Questions about Turkish ingredients

[anzu]

I live in a predominately Turkish neighbourhood, and buy a lot of my groceries, vegetables, etc. at Turkish places.

While I know what to do with a lot of the foods being sold, there are certain things which are still a mystery to me. I'm hoping the people here can explain how they're used by the Turkish home cook:

1) Oregano water.

Of course, when I something new to me, I have to buy it and try it out. With oregano water, I asked someone working in the shop what to do with it, and got a look as if I were a total moron. "You just drink it", I was told.

But, after bringing it home and tasting it, this stuff is awfully strong...

Do people really "just drink it"? If so, who, in what setting, is it cut with water, is it meant to have health giving properties...?

2) Sucuk.

Sucuk are sausages, that much is not a problem. But how do they fit into the overall pattern of cuisine: how is the average Turkish cook preparing them, and is it for any particular meal of the day?

3) Parsley and dill.

Not the ingredients per se are the issue here, but the enormous size of the bunches in which they are sold. (This may be atypical, as the second-largest ethnic group in this neighbourhood is Lebanese - maybe the huge bunches of parsley are aimed at Lebanese customers?)

Unless making tabouli, I could never work my way through that much parsley before it wilts. So what is being made by the Turkish cook that could require the use of such huge amounts of parsley? The same for dill - which wilts even more quickly than parsley. What are people doing with it that they buy it in such large quantities?

There'll be even more questions later, I'm sure. I need to check out the specific names of various foods before asking about them.

[tighe]

I live in a predominately Turkish neighbourhood, and buy a lot of my groceries, vegetables, etc. at Turkish places.

So what is being made by the Turkish cook that could require the use of such huge amounts of parsley? The same for dill - which wilts even more quickly than parsley. What are people doing with it that they buy it in such large quantities?

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Wow, if only I could live in a predominantly Turkish neighborhood...

Dill is one of the main ingredients in cacik, along with cucumber, garlic and yoghurt. This condiment is served with nearly every meal, so a family could go through a lot of dill.

Parsely shows up a lot as a garnish and is used in some kofte (ground lamb meatballs) recipes that I know of.

I'm sure there are many other uses of both, but that's what comes to mind.

[FoodMan]

The sausages sound like the Lebanese Sujuk. Typically I would say they are street food/pita bread filler. In Beirut, you can get them at any sandwich shop that sells Shawarma and Falafel. Grill the sausages, and put in pita bread, top it with tomatoes, pickles, maybe a little lettuce and hey if you still have some of that parsley . Wrap and enjoy.

I've never heard of Oregano water!

[Behemoth]

The sausages sound like the Lebanese Sujuk. Typically I would say they are street food/pita bread filler. In Beirut, you can get them at any sandwich shop that sells Shawarma and Falafel. Grill the sausages, and put in pita bread, top it with tomatoes, pickles, maybe a little lettuce and hey if you still have some of that parsley . Wrap and enjoy.

I've never heard of Oregano water!

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Sujuk are also great drizzled with pomegranate molasses. Never heard of Oregano water. The parsley could well be for the Lebanese in the neighborhood, we use tons of it. Tabbouli for one takes a lot, but it's also good chopped up into keftas.

[tighe]

Found this via Google:

http://www.ics.trieste.it/Documents/Downloads/df3056.pdf

Oregano is also a popular herbal tea in Turkey. Oregano water rich in carvacrol is taken orally for gastrointestinal disorders, to reduce blood cholesterol and glucose levels and also for cancer.

[piazzola]

I know that sujuk is Armenian and pomaegarnate is very popular in The Caucasus region including Azerbaijan and Georgia where main dishes is th main ingredient of pomegranates for instance the famous Georgian sashlik or basturma not to be confused with Armenian basturma of course

I have a good brand of pomegranate molasses from Azerbaijan called Narsharab it is excellent for lamb and beef alike

I may ask my Uzbek friends for some genuine Turkic dishes so they calim to be more turkish that the Turks themselves much like Tatars in Russia and Crimea

[sazji]

Sucuk and pomegranate molasses! That sounds evilly good.....so much for the diet... (I had grilled whole onions drizzled with pomegranate molasses recently...wow...)

