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    Essential Turkish Cuisine
    Essential Turkish Cuisine
    Essential Turkish Cuisine
    Ebook643 pages5 hours

    Essential Turkish Cuisine

    By Engin Akin and Anya Bremzen

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    This “long overdue tribute to the richly sensuous food of Turkey” is “handsome, intriguing, and beautifully illustrated” (Mimi Sheraton, former New York Times food critic).
     
    Engin Akin shares her culinary mastery and describes the evolution of Turkey’s diverse culture of food in Essential Turkish Cuisine. Complete with two hundred recipes found across the country, including traditional dolmas, kebabs, halva, and more, this definitive book offers rare insight into the myriad influences on modern Turkish cooking.
     
    Featuring a wide range of large and small plates—from Stuffed Peppers and Eggplant to Lamb with Quince, Fresh Sour Cherry Hosaf to Crêpes with Tahini and Pekmez—Akin includes expert instruction for each dish. Through these recipes and the gorgeous photographs of Turkey—its bustling markets, its food, and its traditions—Akin shares the country’s rich heritage and brings the spirit of Turkey into your kitchen.
     
    “Here is a lifetime of culinary wisdom shared with English-speaking cooks looking for a key to unlock one of the world’s most seductive cuisines.” —Maricel E. Presilla, culinary historian
     
    “A reference. A treasure. A culinary tour de force.” —Steven Raichlen, author of the Barbecue Bible cookbook series
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStewart, Tabori Chang
    Release dateOct 6, 2015
    ISBN9781613128718
    Essential Turkish Cuisine

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    3.5/5

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    • 3/5
      I learned many things about how to use the ingredients of Turkish cuisine in my home kitchen in Istanbul.

    Book preview

    Essential Turkish Cuisine - Engin Akin

    • PART ONE •

    SMALL PLATES (MEZE)

    Melon and White Cheese

    Turkish Caviar

    Spicy Peanut Spread (Acikax with Peanuts and Tahini)

    Hot Paprika and Walnut Spread (Muhammara/Acika)

    Fava Bean Puree

    Chickpea Balls with Tahini (Topik)

    Roe Spread (Tarama)

    Fried Mussels

    Sardine Balls

    Red Lentil Balls with Cornichons

    Fried Calamari Rings with Pistachio Sauce

    Sardine Birds

    Crispy Zucchini Slices

    Fried Zucchini Blossoms

    Zucchini Pancakes (Mücver)

    Crispy Eggplant with Tulum Cheese and Pekmez

    Albian-Style Fried Liver

    Blanched Chicory with Oil and Lemon

    Circassian Chicken, the Easy Way

    Fried Balls of Greens and Figs

    Smoked Mackerel

    Roasted Baby Bonito

    Cornmeal Pancakes with Anchovies

    Salmon Tartar Made in the Style of Uncooked Kofta (Çiğ Somon Köftesi)

    Black-Eyed Peas with Samphire

    Wild Radishes

    Yufka Squares with Botargo

    Avocado with Botargo

    Egg and Botarga Rolls

    CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT: OLIVE SALAD (THIS PAGE), GREEN ONIONS AND RADISHES (SEE THIS PAGE), MELON AND WHITE CHEESE (THIS PAGE), CRISPY EGGPLANT WITH TULUM CHEESE AND PEKMEZ (THIS PAGE), FRIED BALLS OF GREENS AND FIGS (THIS PAGE) WITH ROASTED RED PEPPERS (SEE THIS PAGE), WARM GRILLED TOMATO SALAD (MÜNCÜR, THIS PAGE), FRIED GREEN PEPPERS WITH GARLIC YOGURT (SEE THIS PAGE), BLANCHED ALMONDS (SEE THIS PAGE).

    The meze table brings together a tempting array of little dishes to be enjoyed communally. These small plates can include everything from stuffed grape leaves or vegetables to shish kebabs and fried calamari, typically paired with pickles, yogurt sauce, dips, and little salads. A table spread with small plates is not only appetizing, but also extends the time spent around the table with family and friends. Accompanied by drinks, usually glasses of raki, the gathering becomes festive and joyful, and what is more, meze creates an atmosphere where people can talk more freely and communicate more intimately. That is why the tables at the meyhanes , or taverns where meze were served, were called çilingir sofrası — çilingir meaning the locksmith table, which implies that the table will unwind tongues, and people will talk more freely and casually. In truth, Turks value this type of conversation more than what is served, but certainly a tasty tidbit and a drink helps people relax.

    The ritual of spreading the table with many different meze is more recent. In the old Ottoman days, tavern habits were more like the happy hour of the West today, where customers might enjoy a drink along with a handful of peanuts. However, after the Turkish republic was established, and men and women began socializing together as a way of life, the offerings on the meze tables became more elaborate at restaurants and homes alike. Eventually labor-intensive dishes like sigara börek (cigar-shaped fried pastries) and Zucchini Pancakes (Mücver, this page) would appear regularly—along with just about any type of meze the chef or hostess was capable of making. Even homey Turkish recipes, especially vegetable dishes like leeks, celery roots, and artichokes in olive oil, were added to the table around the mid-twentieth century.

    One way or another, the variety keeps growing, as restaurants with an atmosphere conducive to drinking must continue to add new items to their meze platters.

    It is interesting to note that meze and tapas, both of which are rooted in Arabic or Persian traditions, are becoming a popular way of eating, not only in their countries of origin but around the world. Perhaps everyone is yearning for a space in which they can truly relax and enjoy good company, with a drink and a few tasty tidbits to help set the stage.

    All of the small dishes and even the fried pastry dishes in this book would be welcome additions on a meze table. You can serve just one or two meze while you enjoy a drink and conversation with a friend. Or, for a larger group, you can present a mix of hot and cold dishes, meat- and vegetable-based dishes, little salads and condiments—so many tasty tidbits that you will not even have to serve a main dish.

    A

    Melon and White

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