The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean

[Smithy]

Swiss Chard has a lovely name in North Africa: silk.

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It's the same in Levantine Arabic. Cute, I never thought of that.

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In Egypt, I've learned that "silk" means "wire". Wouldn't that be confusing in the souk?

[chefzadi]

Even the desserts are so simillar: the marmelade candies, the many dishes with honey and nuts. Noodles with nuts and honey, dough with honey and nuts, yogurt with honey and nuts, etcetra,

This is a North African Arab influence in Turkish cuisine. Remember the Saracens were North African Arabs who introduced semolina pasta to Sicily before the Turks were ever in Algeria. And the Sicilians and Algerians have sweet dishes made from pasta like the one you describe.

The Turks make liquorice-spirit exactly the same way as the greeks, and drink it even though they are moslem.

This spirit is found throughout the Med. I think the origins are Greek, someone will correct me if I am wrong.

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I meant, I DON'T think the origins are Greek. Yikes. Apologies for the typo.

Also the Turks call it Raki. They have a their own blend or version of Arrak and it is widely acknowledged by the Turks (even on state sponsored literature) that raki is derived from Arabic Arrak.

Edited April 16, 2005 by chefzadi (log)

[Behemoth]

I meant, I DON'T think the origins are Greek. Yikes. Apologies for the typo.

It's a good thing you made the typo, we got a really interesting thread going here

[Mabelline]

I am really interested in what influences you feel are leftover from the Persian Empire. I just got through with an interesting book about the newest discoveries in archaeology, which are changing a load of perceptions. Sometimes I think this whole world is one big ole mongrel amalgam that has traditions so old that they are lost.

[archestratus]

I noticed above that the anise-based Arab and Turkish liqueur know as arak or raki is said to derive from the Arabic word for "perspiration."

Although that is one of the meanings of the Arabic word ('araq) the proper meaning of the word 'araq in this case, actually 'irq, is "root or stem of a plant" ['irq] and in fact and specifically "'irq sus" - licorice root. The earliest use of the word that I am familiar with comes from Ibn al-Baytar (1197-1228) who was the foremost medieval Ismlamic botanist and systematizer of pharmacological knoweldge.

[touaregsand]

I can't help you with that exact question, but it would be interesting to know. I think that the issue is complicated by the fact that it wasn't one way traffic, some of the pasta in the far east are throught to have Persian roots via the Arabs and Mongols.

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I emailed mongoliacenter.org regarding airag and arrak. The response was swift!

There is no connection. Contrary to popular belief, airag is not a

particularly old word for fermented mare's milk. The Turkic form is qumïz

(whence koumiss). In the Mongol empire, the Mongols called it esüg in

their Mongolian language. In the sixteenth century and in most Mongolian

dialects today it is called chigee or something like that. Airag was/is

used only for fermented milk liquors made from cow's or sheep's milk.

Today, "airag" is used for fermented mare's milk only in one dialect,

but since that is the dominant Khalkha district, people often assume that

that is the general Mongolian term, but that's not the case.

Distilled liquors in Mongolian are called arkhi (from the classical

form araki). This word is indeed a borrowing from the Arabic "arrack".

This is from Chris Atwood of Indiana University

One of the top scholars of Mongolian Studies

[Adam Balic]

Ah, there you go then. Cool. Thanks very much for putting the effort into contacting an expert touaregsand.

You know it is strange to think of the Romans and Classical Greeks etc and realise that they didn't have any distilled alcohol.

[chefzadi]

I've been researching Turkish cuisine from several sources. I'll posting more about it this weekend.

The most striking difference is the fact that Algerians don't cook so much with yoghurt. I'm not altogether convinced of alot of Ottoman influence in Algerian cookery. Some mention has been made of pastries, but many of these pastries were already known, we can look at the pastries in Moorish spain and Sicily to figure some of this out.

[chefzadi]

I'm still absorbing this lovely book. Again, Paula Wolfert dazzles me with her quest to search out the best home cooks. Such a wonderful slice of life that is documented before it all goes to gas ranges and modern kitchens. It reminds me how my relatives still cook the old way, perhaps they will be the last generation to do so.

The book also has gotten me thinking about the different threads of influence in cooking. For instance as I've already mentioned cooking with yoghurt and kibbeh with bulghar wheat are not found in Algeria. Not in the ways they are found in Middle-Eastern/Eastern Med kitchens. My wife is in an Indian cooking mode these days. And some of the similarities are quite striking. The dishes don't taste the same but the sets of ingredients are sometimes identical or at the very least similar. For the most part I've not seen such similarities between ME (except for Afghanistani to name one) and Indian cooking.

[Almass]

Just looking up etymologies in the dictionary (the great pastime of the chronic procrastinator), alcohol = al kohl = the powder of antimony.

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Alcohol = Al Kohl = Al Kohul nice transition

Edited May 6, 2005 by Almass (log)

[Almass]

I noticed above that the anise-based  Arab and Turkish liqueur know as arak or raki is said to derive from the Arabic word for "perspiration." 

