HISTORY OF SPICE BAZAAR

It’s known to many that the Spice Bazaar was originally titled “New Bazaar”. The structure was endowed to the New Mosque’s foundation, and it was entitled as the “Egyptian Bazaar” or Mısır Çarşısı since it was built with the revenue collected from the Ottoman Eyalet in 1660. Mısır in Turkish means both “Egypt” and “Maize” and hence the occasional incorrect translation as “Corn Bazaar.” This bazaar is the center of all the spice trade in Istanbul, but in the recent years more variety of shops have sprung up, replacing the original spice ones.

The building itself is a part of the complex of the New Mosque. The revenue stream of the rented shops inside the bazaar were used for the upkeep of the mosque.

It was designed by the architect Koca Kasım Ağa, but was constructed under the supervision of Mustafa Ağa in the last few months of 1660, following the Great Fire of Istanbul that began on the 24th of July 1660 rendering destruction to many neighbourhoods in the city. The construction of the New Mosque was resumed and was completed between 1660 and 1665. The New Mosque külliye, including the Spice Bazaar, were commissioned by Sultana Turhan Hatice, the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) of Sultan Mehmed IV.

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Izmir Tower Clock | Zurna

The iconic clock tower of Izmir was depicted on the reverse of Turkish 500 Lira banknotes back in the eighties. The clock was a gift from German Kaiser Wilhelm II to Abdülhamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire… The tower however was designed by Raymond Charles Père, a Levantine French architect and constructed in 1901 to commemorate the silver jubilee anniversary of the Sultan’s accession to the throne.

The decorations are primarily Elaborate Ottoman architecture. The skeleton of the tower is lead and iron stands at 82ft and features 4 fountains or şadırvan around the base in a circle. The columns are inspired by Moorish themes.

In the former Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire, particularly in present-day Serbian, Bosnian and Montenegrin towns such as Belgrade, Prijepolje, Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Gradačac and Stara Varoš, similar Ottoman era clock towers still exist and are called Sahat Kula (derived from the Turkish words Saat Kulesi, meaning Clock Tower.

About Izmir, Victor Hugo in Les Orientales says:
‘İzmir is a princess with her most beautiful hat.’

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Turkish Restaurants in Dubai - Pastirma! Part II

Istanbul and Adana are the provinces with the largest consumption. The meat undergoes a series of processes lasting about a month. The freshly slaughtered meat rests at room temperature for 4-8 hours before being divided into joints suitable for pastirma making. These are slashed and salted on one side, stacked, and left for around 24 hours. They are then salted on the other side, stacked and left for a further 24 hours. Then the joints are rinsed in plenty of water to remove the excess salt, and dried in the open air for a period varying between three and ten days, depending on the weather. After some further processing, the meat is hung up to dry again, this time in the shade and spaced out so that the joints do not a touch one another. After 3-6 days, they are covered with a paste of ground spices known as çemen, and left to cure for 10-24 hours in hot weather, and 1-2 days in cold weather.

 Yemen is composed of crushed classical fenugreek seeds, garlic and chilli pepper mixed to a paste with a little water. Çemen paste is also sold separately as a savoury paste for spreading on bread. When buying pastirma, note that the redder the colour, the fresher the pastirma. Over time it takes on a browner tone, and becomes firmer in texture. Good quality pastirma, whether fresh or mature, is delicious, and it is only a matter of taste which you prefer. Gourmets do not approve of pastirma sliced by machine but insist on the thin slices being cut by hand with a sharp meat knife. They also reject ready cut slices of pastirma as sold packaged in some delicatessens and supermarkets. Pastirma is delicious with fresh crusty bread, grilled lightly over charcoal, fried in butter with eggs or in layered pastry börek. Bean stew with pieces of pastirma is another popular dish in Turkey. 

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Dolmas - Zurna

To ‘be stuffed’ or not ‘to be stuffed’?

Turkish verb Dolmak “means to be stuffed” that transforms to the verbal noun ‘Dolma’… basically meaning stuffed thing. Its eaten either as a Mezze or a main dish, and can be cooked as a veggie or a meat dish. The meat version is usually served hot with yogurt and spices like oregano and red peppers with oil. Dolmas have a highly regarded spot in Turkish Cuisine.

The kind made with vine leaves stuffed with a rice-spice mixture and cooked with olive oil is called Zeytinyağlı dolma. These don’t contain meat and are sometimes referred to as ‘Sarma’, meaning ‘wrapping’ in Turkish. They are usually served cold. Meatless dolmas are referred to as ‘yalancı’, which means ‘fake’ dolma. Zeytinyağlı dolma from the Ottoman cuisine is usually sweeten by adding dried fruit like figs, cherries and cinnamon to the mixture. Vine leaves or yaprak filled with meat and rice are called etli yaprak sarma, usually served hot with yogurt. There are also some dessert sarma, like fistik sarma (wrapped pistachios).

Melon dolma along with quince or apple dolma was one of the palace’s specialties. Raw melon stuffed with minced meat, onion, rice, almonds and cooked in an oven. Contemporary dolma recipes constitute mainly of courgette (“kabak”), aubergine (“patlıcan”), tomato (“domates”), pumpkin (“balkabağı”), pepper (“biber”), cabbage (“lahana”) (black or white cabbage), chard (“pazı”) and mussel (“midye”). Palace cuisines have now started replacing dried cherries with currants that now constitute the fillings of dolmas cooked in olive oil. A different type of dolma is mumbar dolması, for which the membrane of intestines of sheep is filled up with a spicy rice-nut mixture.

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