SIMIT ,TURKEY ‘S MOST POPULAR SNACK
Throughout Turkey, a small ring of bread covered with sesame seeds is sold at countless street corners and in most bakeries. Children eat it in school breaks, businessmen grab one on their way to work, people eat it in the afternoons or after a busy day on their way home in the evening. We are talking about simit, probably Turkey's most popular snack. Simit, especially with hot tea, belongs to Turkey like Hagia Sophia or Turkish coffee. When an uninformed foreigner may think of simit as nothing but bread, he or she may not yet have quite understood its importance.
Turks do not only consume a lot of simit, but recently they have also started to invent variations of the common snack in both shape and taste. Fast food chains like Simit Sarayı, which base their offers mainly on the traditional snack and its variations, nowadays sell a wide range of products including everything from simit sandwiches to simits filled with cheese, ham or olives.
Simit Sarayı started in 2001 with a single shop and has since developed into a successful enterprise with 58 franchise stores all over Turkey, 32 of them in Istanbul. Aykut Okutur, press consultant of Simit Sarayı, said that even with all the variations available, what sells best still is the traditional simple simit. “Simple simit represents 35 percent of our sales,” he explained.
The Simit Sarayı factory produces a monthly 2.5 million simits, which means an annual production of about 30 million units – without counting other simit chains operating in Turkey, as well as the still widely prevalent production of small independent bakeries, catering for traditional street salesmen. Mahmut is one of the simit street vendors. He has been selling Simit from his little red trolley for seven months on Istanbul's Istiklal street. He buys his stock every morning from a small bakery at Zeytinburnu. “And with the new fast food places that sell primarily simits, we are selling less,” he said.
According to Ottoman traveler and writer Evliya Çelebi, Mahmut's profession was a common one in Istanbul for at least the past 350 years. When Çelebi described life in Istanbul in mid-16th century, he mentioned the existence of 70 simit bakeries, employing about 300 bakers.
The shape, color and taste of simit, however changes according to where it is produced. Street salesmen in different regions of Turkey and even abroad sell very different types of it. In Turkey's southern city of İzmir, for example, simit is called gevrek, meaning crispy, and is generally a little smaller and, as the name indicates, more crunchy than the Istanbul one.
But regardless of where it comes from, Turks love their simit in every situation; even a simit diet can be found on the Internet. In Greece, the equivalent of simit is called koulouri.Greek native Karolina Tagaris says her regular breakfast in Greece was a koulouri and chocolate milk on her way to work. There was no need to change that habit after she moved to Istanbul, she said. “While in Greece simit is sold mainly in the mornings you can get it at every time of the day in Turkey.” When asked whether she prefers the Turkish or the Greek version, Tagaris said smiling: “I know I should stay loyal to my roots. But honestly, I do not see much of a difference between the two.”
ENJOY RAMADAN DINNER AT A HISTORIC MANSION
One of the most magnificent structures along the Bosporus, the Sait Halim Paşa Mansion, has opened its doors for iftar, the evening meal to break the fast, this Ramadan after undergoing renovations initiated by the Göçtur Tourism Investment and Trade Company who signed a 49-year lease for the mansion. Now the mansion has a new face. Brand advisor Yelda İpekli, who helped Göçtur with the mansion's face-lift, said: “Everything has been designed to represent a certain life-style.” It is evident that each detail, including a book on the history of the mansion, has been prepared under the examining eye of an expert.
Sait Halim Paşa Mansion is estimated to have been built in the 18th century and owned originally by the Düzoğulları family. By 1876, the deteriorating mansion was purchased and fully restored by Prince Abdülhalim Paşa who, in 1894, passed ownership to the son after which the mansion is named, Sait Halim Paşa. Architect Felix Auguste Clement drastically changed the mansion's interior in the late 1910s.
Egyptian and French designs are dominant on the walls of the mansion, which has private theme-designated rooms such as a Hunting Room, a Selamlık Room (a room in Muslim households reserved only for men), the Golden Room in which the walls are overlaid with gold, and the Venice Room for which furniture was brought from Venice.
