10 Reasons Why I Love Turkish Cuisine:
1. Turkey can produce enough food to sustain its people (one out of seven countries in the world that can do this!)
2. Yogurt is a staple to complement dishes.
3. Dolma. This rice-and-meat-stuffed vegetables dish reminds me of stuffed kusa (squash) from Jordan, but tastes so much yummier.
4. Rice, wheat, vegetables are staples for Turkish cuisine. My favorite things in food.
5. Among the seasons often used are dill, mint, parsley, cinnamon, garlic, cumin, and sumac. I don't even like dill, parsley, and cinnamon in dishes, but there's something about the way Turks cook.
6. Eggplant, zucchini, beans, artichokes, and cabbage are the most common vegetables to eat.
7. Simit is like a soft sesame pretzel sold on the streets. I could eat them forever.
8. Kebap- grilled meat which is similar to shish kebob. The meat is skewered in between vegetables and onions and flavored perfectly.
9. Turkish coffee. For coffee lovers, it is definitely something to experience. While the grounds are very thick, part of the experience in drinking the coffee is telling your fortune with the dregs. In order to do that, you put a small plate on top of the coffee cup and flip the entire thing over so that the plate is flat and the coffee cup upside on it. You wait until the cup is cold and then you interpret the globby remnants!
10. Baklava- paired with Turkish coffee or tea, not too sweet, not too less, textured...this is the icing on the cake for Turkish cuisine.
Unlike most cuisines, Turkish cuisine did not happen as an accident. It was the product of its geographical environment, social atmosphere, and thriving empire that indulged in all things lavish- including perfecting recipes for the royal palace. Its cross-roads location between Europe and Asia allowed for an effective spice trade as well as receiving influences from both ends, amalgamating in what is Turkish cuisine today.
References:
http://www.turkishculture.org/culinary-arts/cuisine/turkish-food-302.htm?type=1
http://www.foodbycountry.com/Spain-to-Zimbabwe-Cumulative-Index/Turkey.html
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