, marshmallow, artichoke, carrot, spinach,
cauliflower, celery, asparagus, purslane, artichoke,
leek, and many more.
MEAT COURSES
Red meats like mutton, lamb and veal, white ones
like fish and fowl were the building blocks of the
homemade meals. Some of these meats, seasoned with
tomato paste, onions and garlic, were cooked for a
long time over a slow fire while the kebabs and
meatballs were prepared in pans or grills and
consumed together with pastes of local vegetables,
pickles, green salads and yoghurt. Eggplant salad,
fried potatoes, shish kebab and swirling kebab were
definitely brought to the table together with
tomatoes and peppers.
BREAKFAST
The main items eaten at breakfast are generally
cheese, olives, bread, eggs and jam. At breakfast,
where the main beverage is tea, different types of
cheese, sausage, tomato, cucumber, pepper and other
regional foods may be eaten.
DESSERTS
There are three different types of sweets: pastries,
milked custards and fruit desserts plus the baklava.
Basic ingredients of the latter were the wafer-thin
leaves of dough, butter, sugar and honey together
with cream and any of the crushed hazelnuts, walnuts
or pistachios.
COFFEE RITUAL
No matter which meal was involved, coffee
constituted an indispensable finish. It had a
certain importance also in the daily life and had
their own anecdotes, expressions and traditions.
Coffee fad, coffee peddlar, divination in coffee
dregs, coffee cup and the dicton of “one cup of
coffee entails forty years of affinity.” The types
of coffee are bitter, sweet,
medium-sugared-quasi-sugared.
OLIVE OIL
Turkey
is one of the largest olive oil producer countries
in the world. During the tour itinerary, we will see
many olive trees along the Aegean Sea shores in
Western Turkey. We will visit an olive oil factory,
pick olives from trees and watch the whole process
of obtaining the olive oil out of the colleceted
olives. Olive oil is being kept in bottles for two
months before usage, but we will be able to taste
our olive’s oil with a piece of fresh bread on
site.
PIDE
(Turkish Pizza)
We will watch the whole process of making “Pide”,
the Turkish pizza and taste it on site. There are
several fillings for every taste; ground meat,
spinach, cheese, mushrooms and eggs.
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