As someone mentioned, oregano water ("Kekik suyu") is mostly medicinal. Last time I got a narsty cold my friend made me hot oregano tea (actually it's wild thyme). They made it strong, the tea was very dark, and actually made my mouth numb. It was at least as nasty as the cold. But made lightly it could be nice.

Sucuk can be sliced thin as a meze, or quickly grilled (don't overdo it, it will just get very hard). It's also sliced and lightly fried and eaten with breakfast.

Also you can use it for "menemen," an egg dish. Sautee half an onion in a couple t of oil, add an inch or two of sliced sucuk, some red pepper if you like, and once it's heated through, add three medium tomatoes, chopped (or grate them in). Let that cook till the tomatoes are sauce, but it will be fairly wet. We aren't going for thick tomato sauce. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down, break in two eggs and stir them as much as you like (some like it more mixed up, others like more pieces of egg), cook till egg is done, and eat with good bread. If you want, you can add some kashar or white cheese (feta) as well. Everybody has their favoriet menemen. (And if you can get pastirma, try it with that...)

Sucuk is also used on pide (sort of like a Turkish pizza).

Parsley - it's used in many, many dishes, almost difficult to think of one that doesn't have parsley in it! It's so ubiquitous that the word, "maydanoz," is also a slang term for a person who always is in your business, turning up everywhere...

Dill - use in cacik (yogurt/cucumber soup), salads, and in many of the cold "olive oil" dishes (zeytinyaglilar), especially artichoke, celeriac and jerusalem artichoke.

[jbehmoaras]

My parents are Turkish and some dishes call for parsley by the truckload (perhaps thats an exaggeration).

All kinds of cheese boreks, especially cigara borek, have a good amount of parsley. Cigara boreks are like turkish spring rolls. The filling is primarily feta cheese and parsley with some egg yolks to bind the mixture. Then a spoonful is lined up on a triangular piece of yufka (which is similar do phyllo but a little doughier and thicker). Think of an isoceles triangle, the mixture is put on the base of the triangle and the you roll all the way to the tip lightly wetting the tip so that it sticks (you dont fold in the sides the way you might for an asian roll. Then it is deep fried in vegetable oil (although i find deep frying in olive oil just below smoking point is tastier) Its called cigara borek because it looks like a cigar.

Other boreks are more like greek spinach pies made with phyllo (which of course the greeks learned, like the armenians and others, while being ruled by the ottoman empire years ago). But these dont have as much parsley as the filings for these pies and are usually made with spinach or beet leaves. These fillings can also be done in a similar way to the cigara borek but using phyllo instead and then after they are rolled up they are twisted to look like snail shells and are baked in the oven ....

if anyone is interested in more detail recipies let me know.

[markemorse]

As someone mentioned, oregano water ("Kekik suyu") is mostly medicinal.  Last time I got a narsty cold my friend made me hot oregano tea (actually it's wild thyme). They made it strong, the tea was very dark, and actually made my mouth numb.  It was at least as nasty as the cold. But made lightly it could be nice.

FWIW, thyme extract, or thymol as it's called on the label, is one of the main ingredients of OTC antiseptic mouthwash Listerine...

[maher]

there are tons of herbal infusions in the middle east that are drunk more or less like tea. the bitterness is compensated for by tons of sugar... sage, zaatar, mint, dried edible flowers, ... you name it its in the tea.

i find a lot of these herbs are nicer in tea rather than as a standalone drink. depending how strong your oregano water is, use some of it with water to brew tea, and sweeten it a bit more than your normal custom, and it tastes quite nice... id still rather use the fresh herb, but in the middle of winter the water will do.