The most significant room is the Work Room where Sait Halim Pasha and the German Ambassador Baron Wangenheim signed the Treaty of Alliance, bringing Turkey into World War I in 1914. The mansion, an exquisite reflection of Istanbul's history, is currently available to be rented for major events like weddings, meetings and concerts. While a stay in one of its lavish rooms is unforgettable, another way to experience the mansion's atmosphere is to have iftar dinner during this month of Ramadan.
IFTRA MENU PREPARED BY DILARA KOÇAK
The mansion's kitchen is working with dietitian Dilara Koçak to serve meals that were served in the mansion during Ottoman times with an updated twist, such as the replacement of heavy creams in soups with vegetable or leguminous seeds. The menu is balanced with salads, meat and pastries, and the desserts are made without animal fat.
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LIFE SHOULD BE ENJOYED
Koçak sa'd that they pay attention to the balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat. “People should enjoy this special month. They should taste everything. Life should be enjoyed. They should eat Bayram desserts but not too much [of them],” she added. Sait Halim Pasha Mansion's iftar gives the options of a la carte or a set menu for , respectively.
SWEET INSPIRATION : BAKLAVACI GULLUOGLU
The Güllü brothers set out from Antep in 1871 on a quest for the perfect sweet. They found their inspiration in Syria, where a flaky, honeyed pastry tempt their taste buds. Adding their own twists and a new shape to the treat back in their shop in Antep, they presented what is now a staple of life in Turkey: Baklava. Six generations later, the Güllü family still leads in baklava production, with many Istanbulites agreeing on Baklavacı Güllüoğlu as the best in town. Güllüoğlu remains a family-owned business, although divergent business views led the brothers to part ways in 1986. While they now operate separate factories, all three still follow the original Antep recipe.
The Turkish Daily News interviewed Mr. Nejat Güllü, the man behind most Güllüoğlu baklava consumed today. He split from his two brothers to pursue his personal vision of the company. “They said (that) if we are one shop, it would be enough for us. But I said, I will open new shops all over the world,” he explained. Nejat Güllü has proven true to his word. Beginning with one shop in Kadiköy, the eldest Güllü brother will soon be owner of fifteen shops, satisfying sweet tooths internationally.
THE GULLUOGLU SECRET
Atınç Çelen, export manager of Baklavacı Güllüoğlu, sits in his office in the large factory in Kağıthane with a plate of fresh, glistening baklava before him. This impressive factory is responsible for producing four to five tons of the dessert every day. But while Çelen described the awesome scope and scale of their modern-day operations, he emphasized that, in the most essential ways, Güllüoğlu is and will remain just like its original shop in southeastern Turkey.
Çelen explained that they still bring their key raw materials like pistachios, corn-starch, and flour all the way from Antep. Their choices are expensive – the pure, fresh butter they bring from Urfa costs more than $15 per kilogram, while the margarine other baklava makers use might be one fifth of that price. But Çelen says it is their commitment to high quality materials that makes Güllüoğlu baklava consistently superior to other brands.
Equally important are the people wielding these fine ingredients into the delicacy Turks enjoy so much. Each piece of Güllüoğlu baklava contains about 35 layers of dough, and achieving the mastery to prepare the dessert takes years of training. “We train all the workers from their childhood – from 13 or 14 years old, they start to work here,” Güllü said. “When they get too old, you cannot teach them.”
Güllü himself worked in baklava production for 20 years before becoming head of the company, and he still sometimes lends a hand during religious holidays when production triples or quadruples. His 29-year-old son is currently baking the baklava as well, a process they wait until midnight to begin so that the product will be as fresh as possible in stores the next day.
BEYOND BAKLAVA
Summer is a slow season for baklava, as the hot weather drives some 25 percent of customers away from the desert. This lull has only encouraged Güllüoğlu to expand beyond their signature sweet. After moving to Kağıthane, Güllüoğlu Baklavacı began making lokum, or Turkish Delight. Is Güllü mistaken in trying to move beyond the family's specialty? The customers certainly don't seem to think so – the two tons of lokum produced daily in the factory are consumed with gusto.
