Turkish cuisine - Tolerance in the Multicultural Life

“TOLERANCE IN THE MULTICULTURAL LIFE OF 21ST CENTURY
EUROPE”
COMENIUS INTERNATIONAL MEETING
Sora, Italy
27th February – 2nd March 2012
TURKISH CUISINE
•History
•Social Food Culture
•Folk Cuisine
•A few Recipes
 History
The great 11th century Turkish writers
Yusuf Has Hacib and Kaşgarlı Mahmud gave
us very detailed information on Turkish
cuisine, as they did on almost every subject.
YUSUF HAS HACİP
KAŞGARLI MAHMUD
As for Kaşgarlı, he introduces us to 11th century
Turkish cuisine from the aspects both of space
as well as its material culture, and also provides
information, sometimes very detailed, on
various dishes and their preparation.
At the top of the list of other foods was
certainly meat and meat dishes. In the 11th
century, Turks used to eat mostly mutton.
A plate of delicious mutton
Social Food Culture
Throughout our country, eating habits exhibit
variety according to history, region, and even
among various sections of society such as urban
or village dwellers. In addition, there are most
common features despite these differences.
To give a few examples of Turks’ culinary wealth: In
the Black Sea region the many different ways of
preparing hamsi, a sardine-like fish, indicates the
richness of our cuisine: Fried hamsi, hamsi bread,
pilaf, köfte, dible, boiled, grilled, in börek, steamed
with onions and tomatoes... the list goes on.
Hamsi Pilaff
Hamsi bread
Patty with Hamsi
We also have a great variety of eggplant dishes,
salads and types of kebab (roast meats). Bıldırcın
kebabı, çevirme kebabı, kuzu çevirme, şiş kebabı,
pideli kebap, Adana kebap, tas kebabı and are just a
few of the many examples.
Kuzu Çevirme
Kuzu Kebap ( Lamb Kebap)
In generally, we observe the following
characteristics in Turkish foods:
 Nomadism and the agricultural economic structure
have affected Turkish food.
 Foods exhibit variety according to our country’s
geographical regions.
 Foods generally exhibit differentiation according to
families’ socioeconomic level.
 The variety of foods is indicative of reciprocal
influence with other cultures.
 Our cuisine is influenced by our religious structure,
norms and values.
 Eating habits display a certain degree of
differentiation according to gender.
Folk Cuisines
Naturally, Turkish rural cooking covers many
different local features of the various Turkish
peoples living over a broad geographical area.
But we find the greatest variety of ingredients
in Anatolia and Thrace, because just as in other
areas of Turkish folklore, its culinary traditions
are also extraordinarily rich.
Still, whichever the region, there are common
points among Turkey’s folk cuisines. The most
important of these are grains, legumes, and
various types of fruits and vegetables.
Grains
Legumes
Alongside these agricultural products, animal
products are also mainstays of Turkish folk
cooking. A great variety of meats appear at
meals, from mutton to beef, chicken and
partridge, prepared in a wealth of styles.
Braised Meat
Chicken
Partridge
ENJOY YOUR MEAL… 