Sultan's Kitchen. Ozcan Ozan
get to work in the kitchen, spending long hours preparing family meals of stuffed vegetables cooked with olive oil, böreks (savory pastries), vegetable stews cooked with meat, hearty soups, pilafs, many different eggplant dishes (especially in summer), and puddings. Eventually, I was sent alone to do some shopping (flattered that she could trust my selections!), and my interest in cooking grew into summer jobs at resort hotels on the Aegean. I recall my teenage fascination with the inner workings of those large kitchens, taking great pleasure in the many facets of food preparation and the staff camaraderie.
Later I went to Europe and cooked for six years, then returned to İzmir and cooked for another four. When I arrived in Boston in the early 1980s, the city was becoming receptive to international cuisines, and health consciousness was becoming a major restaurant consideration. I acquired space in Boston's Financial District and opened Sultan's Kitchen, specializing in Turkish cuisine. Sultan's Kitchen was not only the first Turkish restaurant in Boston; it was also one of the first open-kitchen restaurants in the city, in keeping with typical Aegean restaurant design.
Sultan's Kitchen has been in operation for sixteen years, and my goals have not wavered over time. I enjoy introducing Turkish cuisine to new customers, exposing them to bits of Turkish culture through music and decor, and, most important, preserving the high standards and authenticity of Turkish cuisine that I experienced as a child. The recipes presented in this book have all appeared on my restaurant's menu at one time or another. I am always varying the menu according to what is plentiful in the market, but what I hope never varies is the quality and presentation I have worked to preserve and share in Boston.
By way of this cookbook, I invite people who have never tasted Turkish food to enjoy this unique and delicious cuisine. And I hope it will make you agree with me that eating is, after all, one of life's greatest pleasures.
INTRODUCTION
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IT ALMOST GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT WHEN you eat in Turkey, you eat well. Good food is an important part of Turkish culture, and if you walk the streets of any city, you will see and smell it all around you. Tea shops and outdoor cafes abound. Colorful streetside displays of produce, small specialty food shops, neighborhood bakeries, street vendors, and daily shoppers are typical throughout the country.
Partly in Europe and partly in Asia, Turkey stands at the crossroads of many cultures. Istanbul is at the southeastern end of Europe, and Ankara, the capital, is located in Anatolia, which comprises the peninsula of Asia Minor. Turkey has a long coastline along the Mediterranean Sea in the south, the Black Sea in the north, and the Aegean Sea in the west. High mountain ranges run parallel to the sea in the south and in the north. The eastern part is very mountainous, and there is a vast plateau in the center of the country, which comprises Anatolia. To the north, it is surrounded by Russia and the Russian republics, in the east Iran, in the south Syria, lebanon, Iraq, and Israel, in the west, Greece and Bulgaria.
Turkey is a land of many civilizations that have come and gone, leaving behind the ruins of ancient cities. The Turks originally migrated from central Asia, and settled in Asia Minor, where they were influenced by the presence of other cultures, among them the Hittites, Byzantines, Greeks, Romans, Selçuks, and Ottomans.
In 1453, relatively recently in terms of Turkish history, the Ottoman tribe conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) and the Ottoman Empire ruled much of the medieval world. At the Topkapi Palace in Constantinople, great chefs refined the dishes that constitute today's Turkish cuisine. During this time, the culinary arts were an important part of the daily life in the sultan's courts. With the infinite variety of fish, fowl, meat, fruit, grains, and vegetables that were available in Turkey, Ottoman chefs competed to create innovative new dishes for the sultans.
The Ottoman Empire reached its height of power during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, who added a kitchen with six domes to the Topkapi Palace and employed more than a thousand cooks. It was natural for the court kitchen to be influenced by Western culture, and the Europeans were also influenced by the Ottomans. In fact, open-air cafes are an example of an Ottoman tradition brought to Europe. These culinary legacies created a rich cuisine that was admired and carried into the Middle East, the Balkans, parts of Russia and Europe, and North Africa.
Turkish food is wonderfully spiced and has complex flavors. Turks are used to eating well, and their standards are high. There are some sophisticated recipes that require skill and time, but most can be prepared easily. There are unusual flavor combinations—eggplant with garlic and yogurt, for example—and beautiful presentation is an important consideration. The Turkish diet, in which a great variety of foods and more vegetables, fruits, beans and grains than meat are eaten, is a very healthy one. The cuisine's most important characteristic is its reliance on very fresh ingredients, and the cooking methods bring out the natural flavors of those ingredients. Vegetables and fruits are eaten during the season in which they are grown and purchased daily. Fish is eaten on the day it is caught.
Lamb, fish, and beans are sources of protein, and bread is a staple. Garlic, onions, spices, and fresh and dried herbs are used as seasonings. Yogurt is eaten in sauces and drinks, and cheeses, especially sheep's milk cheeses and soft white cheese (like the Greek feta) are also a regular part of meals. Different foods are served in different seasons: summer dishes use fresh produce, are lighter, and are served chilled or at room temperature while winter dishes are heartier and heavier, using root vegetables and stewed beans and meats.
Eating habits vary from region to region, but a typical day in Turkey often starts with a breakfast of freshly baked bread, sliced tomatoes, several types of olives, cheese, and jams. There may be soft-boiled eggs, or böreks, the stuffed savory pastries that are also eaten throughout the day. Breakfast is served with Turkish tea.
Lunch and dinner may both start with a soup, which is so popular that there are many specialized soup shops, called corbaçı. At dinner, soup may be followed by a main course of grilled meat, chicken, or fish, and served with pilaf and salad. Dessert is typically fruit compote (stewed, dried fruits like raisins or apricots), fresh fruit, or pudding.
For special occasions or parties, tables are spread with meze, a selection of appetizers that consists of seasonal vegetables cooked with olive oil, pureed or stuffed vegetables, seafood, or böreks. Baklava and other sweet desserts are most often served on special occasions.
In the past bread was used instead of forks to eat meals that were served on the floor, with the family sharing from a large tray. Today's eating customs are modern, but bread-pita, sourdough, and flat breads, to name a few-is still an important part of every meal. The best breads are found outside of the cities, in the small villages, because in urban areas traditional bread-making has given way to mass production.
During the day, snacks of böreks purchased at shops called börekçı are eaten with ayran, a tangy yogurt drink. Turkish tea is served throughout the day.
Each region of Turkey has its own cooking style and specialties. In eastern Turkey and Anatolia, the food is robust and spicy-not spicy like the flavors of hot peppers, but pungent and complex. In many parts of the region they use clarified butter, butter and animal fat for cooking, especially the fat rendered from sheep's tails. In this region, dishes are prepared with unusual seasonings like molasses, unripened grape juice, dried fruits, and loquats. Beans and yogurt are also used in much of the cuisine. Tandir Kebabı or Kuyu Kebabı, a specialty of Anatolia, is prepared by slowly grilling a young lamb in a tightly covered dirt pit. Anatolian cuisine is becoming more popular in other parts of Turkey.
In the Western and Mediterranean parts of Turkey, dishes are prepared with olive oil and include small amounts of meat that are always cooked with vegetables. Olive oil is the main ingredient and vegetables cooked in olive oil are popular. Chief among these are dolmalar (dolmas) and sarmalar (sarmas), which are stuffed or rolled leafy vegetables cooked with rice, black currants, pine nuts, herbs, and olive oil.
The Aegean and Mediterranean regions produce much of Turkey's fruit and the city of İzmir is known for its figs, grapes, fragrant Manisa kirkağaç melons and large, sweet Bursa peaches. Fresh fruits are eaten before, after, and in between meals, and they are also made into compotes or jams, or are dried. I remember picking