Çelen admits that initially, it was hard to break into the lokum business. But Güllü took what he knew from baklava production and went straight to the top. Touring the TDN around the factory, Çelen introduced their master lokum chef, a man with 35 years of experience working in lokum creation all over the world who was brought to Güllüoğlu when they began to make Turkish Delight. After watching him craft the jelly squares, the TDN took a bite of the freshly chopped fistik lokum. There is no doubt that Güllüoğlu will remain successful in this Turkish dessert as well. The company has also branched out to make ice cream, halva, Turkish nougat, and cakes, among other new desserts.
Experimenting with sweets is not something Güllüoğlu takes lightly – unless, of course, they are developing low-calorie alternatives. Three years ago Güllüoğlu introduced cholestoral-free “less sugar baklava,” a name shying away from the word “diet.” It has been very successful, and specialists in the Kağıthane experimental lab continue to pursue similar products with the introduction of low-sugar lokum this year. When the TDN visited, they had just brought bags of Splenda from abroad and plan to experiment next with this alternative sweetener popular in the United States.
A TASTE OF HOME “SWEET” HOME
Nejat Güllü has not only widened his vision in the kitchen – he has brought his baklava abroad. Three years ago Güllüoğlu opened a branch in Brooklyn, and it has seen great success. Istanbul native Erkut Küçükboyacı, now living in New York, recently visited the store with four Turkish friends. After a leisurely two-and-half-hour Turkish breakfast, topped off with delicious baklava, he was converted.
Küçükboyacı reported that the Güllüoğlu baklava in the Brooklyn branch is equally as delectable as it is in Turkey. Güllü has gone to great lengths to make sure that is the case – all of the baklava is frozen at just the right temperature in the Kağıthane factory before being shipped abroad, where it is baked fresh by master chefs trained and sent directly from Güllüoğlu in Turkey.
The company has been raising its international profile by attending international food fairs and franchising in other ways as well: they provide baklava to certain restaurants and have even produced sweets to be sold under private labels abroad. “Presently, there are exports to a number of countries, such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Canada, Australia, Greece, and Argentina,” Çelen said. “In the near future, we will be tasting the products of Baklavacı Güllüoğlu at various new points around the world.” Güllüoğlu plans to open four branches in 2008, in Manhattan, southern California, London, and Jedda.
Çelen explained that their franchising plans will not stop at traditional stores: “You will find our baklava in restaurants, in hotels, in exhibition centers, in big supermarkets. We can distribute all over the United States when we open shops, because we can serve fresh baklava everyday by this franchise system.” Can they really maintain the same quality with such vast expansion? Küçükboyacı expressed concern.
“Baklava is a very delicate thing – you can't keep it on the shelf too long, it can get mushy. People who sell it should know a little about the dessert,” he said. He believes big grocery stores may not be the best place for Güllüoğlu, but that it could be very successful in “more high-end places.” In Manhattan, he explained, “if you become a big brand on one little thing, people will commute a great distance and have a bite of it. There might be an opportunity to become a brand name in baklava.”
SELLING TURKEY ABROAD
This accomplishment would be more than just a good business move for Güllüoğlu, Kucukboyaci added. “All of our American friends have their first baklava from a Greek restaurant and think that's the real stuff. And with the whole Greek-Turkish competition in that area, I want them to taste Turkish baklava and then decide.” If Güllüoğlu is what they taste, Güllü will be sweetening Turkey's reputation around the world for generations to come.
LONG-SHUNNED TURKISH WINE FINDS PLACE ON GOURMET TABLES
Long shunned due to a religious ban on alcohol and scorned for its reputed poor quality, domestic wine has now found a place on Turkish tables thanks to the efforts of passionate local connoisseurs. The tiny town of Murefte, located about 230 kilometers (143 miles) west of Istanbul not far from the Greek border, is in a sense the capital of Turkish wine-making. With only 3,500 residents, the town has 30 wineries.
