Turkish Food

It’s no surprise that there are obvious similarities between Greek and Turkish food. No one in America really knows the difference between a kebab and a gyro, Greek and Turkish coffee, loukoum or loukouma. Then the Arabs were pulled into it and things got even more confusing. Babaganoush looks just like Melitzanosalata (eggplant salad), Greek don’t garnish theirs with pomegranate seeds, but tend to add walnuts. Is baklava Greek? Is souvlaki like doner kebab? Who is the donor? Trying to answer and explain these questions is like trying to untangle the intermingled histories of east and west. The only thing that really matters is using the right word for the right dish in the right country. Don’t ask for a gyro in Istanbul, and be aware that to Greek waiters, baba ganoush sound like the name of some protagonist in a children’s fairy tale. Greeks and Turks have borrowed each other’s words for centuries.

The food all tastes good. The Kebab or kebap is ubiquitous in Istanbul. It can be found on every corner and on every menu in the city. The doner, is basically that big round stack of unidentifiable meat spinning vertically in the window of the store. It’s no accident that you can see it from the street. That chunk of oozing fat and crunchy wonder is supposed to make your mouth start watering. There are a million ways to serve it, the most basic being between a sandwich roll. This is one of Turkey’s big disappointments. The sandwich version of the kebab is mostly bread with skimpy half handful or meat slipped in with a few onions and some tomato. The hot sauce redeems it some, but not much. For those of you used to a hot, greasy, stuffed gyro filled with tzatziki, chunks of meat, tomato, onion, parsley and paprika-salt, you are in for a rude awakening. The trick is to order the kofte kebab platter which is a kind of minced lamb on a skewer, and can come with rice and fresh salad on the side. There are infinite variations of doner and kofte, one of the most amazing being the Iskender kebap. This culinary wonder is a platter of doner layered with a special bread, cheese, yogurt, tomato sauce and eggplant. Order this at one of the popular meyhanes in Beyoglu, so that your first impression is positive. I don’t recommend this at cheap restaurants and ‘fast food” shops. The other key is to order lots of mezes. This is a word that can be used interchangeable in Greece and Turkey without fear. Meze(s) are the little appetizers that precede the main dish. As in Greece, ordering four or five mezes for two people almost certainly eliminated the need for a main dish. Some Greek restaurateurs frown on this practice because they have been jaded by easy tourism, but the Turks, who are far more service minded than the Greeks, are happy to bring you a few mezes.

In general, Turkish cuisine is spicier than Greek, with more complex flavors. You will notice similar dishes--- the little meatballs, salty lemon-cured fish, lots of eggplant and cooked green, stuffed vine leaves and so on. But within these dishes is more pepper, paprika, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and parsley. It’s wonderful food, but like any traditional food, can get a little repetitive especially if you are coming from Greece. One my favorite restaurants in Istanbul is off the beaten track (that’s why it’s so good) on the far outskirts of SultanAhmet (still walking distance from the Hippodrome) very near the Aya Sofa Hotel. It’s called Tarihi Cesmeon Kadirga liman street. Their house specialty is the Cesme Kebap. The owner and waiters are extremely helpful and friendly and you get to eat outside under hanging arbors, but in a simple neighborhood with kids riding their bikes down the street and vendors pushing their laden carts home after dark. Other places to eat are in the Cisek Pasaj which is touristy, but still worth the experience. I’d tentatively suggest Manolya Restaurant in the flower passage, but mostly because that is the one I happened to choose. The food is good, but nothing spectacular. For a wilder experience in the same area, I’d recommend eating along the Balik Pasaj which is a fish market street in Beyoglu right off the Istiklal Caddesi and connects with the flower passage. This little street is total madness, but it’s wonderful to sit among the passing crowds and eat fried mussels, clams and small fish on a wooden stick, sprinkled with lemon juice and salt. This is a fried food lover’s heaven. Pick one that is busy--- high turnover in a fish place is always a good sign. As I’ve mentioned. The best places to eat are in Beyoglu near the Nevizade Sokak, and in Kumkapi. Kebab stands are to be found all over the city, although some of the better ones are near the university and the Suleiman Mosque. My one and only unassailable golden rule for restaurants is: If it’s filled with tables of nervous looking tourist and their kids, forget it. The perfect formula is : 95% locals with large tables of mid-30’s types and a 5% scattering of traveler-style tourists. This is usually fail proof. Any other combination and you are asking for trouble.

Tea is everywhere and everything in Istanbul. You will be offered chai, as it’s called, after every meal, sometimes before, and in between. This ritual is perhaps the most central act or Turkishness. Offering chai to a traveler and accepting chai as a traveler is a sacred tenet of hospitality and friendship. My best experiences in Turkey occurred over one of those tiny sweet glassed of potent black tea. It’s incredibly digestive, and with sugar, almost like having a desert after your meal. Tying to estimate how many of these little cups the average Turk downs every day is an impossible task. Be forewarned, it’s addictive.

A final word for vegetarians. While most kebab shops will stare at you as though your head is cut off when you ask for a non-meat sandwich, there are good alternatives in sit down restaurants. Trying to convey your request if you don’t speak Turkish is another story, but most of the mezes are vegetarian and there is always the mixed salad and plenty of bread. Yemek Var-mu or some variation thereof, means “ food without meat”. You can try to say that if all else fails.

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