Although that is one of the meanings of the Arabic word  ('araq) the proper meaning of the word 'araq in this case, actually 'irq,  is "root or stem of a plant" ['irq] and in fact and specifically "'irq sus"  - licorice root.  The earliest use of the word that I am familiar with comes from  Ibn al-Baytar (1197-1228) who was the foremost medieval Ismlamic botanist and systematizer of pharmacological knoweldge.

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The word Arak which is "sweating" or "perspiration" predates Ibn al-Baytar reference to "Irk".

Arak was first mentioned by Jaber Ibn Hayan in his Kitab al Jumal al Eshrin (Book of Twenty Articles) in the 8th century. He was the first to mention "Arak".

Then the second literary evidence was in Hikayat Abu Al Kassim Al Baghdadi in the 11th century where he speaks of "Arak al Nabidh" which is Arak of wine.

And the rest is history.

[chefzadi]

Here

[sazji]

A bunch of comments on Turkish food and its neighboring cuisines.

First, the borders of countries in this part of the world say very little about "national cuisines." Many of the modern borders in the Middle East tell more about English colonialism than ethnicities. Remember that many of the countries we are talking about here were all part of the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, which both influenced and was influenced by the many peoples under its control. The capitol, Istanbul, nee Constantinople, had Turkish, Greek, Armenian and Jewish populations, in addition to many others from around the Empire. There were also large numbers of Turks in what is today Greece.

Greek food was also changed significantly in the last century, especially by a cookbook writer named Tselemendes. He was of the opinion that Greek food needed lightening up, and dressing up. He was the one who added the bechamel sauce to mousakka for example. Here, musakka is just sort of a thrown together thing out of the same ingredients. Bulgar was once popular in N. Greece as it was in Turkey, but it is now associated with the war and almost never eaten. One Greek writer voiced the opinion that many dishes in Istanbul are actually more "authentic" than many forms thought of as quintesentially Greek today.

Another thing about Turkish food is regionality. Turkey is a *big* place, with many different geographic/climatic regions. What people generally think of as "Turkish cuisine" is generally that of Istanbul. It's not far from the Aegean, near very old olive-growing regions. So it's logical that they should have lots of fish cookery and the whole spectrum of "olive oil" dishes (zeytinyaglilar) that are eaten cold. These are all found in Greece as well in various combinations. But once you go inland, olive oil pretty much disappears from traditional cooking; the favored fats being butter and rendered fat of the fat-tailed sheep (kuyruk yagi). The food of Antep is like a combination of Anatolian food and Syrian/Lebanese cooking, with a hint of Istanbul thrown in...

The Black Sea is another matter altogether, won't even go there now!

What is not found in Greece is the immense variety of kebabs, as well as the many different milk sweets. Where as in Greece you find souvlaki, gyros/doner, and various keftedes (köfte here), in Turkey you also find many regional takes, kebab with pistchios, with eggplant, the list goes on and on. The kebab cuisine is generally considered to be a specialty of the southeast -- (Gazi)Antep especially -- but it's popular around the country. The best baklava is associated with Antep as well.

Again, it makes sense that the Turks, who were until fairly recently in some areas nomadic and involved in animal husbandry, should develop lots of ways of cooking meat and milk. People from the east especially are as choosy about lamb as people in France are about cheese; they won't eat lamb raised in western Turkey but go to special markets where lamb from places like Agri and Siirt are sold.

Raki -- Hard to say where people started fermenting and distilling alcohol but Greece seems to be the westernmost point of distribution for the anise hooch, so I'd reckon the anise idea came from the east. (Okay, there are sweet anise liqueurs like Sambuca but I'm not counting those.) Ouzo is a bit funny, it's more of a "recipe," mixed from alcohol and some sugar and anise. Raki of Turkey is closer to an anise-flavored grappa. Greece also has many of these, both with and without anise, with a variety of names, including raki, tsipouro, souma among others; they continue right up through the Balkans as rakija, slivovice, and in other areas are called grappa and schnapps. There are also un-anised ones made in Turkey but illegally: until a year or so ago, the entire alcohol industry was a state monopoly and there were only four brands of raki - Yeni Raki, Klüp, Tekirdag and Altinbas. Now many more are coming onto the market, and I'm hoping we'll see some of the interesting local ones, especially the fig raki they make in Mersin. It has a wonderful aroma. You need to have friends from Mersin to sample it.

Alcohol is still a bit marginal here, and the taxes on it are very high, owing to ambivalence about it in the government. Hard liquor seems to be mostly an upper class indulgence; there are clubs where one shot of a run of the mill foreign whiskey costs 20 dollars.

The well known meze/raki/fish kind of eating is mostly in the realm of the "meyhanes," which until the 50s were almost all run by Greeks. Not to say that Turks didn't drink, but it was much more something found where there were Christians, and historically such places were frequented more by non-muslims. Even in Istanbul, there are many fine restaurants that serve no alcohol. A kebabci (kebab place) generally doesn't, an "ocakbasi" is the same kind of restaurant but which serves alcohol as well, and everything is usually more expensive because the alcohol license is a lot. (And they generally have to pay lots of bribes to the police who can otherwise find a million and one reasons to shut them down...)