During harvest time in late September, tractors loaded with grapes fill the town's roads as women clad in shalwar the baggy pants of colorful cloth worn by peasant women wielding curved pruning knives walk the tiny vineyards on the flanks of Mount Tekir. One's nose gets a whiff of alcohol from time to time. Viticulture has been practiced here since ancient times, since the Byzantine Empire, according to local historians.
Despite Islam's ban for the faithful to consume wine, Ottoman rulers allowed wine-making, thanks to the presence of a Greek community in the region until the population exchange between Greece and modern-day Turkey in 1923. "We do not have a wine culture," said Tezcan Gurkan, a wine expert who worked at the state-run alcohol monopoly of TEKEL for 18 years before setting up his own winery, Ganos, in 1980.
"Our cuisine -- tomatoes, cheese, melon -- goes with raki (a traditional alcoholic beverage made of aniseed), not with wine," he said. Turkey is the fourth biggest grape producer in the world with 570,000 hectares (1.4 million acres), but according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine, it is ranked only 39th among wine-producing countries with 250,000 hectoliters (5.5 million gallons) in 2004. It is the third biggest producer of table grapes and the world leader in the production of raisins
"We have to modify the eating habits of Turks for wine to find its place on tables," Gurkan said. With a small market and traditional practices employed in production, Turkish wine for a long time remained a poor quality beverage that repulsed delicate palates. But the last two decades saw the emergence of a new wine industry that, according to Gurkan, has already seen some success.
"Now the kings of grape varieties are all produced in Turkey and we also have Turkish wines that can stand up to comparison on the world market," said Gurkan, whose high-quality production -- limited to 400 hectoliters a year -- is sold via the Internet to only a select few. There are five Turkish grape varieties that are most appreciated.
"Among the red, we have the spicy Bogazkere and Okuzgozu from the east of the country, and the elegant and fruity Kalecik Karasi of central Anatolia," said Mehmet Yalcin, the director of the gastronomy magazine Gusto.
"Then we have the crisp and acidic whites, Emir of Cappadocia, and Narince from the Black Sea, which has more body," he added.;
Turkish wines, now sold under hundreds of brands, have also found themselves a market.
"People have started getting more interested in wine. Nowadays, they buy according to the grape variety and the year. They want to try different tastes," said Esat Ayhan, the owner of La Cave, the biggest wine retail shop in Istanbul.
Ayhan said his clients are generally from the higher strata of society or intellectual classes: senior executives, artists, foreign diplomats and university students.
However, he added, heavy taxes on wine prevent it from reaching a larger section of society.
"There is a special tax on wine, which is added on to value added tax. The result is that you have to spend 15 Turkish lira (about nine euros or $12) to drink wine in Turkey where as in Europe, table wine costs between one to three euros. This discourages clients," Ayhan said.
NISANTASI CAFE/BISTRO SPECIALIZING “ALA TURKA”OLIVE OIL VEGETABLE DISHES
The small café and restaurant called Zeytin Ağacı Café would have been difficult to discover had it not been a recommendation from a close friend. Tucked away behind the bubbly streets of Nişantaşı, close to the American Hospital, the café is a warm and cozy eating place preparing daily homemade meals using natural ingredients and staying close to nature. The most pleasant feature of the café is the lovely easy atmosphere, sincerely attentive staff and delightful desserts! Zeytin Ağacı Café is located in the Polat Pasaji on Nişantaşı's busy Vali Konaga Sokak and up the stairs on the first floor. Upon entering the petite dining hall, bottles of olive oil and herbal teas are on display for sale. A sample of the dessert of the day also sits on the area of entrance.
The café is bight with high a ceiling overlooking a pleasant street of Nişantaşı and plays gentle Jazz and Latin music Zeytin Ağacı means olive tree in Turkish and consequently the restaurant uses fine olive oil in many of the dishes prepared. Although it is not a vegetarian restaurant and serves chicken or chicken broth soup, Zeytin Ağacı specializes in vegetarian cooking and especially “ala turka” vegetables cooked with olive oil like spinach. Red meat is not a part of the menu.
