Chez é-sham...e-Zine® [Vol:7~Oct:04]
"For People Who Make Mistakes and Willing To Learn" ...
The Gastronomic Pleasures Of İnstanbul
by Tuğrul Şavkay (Turkey's Foremost Culinary Critic)
One last dinner and one last drink in İstanbul is a most plausible last wish for anyone who is a real gourmet. One cannot help believe that one reason for the recurrent use of the Arabic word "keyf" (defined as health, fitness, satisfaction, pleasure, light-heartedness, joy, enthu-siasm, ardour, etc., in dic-tionaries) could be that taking delight in eating and drinking has only recently become a national pastime for Turks.
One comes across convincing statements on the eating habits on Turks, which more or less took on the quality of fulfiling an obligation, such as depicted in the memoirs of a Spanish prisoner captured by Turks in 1552 who later dwelled in Admiral Sinan Pasha's palace during the era of Süleyman the Magnificent. The following sentence, written during the most exuberant days of the empire is especially striking: "They aren't excessively fond of eating. In my opinion, they eat to live, not because they take any delight in eating."
İstanbul is one of the few enchanting cities in the world which has finally managed to cast its spell over a nation that had preserved its modesty even in the most glorious of days. Byzantine, in full justification of the attributes the French have bestowed upon it, has succeeded in transmitting its lifestyle to the present-day Turks. This verifies the Roman saying that the conquerors will ultimately be forced to yield.
It would be totally unfair to presume that tavuk göğsü (pudding with chicken breast), which is still uncannily delicious in spite of the fact that most pudding shops in İstanbul now sneak in starch, is the only remaining splendor of the Roman Empire. Rome, for example, is still alive in İstanbul in the varieties and flavors of its breads. Widely recognised names such as Süheyl Ünver MD, who has a special interest in gastronomy, and the French historian Andre Cloit, a specialist on the era of Mehmet II the Conqueror, write that there are very few dishes Turks have —anthropologically— "borrowed" from the Byzantine and Roman cuisine. In my opinion this is essentially unfair. The fact is that Turks, from the time of their arrival in Anatolia, assimilated into the Roman culture—within the confines of Islam. For Turks have never been a conceited and obstinate nation, in spite of the important positions they presumed throughout history. They are imbued with the virtue of adapting to the circumstances in such a way as not to deprive themselves of the already existing charms.
Thus, Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror took great care to make his city appear as a meeting place of several civilisations, and tried to assemble in İstanbul the most distinguished citizens from across the Empire, during the city's resettlement after its conquest. (This cosmopolitan atmos-phere survived for a while longer, fighting against all odds, even following the National Liberation War in early 1920s.) This cosmopolitan character plays a leading role among the many other factors that render İstanbul's cuisine unmatched. Furthermore, this is not just an eclectic diversity as seen in certain European and American cuisine. It has always been difficult to pinpoint where Armenian cuisine starts and where it runs into Greek cuisine. Greek and Turkish cuisine have always been intricately interwoven, not forgetting the close relationship Arabic cuisine has the three mentioned above. The Turkish kitchen is one of the few areas where it is nationalism finds it hard to infiltrate. The imperial heritage constitutes an umbrella covering all, from the Albanian to the Circassian, from the Tatar to the Arab. It is usual to encounter in an İstanbul restaurant Tatar pastries, Albanian fried liver, Circassian chicken with walnuts and Damascene desserts.
Eating in İstanbul
The very same menu may include Beef Stroganoff or Chicken Kiev. The Empire never extended its borders as far as central Russia, but İstanbul was the city that hosted the Russians while they were escaping from the Red Army during the October Revolution. These Russians fleeing Trotsky's comrades, were the first to introduce western style restaurants in İstanbul, which a few years after the revolution also hosted Trotsky, the former com-mander in chief of the Red Army.
Unfortunately books about the old days are rare. But from those that exist, we can see that meyhanes have remained the essential domains for dining and wining for years-on-end. In spite of the strict Islamic tenets, wine reigned in İstanbul where the Ottoman sultans and the head of the religious estab-lishment (eyhülislam) resided. Şeyhülislam Yahya Efendi, one of the brightest clerics of the Empire, wrote the following meaningful verses: "Let hypocrites carry on with their hypocrisy in the mosque / Let those with no hypocrisy and no lies come to the meyhanes."
