Turkish food

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Posted at 11:02AM, 15 April 2008 by Gregg Wallace - TV presenter, greengrocer

I've just got back from a wonderful week away with my kids, a truly lovely time in Turkey, in a little town called Kas. Obviously I'd love to recount the tales of kayaking and horse riding, but this is a food blog.

Wow! The cuisine of Turkey must be one of the healthiest in the world. I remember banging on about kebabs on an earlier blog. I can't understand the bad press kebabs get, when they seem to be lean meat and raw veg.

My favourite memory is the cook delivering bread to my table on a huge wooden paddle he had just lifted from the wood burning oven...

Turkey is all about veg, starting a meal with mezze - little pots of goodies, pickled vegetables, veggie dips, roughly chopped tomatoes, sliced cucumbers. Fish is more expensive than meat. Chicken and of course lamb are popular. Whether meat or fish, it's always cooked simply and with consideration for the ingredient - usually cooked on a grill over coals. Fantastic!

I had truly wonderful lunches, sometimes beside a river, sometimes halfway up a mountain; prepared and presented in no time at all, with no fuss; chopped vegetables and salad, grilled meats, yoghurt and a squeeze of lemon, perfect. Oh sorry, forgot bread, there was great bread and in large quantities. My favourite memory is the cook delivering bread to my table on a huge wooden paddle he'd just lifted from the wood burning oven.

I have one complaint. As a Londoner I am used to having chilli sauce on my kebabs. That's how it's always been. You order the kebab across the counter and the man asks 'Chilli sauce, salad, everything my friend?' No chilli sauce in Turkey! I asked everywhere. The Turkish cooks I spoke to consider this to be an Arabic phenomenon, and seemed much amused by Anglo-Turk kebabs. Perhaps I will take some London kebab cooks over to Turkey and show them how to do it properly...with chilli sauce.

Comments

julie

15 April 2008, 12:12PM
julie

I spent two weeks in Turkey, hols in 1997 Ithink that was the year, the food was fabulous, we ate different cuisine's every night. Indian, Turkish, Italian, English the list goes on. I have to agree over 10 years ago it was good then, I'll bet its even better now!

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Rich

16 April 2008, 7:33PM
Rich

The best kebabs I have tasted are cooked by the Turkish in Berlin Germany. The salads and extras that come with them are the best ever.

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sigrid

17 April 2008, 7:57AM
sigrid

Turkish food is simply great :-) I've collected some street food pics on my last trip to istanbul - my blog being in italian it might be hard to read but anyway, you can still have a look at the fotos if you want to :-) http://www.cavolettodibruxelles.it/2007/09/piccolo-istanbulario

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Crazy Canuck

17 April 2008, 9:43PM
Crazy Canuck

When my husband and I were in Turkey in '94, we went to a restaurant in Antalya that was built into an old city wall. We sat on the roof of the restaurant, where there was also an outdoor bar with a lemon tree growing next to it. When the bartender wanted a lemon, he just picked one! The head waiter came by our table, after we had looked over the menu, and held out a beautiful, fresh fish and said, "This is what we would like to cook for you this evening!" He then went into a lengthy description of how he would cook it for us--we were salivating! It was Sea bass, he wrapped it in foil with onions, other veg. and herbs, butter and wine, and it was delicious! I loved Turkey. Glad you had a great time too.

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juliet

18 April 2008, 12:28PM
juliet

Hi I live in Hackney in London and at the top of Stoke Newington High St you will find some of the best Turkish restaurants in England! Nearly all of them have their own big in door type barbecues over which they cook everything from kebabs, lamb chops, fish, aubergines and tomatoes. These mains are normally served with rice and a gorgeous big salad for everyone at the table to share. When it comes to starters you can never limit yourself to one little meze dish! My particular favourite is ispanak tarator; spinach yoghurt and garlic combination lapped up with hot turkish bread, all washed down with some lovely white wine. I regularly eat out at a selection of these restaurants and I'm always surprised at the bill. Selection of starters, mains for 2 and 2 bottles of wine will cost you roughly Â£40, a complete delicious bargain!!!

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Gregg

20 April 2008, 6:13PM
Gregg

Ok Juliet, I have a flat in Clerkenwell, when are we going to dine in Stoke Newington ?

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sunshine-fairy

28 May 2008, 9:41PM
sunshine-fairy

Oh crikey, Gregg. What a dilemma. I live in Kas and would have loved to guide you through the various hot-pepper options. You could have had local aci-sos (chilli sauce), though it's not the norm here to serve it with a kebab, but Aleppo pepper or just bog-standard 'pul biber' (crushed hot red fresh chillies) are on every counter and are truly 'the business' on a kebab (which we call 'durum'), with no horrid hint of sogginess. If you are back in this part of the world again, don't hesitate to ask for clearly much-needed help. And our guidance goes way beyond kebabs, into meze and beyond!

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