The daily selections are written on a blackboard on the wall as well as on an actual menu. Although the list of options is in Turkish, the staff is more than happy with the translation to English and will even bring out a selection of plates to show customers. The menu changes daily, however, the salads and desserts are typically standard. Soups are mostly thin broth. Salad selections are the Village Salad which is greens with a hard boiled egg, the Spring Salad with light tuna and the Roket Salad with cheese.
Depending on the seasonally available vegetables, the restaurant offers hot and cold Turkish vegetable dishes usually served with yoghurt. On a particular day the warm mixed vegetables with mustard sauce was a nice selection as was the cooked spinach with olive oil and yoghurt. On another day warm lentil sprinkled with home made noodles and grilled whole eggplant with cheese and spices was acutely delicious. Four to five different vegetable dish selections change on a daily basis. On any given day one chicken dish is available. Deserts are fabulous and particularly worth saving room for.
That particular day the special cooked pear with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream was mouth watering. So good that other deserts were ordered: The mosaic cake (originally an Italian dessert known as Salame di Cioccolata) is a hard chocolate cake served cold with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The irmik (which means semolina) pudding is not like the usual irmik dessert served traditionally after a funeral but a firm spongy dessert with pieces of orange peel inside and serves with chocolate sauce (as seen on picture). The irmik dessert and mosaic cake are standard, available every day. Herbal teas like natural green tea, hibiscus and sage are brewed fresh upon request and brought to the table in a charming metal blue tea pot. Ideal during lunch hours, Zeytin Ağacı also has a breakfast menu on mornings and weekends. It is open from 10:00 to 19:00.
TURKISH WINES PROMOTED IN LONDON
Nine Turkish wine producer firms promoted their wines in British capital of London on Tuesday.
Wine experts, authors of food books, and chefs of famous restaurants participated in the event organized by Turkish Culture & Tourism Ministry and Taste of Anatolia magazine, and sponsored by Sofra restaurant chain.
Producers of Turkish wines briefed the participants on their wines, and asked the guests to make a written comment on each wine after tasting them. Buyulubag, Corvus, Doluca, Gestin, Kavaklidere, Melen, Mey, Pamukkale and Sevilen were the firms that promoted their wines at the event.
MERMAID OF THE BOSPORUS SETTLES IN ARNAVUTKOY
A resident of Arnavutköy for the past five years, one of Istanbul's loveliest neighborhoods to live in, I have seen my share of fish restaurants opening and closing in this area. But never has there been a unique case like Eftalya Restaurant. When the elegant yet conservative fish restaurant initially opened its doors on Arnavutköy's busiest street back in 2004, I have to admit I was annoyed by all the Range Rovers and valet parkers in the narrow streets in addition to the paparazzi standing at its entrance. Then when one evening my best friend announced that she had made reservations at Eftalya, I had mixed feelings. Even if I was curious to try this constantly occupied institution, I had my doubts if it was one of the fish restaurants whose success bubble was soon to burst. Yet all doubts and suspicions changed the instant I sank my teeth into the superb marinated sea bass followed by the best fish köfte (meatballs) I have had in Istanbul. What Paper Moon in Etiler does to pasta, Eftalya is doing to seafood dishes…
Eftalya is located on a charming three-storey corner building in the center of Arnavutköy. The first floor is the most occupied with a view of the Bosporus Bridge and Navel Academy and parallel to the main road; the second floor is for VIPs and private parties/ celebration. And the top floor (with a limited view due to undersized windows) is more cozy, undisturbed and intimate. According to Greek mythology, Eftalya was an enchanted mermaid. Thus upon entrance to the restaurant, a mermaid statue surrounded by running water and fruit greets clients. The interior resembles a typical old-school Istanbul fish restaurant with a twist of a mermaid .