It would be a great insult to rakı, considered to be the Turks national drink, to say that drinking is only tantamount to wine in Turkey. In fact, rakı is a dis-tilled drink flavored with the aroma of anise, which exists in various varieties all over the Mediterranean. Greek "ouzo", Lebanese "arak" and French "pastis" are all a very similar drink. The Turkish sensitiv-ity on this issue lies within the etiquette of drinking rakı. This etiquette can only be observed at a rakı table fully laden with mezes. And İstanbul meyhane keepers prepare the best mezes. Among the mezes are dishes, referred to as "cuisiné" by the French, that become magnificent and delectable after meticulous prepa-ration, such as stuffed mussels, mussels or fried calamari with tarator (bread crumbs with garlic and walnut) sauce, Albanian (fried diced) liver, very thin rolled pastries seasoned with fresh herbs; as well as those that are not part of the "cuisiné", such as chunks of hard, full-fat white cheese, a sweetly scented slice of melon, Çengelköy cucumbers with drops of morning dew when cut in season, or roe in wax "putargo". Turks welcome all pleasant and delicious dishes on their meze tables without creating any uproar in the matter. There is no end to the list of good meze shops in İstanbul, which forces me to implore that my fol-lowing statement should not be taken further than just being an example in this context. Swissotel's Şark Sofrası, or the small meyhanes on Nevizade Street located behind Çiçek Pasajı, serve some of the best mezes around.
Fish and seafood dishes rank just as high as the famed İstanbul mezes. Fernand Braudel, a French historian and an expert on the Mediterranean, places the Bosphorus on the top of his list along with the few Mediterranean locations that serve fish worth tasting. Any restaurant by the Bosphorus, be it luxurious or humble, will serve you the best and the fresh-est fish in season in İstanbul. I must mention here that those who seek fish in fancy sauces will be disappointed. For Turks like to eat fish in the most simple form possible. Even though this is not taken as far as preparing "saşimi", they eat their fish grilled or fried in olive oil, whole if its size permits or in big chunks. Crisp fresh salad served alongside, followed by fruit, constitutes an ordinary, dogmatic menu. Rakı, which used to be an aperitif taken only with mezes during the last century, is now a customary drink of fish restaurants.
It is quite ordinary for a foreigner to order wine to accompany a palatable fish dish. İstanbul-lites with refined tastes do the same. Wine making is one of the sectors receiving the great-est state protection. The progress achieved is not proportional to the amount of state support received, yet there are still a great variety of wines that are quite pleasing to the palate. Concluding an evening out in İstanbul without tasting some of these would be a tragic loss in life. It also seems to be an appropriate place to mention, now that we have embarked upon it, that Turkish coffee, lately facing a challenge from the "espresso", is a "molto vivace" finale to end a meal.
In returning to the prelude... As a consequence of its cosmopolitan nature, İstanbul hosts a variety of restaurants. While Rejans is fighting for its survival, there are still some other more modest Russian restaurants. There are the new excellent Italian restau-rants such as Spasso at Hyatt Regency, Monteverdi at the Conrad Hotel, and Villa Medici in Arnavutköy. There are the undeservingly over-priced Chinese restaurants at the Hilton and Polat Renaissance Hotels, in contrast to the marvellous Chinese restaurants run by the Chinese in the Taksim region. German restau-rants, in the meantime, became a thing of the past 20-30 years ago, and none have replaced them until recently.
tavuk göğsü
The Bierstube at the Polat Renaissance Hotel continues to excel and is perhaps the sole and the best Austrian locale of the city. There also is an Austrian-Hungarian restaurant which resumed service in Gümüşsuyu only just a few years ago.
However, hidden behind a curtain, are still quite a few excellent restaurants waiting to be discovered in their modest spots. For example, there is a charm-ing Bosnian restaurant in the Kuruçeşme vicinity on the Bosphorus, where immigrants of this distressed country offer their authentic cuisine to and to the visiting guests of the city.
Another factor that con-tributes to the cosmopolitan nature of İstanbul is the culinary variety brought by the immigra-tion from all parts of Anatolia. This local Anatolian cuisine, which used to be confined to homes, has recently started to be commercialised by daring entrepreneurs. Pafuli in Kuruçeşme is known for its Eastern Black Sea cuisine and dishes of the Laz peoples. Arif Develi pre-pares the most sumptuous Antep kebabs at his modest locale in Samatya. His compatriot Nadir Güllüoğlu bakes and sells a wide variety of Antep baklavas and pastries. You can try the best herbage (vegetation) and olive oil dishes of the Aegean region at Ece's.
To sample excellent examples of Turkish cuisine that are now identified with İstanbul, you must visit a good "local tradesmen's restaurant" such as Hacı Salih in Beyoğlu and Kanaat in Üsküdar. Hard to prepare dishes that require a lot of devotion can still be found at these locales. For the modern, more western "haute cuisiné" versions of these dishes, it is necessary to stop by Tuğra Restau-rant managed by Vedat Başaran at Çırağan Palace Kempinski.
It is not possible to offer a complete description of the food and drink varieties available in İstanbul, for its pebble, as a poet says, he would forfeit the whole of Persia. As I am writing down these lines in my office off the main street in Beyoğlu, a sound of violins and darbuka accompanied by rhythmical hand-clapping flows in through my open windows.It is late at night and I am impatient to go to a restaurant in İstanbul, filled with a sensation accentuated by having skipped lunch. I will start feeling guilty if I spend a little more time here and miss a charming, pleasurable dinner. Be true to yourself and never do anything that you'll regret in İstanbul.
