These are a few of my favorite things...

Recently a friend of mine asked me about the best thing I've had to eat so far in Turkey. I couldn't choose just one thing! The culinary traditions here are so rich and varied, not to mention old, and each region has at least one specialty. Last year I posted a Turkish menu for Mabon, complete with recipes. I thought today I could share with you all a few of the dishes that I particularly enjoy.

Iskender (Bursa) Kebap




Iskender kebap is a kind of döner kebab prepared from thinly cut grilled lamb or beef basted with tomato sauce over pieces of pide bread and generously slathered with melted butter and yogurt. It originated in Bursa. "Kebapçı İskender" is trademarked by Yavuz İskenderoğlu, whose family still runs the restaurant in Bursa, which I have visited. It's a rather hefty meal, but perfect on a cold day.


İmam bayıldı (The Imam Fainted)




This is one of the better-known zeytinyağlı (olive oil) dishes. It is braised eggplant stuffed with parsley, tomatoes, onion and garlic. It is simmered in olive oil and served cold. This is NOT a low-cal dish, but boy is it good!

As for the name, there are several stories. One version is that the imam fainted with pleasure because the dish is so tasty. Another version says he fainted because of the amount of costly olive oil that went into preparing the dish. Whatever the story, I always close my eyes and savor this yummy meze when it's served in the cafeteria. The cafeteria cooks add currants too.


Zeytinyağlı biber dolması




This is another cold olive oil dish. It's also the only dish out of the three that I have prepared at home. I was tempted to make the eggplant meze over the weekend, but I just can't consciously consume that much olive oil in one recipe. I'm happy to remain ignorant of the fat content and eat it the 2-3 time I see it in the cafeteria a month. I use less olive oil in the pepper recipe.

These peppers are stuffed with rice, pine nuts, currants and spices, and usually topped with a slice of tomato before cooking. I use cinnamon instead of allspice in my recipe. The filling also includes fresh parsley, dill, mint, garlic and onion. *drool* I can never pass this up. I like the stuffed peppers better than the more popular vine leaves.

There you have it. Those are some of my favorite Turkish dishes. There are a few others that I enjoy, and fortunately the internet is full of English translations of the recipes. One of my favorite Turkish food sites is Almost Turkish. The link for this site can be found on the lefthand side of this blog.

As they say here, Afiyet olsun!