OLIVES AND PICLES ON THE TABLE
Upon sitting down, the waiters initially bring juicy Aegean olives and distinctive Turkish pickles to the table. Eftalya's alert waiters ask if you would like to have fish as a main course in order to decide on the right amount of mezes and appetizers to introduce at the beginning of the meal. Although fish is cooked exceptionally well at Eftalya, starters and mezes are the ingredients that give it a reputation as being one of the finest seafood culinary institutions on the Bosporus.
The marinated sea bass is outstanding. With the right amount of light mustard and soy sauce, the bass soaks up the sauce overnight and the dish is served cold as an appetizer. The eggplant salad is consistently creamy and moist. Then a unique tomato salad is brought to the table made from ripe tomatoes and onions in an oily, lemony sauce sprinkled with red pepper. For a warm fish appetizer, the grilled fish balls or fish köfte is served with creamy chunky potato puree and is a must try!
As another warm appetizer, Eftalya Special, is Sea bass in chard (Swiss chard) with hot, creamy sauce. The cold version is also available with the sea bass wrapped in chard and is much preferred by regulars. Fried squid is lightly fried, moist and crispy. As anchovies are in season, a great dish to try is the special anchovies dish lightly fried in corn flour. This dish is presented like a large fan of anchovies (as seen in picture) and well arranged at Eftalya.
If you are saving up room for fish as a main course, the sea bass is grilled to perfection. According to the season, turbot (although pricey) and bonito are recommended. For dessert, one has to try the baklava! It is brought daily by bus from Gaziantep's İmam Çağdas (which is said to make Turkey's finest baklava). Even if the diner is full, this baklava cannot be turned down: The dough is light, crispy and flaky while the pistachios are chucky and extremely flavorsome… the quince dessert, which is a cooked fruit dessert, is served with heavy cream and is rather pleasing.
Celebrity spotting at Eftalya is usual, although not something the institution likes to promote. Personally I have seen model Güzide Duran in the bathroom, actress Tuba Ünsal enjoying dinner with friends, actress Nurgül Yeşilçay and singer Ajda Pekkan eating seafood – not to mention respectable businessman, journalists and lots of foreigners. The secret to their success according to the managers is keeping quality high (both in the kitchen and with the personnel) and consistent all the time.
Depending on your selection of drinks and fish as a main course, prices range from YTL 70-100 per person. Eftalya also has a branch on the Asian side in Beylerbeyi where two of the five partners are located… Reservations are recommended especially for large groups, window seating and on weekends. Valet parking is also available and is good for the narrow streets of Arnavutköy.
ALERT ADMINISTRATION AND PERSONENLE :
Most of the five partners of Eftalya Restaurant have been brought up and have had years of experience in Istanbul's finest fish restaurants like İskele in Rumeli Hisari, Mavi Yesil in Kurucesme and Fishmekan in Arnavutköy. They came together in May 2004 to open their own institution, which became an instant hit. Thanks to their good standing, their own group of clients came to try the restaurant and kept coming back for more. One of the secrets to their success according to Vedat Bedir, one of the partners, is that they treat customers like friends and family.
Since the partners had respectable and accomplished experiences in other eateries they transferred their business knowledge as well as understanding of cooking over to Eftalya. They teach the staff to listen to customers – do they want more meze, or save room for the main fish course or do they prefer to go all out – and guide guests accordingly. The partners do a great job as the service is as outstanding as the fares…
THE PLEASURE OF GOODIES IN THE WC
During a bathroom break at Eftalya, one can find a basket full of goodies in the restrooms. Although paying approximately , it feels great to help oneself to the Turkey's most prestigious kolonya (Turkish lemon cologne) Rebul and toothbrushes – in packages (toothpaste and brush brand are NOT sponsors of Eftalya!). Unlike in the U.S. or other countries where usually someone is positioned at the bathroom and at least a tip is necessary, here one can help themselves to hair gel and all sort of free goodies while “powdering the nose.”
