Simit or gevrek, is a circular bread, more or less like a bagel
typically encrusted with sesame seeds, poppy or sunflower, found across
the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East. Simit’s
size, crunch, chewiness, and other traits vary slightly by the varying
regions.
Simit comes from the Arabic word Samid, meaning white bread or Fine flour and semolina.
In İzmir, simit is referred to as gevrek, although it is very similar
to the Istanbul kinds. Simits from the capital of Turkey, Ankara are
smaller, crisper than those from other cities. Turkish simits are made
with molasses.
Simit is generally served plain, or for breakfast with tea, fruit
preserves, or cheese or ayran. Drinking tea with simit is traditional.
Simits are often sold by street vendors, who either have a simit
trolley or carry the simit in a tray on their head. Street merchants
generally advertise simit as fresh (“Taze simit!”/“Taze gevrek!”) since
they are baked throughout the day; otherwise hot (“Sıcak, sıcak!”) and
extremely hot (“El yakıyor!” means “It can burn your hand!”) when they
are not long out of the oven.
Simit is an important symbol for lower and middle-class people of Turkey. Sometimes it is called “susam kebabı” ‘sesame kebab’.
A type of bread very similar to simit is known as obwarzanek in
Poland and bublik in Russia and Ukraine. The main difference is that the
rings of dough are poached briefly in boiling water prior to baking
(similarly to bagels), instead of being dipped in water and molasses
syrup, as is the case with simit.
Simit has a long history in Istanbul indicating Archival sources
showing that the simit has been produced in Istanbul since 1525. Based
on Üsküdar court records (Şer’iyye Sicili) dated 1593, the weight and
price of a simit was standardized for the first time. The 17th-century
traveler Evliya Çelebi wrote that there were 70 simit bakeries in
Istanbul during the 1630s. Jean Brindesi’s early 19th-century
oil-paintings about Istanbul daily life show simit sellers on the
streets. Warwick Goble, too, made an illustration of these simit sellers
of Istanbul in 1906. Simit and its variants became popular across the
Ottoman Empire.
For those who travel in culinary pursuits, the Turkish Cuisine
is a very curious one. 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 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 a dinner in a
Bey’s mansion, familiar patterns of this rich and diverse Cuisine are
always present. It is a rare art which satisfies your senses while
reconfirming the higher order of society, community and culture.
A practical-minded child watching Mother cook “cabbage dolma” on a
lazy, gray winter day is bound to wonder: who on earth discovered this
peculiar combination of sautéed rice, pine-nuts, currants, spices, herbs
and all tightly wrapped in translucent leaves of cabbage all 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 possibly also be good for
one?
The modern mind, in a moment of contemplation, has similar thoughts
upon entering a modest sweets shop in Turkey 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,
nightingale’s nest… The same experience awaits you at a “muhallebi”
(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. Similar to other grand Cuisines of the world, it is 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. And
the legacy of an Imperial Kitchen is inescapable. Hundreds of cooks
specializing in different types of dishes, 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, trade, and
total control of the Spice Road, reflected the culmination of wealth and
the flourishing of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire. And the
influence of the longevity of social organization should not be taken
lightly either. The Turkish State of Anatolia is a millennium old and
so, naturally, is the Cuisine. Time is of the essence; as Ibn’i Haldun
wrote, “the religion of the King, in time, becomes that of the People”,
which also holds for the King’s food. Thus, the reign of the Ottoman
Dynasty during 600 years, and a seamless cultural transition into the
present day of modern Turkey, led to the evolution of a grand Cuisine
through differentiation, refinement and perfection of dishes, as well as
their sequence and combination of the meals.
It is quite rare that all the three conditions above are met, as they
are in the French, the Chinese and the Turkish Cuisine. The Turkish
Cuisine has the extra privilege of being at the cross-roads of the
Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history
of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia (where they
mingled with the Chinese) to Europe (where they exerted influence all
the way to Vienna).
All these unique characteristics and history have bestowed upon the
Turkish Cuisine a rich and varied number of dishes, which can be
prepared and combined with other dishes in meals of almost infinite
variety, but always in a non-arbitrary way. This led to a Cuisine that
is open to improvisation through development of regional styles, while
retaining its deep structure, as all great works of art do. The Cuisine
is also an integral aspect of culture. It is a part of the rituals of
everyday life events. It reflects spirituality, in forms that are
specific to it, through symbolism and practice.
Anyone who visits Turkey or has had a meal in a Turkish home,
regardless of the success of the particular cook, is sure to notice how
unique the Cuisine is. Our intention here is to help the uninitiated to
enjoy Turkish food Dubai by achieving a higher level of understanding of the
repertoire of dishes, related cultural practices and their spiritual
meaning.
A survey of types dishes according to their ingredients, may be
helpful to explain the basic structure of the Turkish Cuisine.
Otherwise it may appear to have an overwhelming variety of dishes, each
with a unique combination of ingredients, way of preparation and
presentation. All dishes can be conveniently categorized into:
grain-based, grilled meats, vegetables, fish and sea-food, desserts and
beverages.
