When you think of Turkey and its vicarious beauty and rich, diverse culture, you soon come to realize that much like its mosaic art pieces, their cuisine also reflects a kaleidoscopic nature. Encapsulated with a myriad of different influences and tastes, Turkish food is vivid and mostly hard to replicate outside the region. No wonder celebrated author Elif Shafak wrote, “I write with humor about sadness, to introduce an element of sweet to the sour, a bit like Turkish food.”
Turkish cuisine is deemed as one of the three most influential cuisines and in the same league as French and Chinese cuisine. More often than not it is addressed as the true fusion cuisine of the world. The palace food from Ottoman rule, the Armenian and Greek fusion food, and influences from Anatolia are the three main catalysts of the burst of flavors in Turkish delicacy.
Istanbul is very often referred as the crown jewel of 4 different empire that sits at the intersection of Europe and Asia. One of its many outcomes- the food being laced with politics, power politics, power, and tradition.
Food has always been intertwined with more than one aspect of Turkey. Visiting the imperial kitchen at Topkapi would reveal massive, industrial-sized chimney stacks and pots that were used to feed 4000-5000 people a day. Around 1300 people, a large army of chefs and their assistants would devote themselves to not only seamlessly cooking dishes but to perfecting them. It was also a competition of who could craft the most innovative and authentic dishes and one-up the others. Cooking up poached chicken with walnut sauce, rice pilaf, eggplants curated with spices, meatballs, salads with rose petals etc. tirelessly. It is safe to say that food is a tremendous source of passion for the Turkish people.
Moreover, food employs more than 25% of the population in Turkey, the rich culinary tradition helps build the career of numerous individuals. Turkey is also one of the very places in the world that can feed itself and has a food industry worth 14 billion USD. Which is an excellent opportunity for the buzzing city’s intellectual entrepreneurs. As authentic Turkish dishes like Koftas take a long preparation time and with the new surge of working couples in Turkey, it has been quite hard to get your hands on the traditional cooked Turkish delicacies. Besides, those dishes by default are cooked in large portions, difficult when you are a nuclear family and trying to save time. That is where the food entrepreneurs stepped in with brilliant solutions such as meal boxes that can be delivered instantly at your doorstep, making inhabitants feel relieved from feeding their kids non-stop fastfood.
Since the Ottoman empire controlled the spice trade for a long time, Turkish cuisine is heavily adorned with a plethora of spices. Spices such as flaked red pepper, saffron, sumac are some of the most popular ones used on the daily.
When we think of bread we often picture tourists strolling around Paris or New York, in Turkey the bread delicacy -such as simit is so popular that it is often used as measuring the living cost.
“If they say “you have your last chance to look at the world”, I wish that look would from Çamlıca of Istanbul.” said beautifully by poet Alphonse de Lamartine. Be it the Sultan’s Delight or Baklava, from savory to scrumptious desserts- Turkish cuisine has a delicacy to make anyone feel the most in their own element. A true treasure that you must taste at least once in your life.