Edited October 13, 2005 by sazji (log)

[Swisskaese]

Welcome to eGullet Sazji!

It is nice to have someone from Turkey in the group.

I love Turkish cuisine.

I used to hang out at a Turkish restaurant in Schwabish Hall, Germany that was run by a family from Eastern Turkey. The mother made the most amazing stuffed pide. I have been searching for a recipe for this. She made some with lamb, some with cheese and some with beef. I would like to know what spices she used in the meat filling.

I have also been to Turkey several times and love exploring the regional foods.

[Behemoth]

Merhaba, sazji. Brilliant bunch of first posts. (Yes, we've been watching )

Welcome!

[sazji]

I used to hang out at a Turkish restaurant in Schwabish Hall, Germany that was run by a family from Eastern Turkey. The mother made the most amazing stuffed pide.

First, thanks for the warm welcome!

Do you know where in the East they were from? And by pide, do you mean the one with a dough resembling pizza dough (with or without a top)? I can ask around. As far as I've seen, the spicing is fairly simple in those mixes - red pepper, pepper paste, cumin, black pepper, maybe some thyme. What can really make a *huge* difference is the quality/source of some of the ingredients, especially pepper and pepper paste (like tomato paste but made out of peppers, and obviously as variable as the pepper varieties and processes used). I think Maraş pepper is available in many places now, and perhaps isot as well. If not, well you know what to stock up on next time you come to Istanbul! :) I get my pepper paste from a friend from Adiyaman; it's incredible stuff, and that comes through in anything I use it in. Many, many Turks have at least 50 percent of their staples sent from relatives in the village, and there is so much out there that still is very rarely encountered in Istanbul. I got a bunch of pepper paste at one of my favorite markets to take to Greece, and we cooked "anali kizli" (a bulgur köfte stuffed with meat, walnuts and entirely too much butter, cooked in a broth flavored with tomato, pepper paste and lemon). It was still good but something big was missing and I realized it was because of the pepper paste. I am going to do a pepper paste safari at the Siirt bazaar next week...

[Swisskaese]

I don't remember where they are from. This pide was long and and narrow. The ends are folded like an envelope.

I can get excellent spices here. The only thing I haven't seen here is Pipel Biber, but I just found out about a Turkish shop at Shuk HaCarmel in Tel Aviv. I am going to pay them a visit soon.....Watch for a blog in December.

[ludja]

.....Watch for a blog in December.

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Yeah!!! Looking forward to this, Swisskaese

[sazji]

Pide Recipe

Found this one on a Turkish recipe exchange site. The dough info was strange and missing information so I'm not bothering with it, but the filling looked both typical and good. You could do it with ground meat as well.

http://www.tarifdefteri.com/phpBB2/

500 gr diced meat)

2 tomatoes

2 green stuffing peppers [these are not nearly as large as green peppers in the US, and are thin-walled. A few "sivri" peppers would do well too - these are the long thin green ones common in Turkey.]

10 gr cumin

10gr black pepper

20 gr red flake pepper

20 gr red pepper powder [sweet or hot according to taste]

20 gr salt

1/4 c vegetable oil

[piazzola]

Thank you for the above recipe sazji but still would not mind getting the recipe for pide and boregi dough. If you find it anywhere and don't mind to share it I guess we'll all be greatful.

Thanks

[Swisskaese]

I have a pide recipe. I will post it this evening.

[Hector]

I am really interested in what influences you feel are leftover from the Persian Empire. I just got through with an interesting book about the newest discoveries in archaeology, which are changing a load of perceptions. Sometimes I think this whole world is one big ole mongrel amalgam that has traditions so old that they are lost.

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True.. Some scholars believe that using nuts, fruits and sweetening in meat dishes comes from the old pre-islamic Persian royal court cooking. E.g there's dishes today like pinchitos morunos, fowl with pomegranate and walnuts, carucho from Venezuela, greek or turkish lamb cooked with quince, etcetra that has somehow indirectly has come from this unmistakeable oriental tradition. Some even think there's a religious connection, where the food should symbolise various things in the Zoroaster religion. But I am not sure about this.

[Swisskaese]

I have put the Pide recipe in RecipeGullet.

Edited October 30, 2005 by Swisskaese (log)

[sazji]

Just a note, this pide recipe is not the same as the pide that has a meat filling - this is the one that is like a rich bread. You can see the finished product in an article I sent to http://www.bookofrai.com. (October 27)

The dough for the filled pides (also known as "Karadeniz" (Black Sea) pide is more like a pizza dough. They vary from place to place, some are even yeastless. I'll get back with a couple.

[sazji]

I just found out that Çiya restaurant in Kadiköy has a web site. Though it's all in Turkish, it's worth taking a look at just to drool at the food pictures. Click on the "yemek ve serbet" link and then on the pictures... http://www.ciya.com.tr