Before describing each of these categories, some general comments are
necessary. The foundation of the Cuisine is based on grains (rice and
wheat) and vegetables. Each category of dishes contains only one or two
types of main ingredients. Turks are purists in their culinary taste;
the dishes are supposed to bring out the flavour of the main ingredient
rather than hiding it behind sauces or spices. Thus, the eggplant should
taste like eggplant, lamb like lamb, pumpkin like pumpkin. Contrary to
the prevalent Western impression of Turkish food , spices and herbs are
used with zucchini, parsley with eggplant, a few cloves of garlic has
its place in some cold vegetable dishes, cumin is sprinkled over red
lentil soup or mixed in ground meat when making “köfte”. Lemon and
yogurt are used to complement both meat and vegetable dishes, to balance
the taste of olive oil or meat. Most desserts and fruit dishes do not
call for any spices. So their flavours are refined and subtle.
There are major classes of meatless dishes. When meat is used, it is
used sparingly. Even with the meat kebabs, the “pide” or the flat bread
occupies the largest part of the portion along with vegetables or
yogurt. The Turkish Cuisine also boasts a variety of authentic
contributions in the desserts and beverage categories.
For the Turks, the setting is as important as the food itself.
Therefore, food-related places need to be surveyed, as well as the
dishes and the eating-protocol. Among the “great-good places” where you
can find the ingredients for the Cuisine, are the weekly neighbourhood
markets- “pazar”, and the permanent markets. The most famous one of the
latter type is the Spice Market in Istanbul. This is a place where every
conceivable type of food item can be found, as it has always been since
pre-Ottoman times. This is a truly exotic place, with hundreds of
scents rising from stalls located within an ancient domed building,
which was the terminal for the Spice Road. More modest markets can be
found in every city centre, with permanent stalls of fish and
vegetables.
The weekly markets are where sleepy neighbourhoods come to life, with
the villagers setting up their stalls before dawn at a designated area,
to sell their products. These days, handicrafts, textiles, glassware
and other household items are also among the displays at the most
affordable prices. What makes these places unique is the cacophony of
sights, smells, sounds and activity, as well as the high quality of
fresh food, which can only be obtained in the pazar. There is a lot of
haggling and jostling, as people make their way through the narrow isles
while the vendors compete for attention. One way to purify body and
soul would be to rent an inexpensive flat by the seaside for a month
every year, and live on fresh fruit and vegetables from the “pazar”.
However, since the more likely scenario will be restaurant-hopping, here
are some tips to learn the proper terminology so that you can navigate
through both, the Cuisine (just in case you get the urge to cook a la
Turca), and the streets of Turkish cities, where it is just as important
to locate the eating places as the museums and the archaeological
wonders.
Nutritional habits are shaped according to the prevalent
cultural – geographical – ecological – economic characteristics and
features and the historical process.
When one talks about the Turkish cuisine, the term should be
understood as the totality of foods and beverages which provide
nutrition to the people living in Turkey, the ways of preparing and
preserving them; techniques, equipment and utensils required for this,
eating manners and all the practices and beliefs which are developed
around this cuisine.
The richness of variety Turkish cuisine possesses is due to several
factors. In summary, the variety of products offered by the lands of
Asia and 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
new character of our culinary culture.
Turkish Cuisine, which in general consists of sauced dishes prepared
with cereals, various vegetables and some meat, soups, cold dishes
cooked with olive oil, pastry dishes and dishes made from wild
vegetation has also produced a series of health foods such as pekmez,
yogurt, bulgur etc. The eating habits which reflect the tastes changing
from one location to the next, gains a new meaning and near – sacredness
on special occasions, celebrations and ceremonies.
Turkish Cuisine, while rich in variety and taste-bud friendly, also
contains examples which could provide a source for healthy and balanced
diets and vegetarian cuisines.For best food Dubai visit our website at http://zurna.ae/en
The Turkish word for breakfast, kahvaltı, means “before
coffee,” deriving itself from kahve meaning ‘coffee’ and altı meaning
‘under’.
A typical Turkish breakfast in Dubai consists of bread, cheese like beyaz
peynir or kaşar, butter, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey,
and kaymak.
Turkish spicy sausages called Sucuk, pastırma, börek, simit, poğaça
and soups are consumed more often as a part of the morning meal.
Menemen is a well known turkish breakfast specialty often cooked with eggs, tomatoes, peppers, onions and olive oil.
A variety of soups or more commonly referred to as çorba make a part
of turkish breakfasts. These souls are usually chicken broth, lentil
soup and a national favorite tarhana soup. Tarhana is a Turkish cereal
food that is made up of flour, yoghurt and vegetables fermented and
dried. The Turkish consume dried Tarhana by mixing it with water or
stock, hence making it a soup. Tripe soup, trotter soup, sheep’s head
soup are also traditionally very common all over the Turkey for
breakfast.
Despite kahvaltı meaning “before coffee” as the indigenous term; long
since the First World War, the Ottoman Empire lost its coffee producing
territories having tea displacing coffee as the everyday hot drink in
Turkey.