CHEFS ‘COUNCIL TO WRITE CONSTITUTION ON TURK FOOD
Chefs are the people behind the delicious and interesting food served in restaurants. Dealing with all details of food such as its ingredients and how to serve it, chefs have now united to make Turkish cuisine a brand. The Chefs' Council consisting of chefs from 14 popular hotels and restaurants such as Mövenpick, Zarifi, Reina, Konyalı, Çırağan, Ağaoğlu My City, Limak Limra, Barcelo and Topkapı will designate the basic principles of Turkish cuisine such as cooking techniques and choice of ingredients.
The Council will write, in its words, the constitution of Turkish cuisine. The first article of the constitution is “Turkish cuisine is the world's best cuisine.” According to them, Turkish cuisine is already a world brand. All the chefs, having spent years working with cuisine from all over the world including Italian and French, say that none of those excite them in terms of flavor and aroma like Turkish cuisine.
THE AIM IS TO DESIGNATE PRINCIPLES OF COOKING
The sole aim of the Chefs' Council, which is not a registered body, is to bring together people that can ponder about Turkish cuisine in order to designate the principles of cooking profession. Designating the principles of a chef and traditional Turkish cuisine is among the work of the council. Following that, steps will be taken to determine the boundaries of the search for new tastes in traditional Turkish cuisine. Publishing announcements on cooking and kitchen culture should the occasion arise are among the duties of the council.
According to Konyalı Restaurant's chef, Aydın Demir, many methods and food that belong to Turkish cuisine are part of world cuisine. France obtained the 800-year-old tandır (wood-burning oven) tradition of Konya using another name, said Demir. “It is difficult to standardize recipes. However, it is crucial to reveal basic technical rules. The techniques of our cuisine should be designated just like the French do,” said Demir. Many methods such as food that is cooked without using ladle to stir are unknown to new experts, Demir added.
Turkish cuisine is broad-based and covers a big geographical area, therefore many techniques are employed, said Uğur Alparslan, chef at Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Tuğra Restaurant. “Foreigners know our cuisine very well. They come to Turkey to eat our food. I cannot cook Italian food as well as an Italian, however they also cannot cook our food,” said Alparslan, pointing out that Turkish experts should preserve Ottoman cuisine. The group basically supports the ascension of Turkish cuisine against fast food culture. “We have united to stop fast food,” said Alparslan. The council, aiming to initially allow children to adapt to the taste, will work to create social consciousness.
CAREER OPPORTUNITY WITH TURKISH CUISINE
Pointing out that Turkish cuisine is on the rise in the food sector, chefs say there are now many places for chefs to have a career. Turkish restaurants are replacing fast food restaurants at shopping centers, said Murat Ödül, chef at Osmani Restaurant in İstinye Park. Many brand restaurants are now opening in shopping centers, exemplified by Zarifi at İstinye Park and Konyalı at Kanyon mall.
Confirming the tendency in the sector, Mövenpick Hotel's Chef Arif Kemal Doğan said that Turkish kitchen management has become a trend. According to Demir, who is a chef of Turkish Cuisine at a shopping center, the most important development created by this situation is the career opportunities for cooks. Until the 2000s, all hotels and restaurants demanded French and Italian cuisine, said Demir, who has been a cook for 24 years. “Turkey has international restaurant chains from every country now. Turkish cuisine, which was forgotten in the 1980s and 1990s, has now become the only way to be differentiated,” Demir said.
There is demand for chefs of Turkish cuisine in the market, said Demir. “Formerly, what people understood from Turkish cuisine was what on offer at small-scale restaurants, which do not provide career opportunities. All cooks in the market were cultivated in international cuisine. However, now big brands have sprung up and are developing. Seeing that Turkish cuisine earns well thanks to this trend, cooks have started shifting to this direction,” Demir said.
Apricot Dessert
Ingredients (Serves 2):250 gr dry apricots2 cups water
Syrup:1 cup sugar1 cup water
Garnish:Very heavy cream100 gr bleached almonds1/4 cup pistachio nuts, crushed
Preparation:Soak the apricots in water overnight. Next day boil the syrup, drain the apricots and add to the syrup. Boil for 15 minutes and then let cool. To serve, spread half a teaspoon of cream and place an almond in each apricot. Garnish with pistachio nuts.
