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Upon some of my first holidays in Turkey, it became very apparent that Christian holidays are not widely understood. OK, Turkey is Muslim country, which means they really do not have a full understanding of many Christian holidays. But that's so odd though, because they weren't always Muslim... they were part of Constantin's empire, which means at some point there were Christian traditions and holidays, correct? And the similarities between Muslim and Christian religious events are numerous. (western style celebrations go unnoticed here unless you are in a more culturally diverse area)
On the topic of Holidays, because of Hollywood movies, many Turks know our western celebrations of Christmas and that's about it. Otherwise, look at many western and/or Christian holidays and compare them with Muslim or Islamic ones. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving (not Christian but it goes with the theme), Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, Valentine's Day and other Christian based days are in honor of a saint or religious observance, but we honor them by having fun, typically with the family. A gathering, a dinner, a party, families may celebrate differently, but they are usually geared towards a fun celebration with friends or family. Muslim and Islamic holidays are religious days, and that is where the general commonalities end. For a traditional Muslim, everyday is religious, and holidays are simply even more religious. Fasting, prayers and sacrifices. Many western Turks do not participate in the holidays as they used to because they find them too solemn. The people here that have the most fun on a holiday are westernized people who do not bury themselves in the heavily religious way of life.
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 I am also
Japanese/Korean/anything
but Singaporean by happyhormones
The things they commonly say:
- 'excuse me pls'
- 'can I ask you a question'
- 'just give me a minute'
- 'it's my unlucky day...*moan*' when you insist you have to go
- 'have a cup of tea, just one'
As a backpacker with no space in the backpack, there's no way I was going to buy a flying carpet. Leave a Comment
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If you use the grape vine leaves instead of vegetables in “dolma-stuffed vegetables” recipe, you’ll get “yaprak sarma”. You need to wrap the stuffing into the pickled leaves. A nice “sarma” need to be in 1cm of diameter. Pickled leaves could be salty, so add less salt to the stuffing.
Photos are showing how mom does sarma. I also wrapped some but mines were sloppy.
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I’m not sure which cuisines have bulgur but it has a very important place in our cuisine.There are many variations of bulgur pilaf. It is hard to write all recipes. I’ll try to write some of my favorites.
Pilav is a word we use both the dishes of boiled –not quite- rice and bulgur. And bulgur is more common in central Anatolia.
We have many types of bulgur. For making pilaf, you have to but “thick” bulgur. There are several smaller sizes, one of them is using for cigkofte (raw meatballs).
Here is my first favorite and the simple one:
Chop a big onion in semicircles (Is there a special term for this? We call it “moon shaped”)
Chop 1 or 2 green peppers in 1-2 mm thick slices
Chop peeled tomatoes in small pieces
Saute onions in a pan with vegetable oil (preferably olive oil), add chopped peppers after onions’ color is changed. Add tomatoes after pepper are cooked. Stir them and add 1-1,5 glass of bulgur. Add some salt and water. -I don’t use certain amounts while cooking. So just cover the mixture with water. If the bulgur is still hard after pilaf lost all its water, add some more water. After the water is finished and the bulgur is soft enough, leave it for five or ten minutes.
Photos show the phaese of first pilaf.
And the second is a special one, because many Turks don’t know it either. It is regional. Only people from Tokat, Amasya, Sivas know “Mercimekli Bulgur Pilavi” – “Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentils”.
Boil half or ¾ glasses of green lentils in a big pot. (Water’s amount is important because it is better not to add water again. But I cannot give a certain amount.) When the lentils get soft, add some salt and 1.5-2 glasses of bulgur. Also add a small amount of butter to pot, because we’ll add the rest later. Wait until the water is finished. Melt some butter in a pan. Pour the hot butter over the pilaf and mix it. After a few seconds, turn the heat of. Wait a little bit. Then serve it with a huge green salad seasoned with olive oil and vinegar, some pickled vegetables and/or yogurt.
(I usually cannot make the second pilaf as good as I want. Mine always gets sticky, my mother makes better. I think I add too much water.)
Bulgur pilafs go together well with green salads. Also they are used as garnish (not my recipes) in kebap dishes.
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I have visited only Marmara and Egean part and I completely agree with you.
I have fallen in love with non touristic Turkey and the people. There was a bit more agresive service selling in Istanbul or other touristic places, than in my country- but the people were also very nice (no complains). Even in tourist place restaurants (I prefered to stay where I saw Turks) I had feelings that I had a better service than 'local' people like some snacks or drinks for free (perhaps it's not true, or it was tricks but it worked anyway hahahaha).
However it is sad as you speak with the people and you see how society is divided for secular and islam part. Some 'secular' ones say that they even don't speak to 'muslims'. The main distinction for an outsider like me, between these two groups, was the dress code.
It happened that I spoke with Turks who where against 'islamic' dress code for women, so I still don't know another side view.
Personally- the dress code (of any gender) doesn't bother me if it's a free choice. Although I can imagine to feel a bit ambarassed if I see somebody completely hidden behind the cloth (it also concerns man) but also confused to see somebody in not accurate (like to much 'brave') clothes (also concerns man). Leave a Comment
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 Pismaniye - worth a try! by Pinat
It is believed that Izmit's pismaniye was introduced from Iran and/or Armenia by Armenian confectioners who settled in the town. The first person to produce pismaniye on a commercial scale in Izmit was an Armenian confectioner named Haci Agop Dolmaciyan. Ibrahim Ethem Efendi, who gave Turkish and French lessons to Dolmaciyan's children, learned how to make the helva during his frequent visits to his employ's's shop, and when Haci Agop closed his shop and emigrated during the First World War, Ibrahim Ethem Efendi opened his own pismaniye shop. All the other pismaniye makers in the town got their very first skills here in time. Leave a Comment
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 Turkish coffee by Pinat
Serving coffee to guests became a tradition with time. Ceremonies such as asking for a girl's hand in marriage, engagements, weddings, and religious feasts always included an hour of coffee drinking. And the words "Come by for a cup of coffee" were an invitation for a brief visit.
Such visits often took the form of "morning coffee" gatherings among women. Finishing up their early morning household chores, girls and women young and old would be ready for coffee by ten o'clock.
After the coffee was sipped from the cups, the cup would be shaken three times and turned upside down on its saucer for the fortune-telling ritual. Tapping the bottom of the cup three times with her index finger, its owner would silently make a wish. So make sure that when you have Turkish coffee in Turkey, there is someone around you with a philosophy of life who could tell fortunes. Upon request, she would pick up the now cold cup and tell its owner's fortune, expressing positive thoughts, advice and guidelines as she saw fit. What all did not transpire in these fortunes! News from the mouth of a bird, long journeys, evil eyes...
If you happen to meet me in Turkey and if we have coffee together, be my guest for coffee fortune-telling. Though what I will tell you may be far from reality, it is always fun to have this ritual after a cup of coffee. Leave a Comment
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Mevlana was a mystic who addressed all people, regardless of their faith or ethnic origin, speaking of love of God, truth, humanity and nature. He was born in the city of Balkh in Turkestan in the 13th century, and later settled in the city of Konya in Turkey. He became one of the greatest mystic philosophers of all time, and laid the foundations of modern existentialism that had begun with Heraclitos.
All the pleasures which God has granted men should be accepted as life itself, because life is full of extraordinary beauty. The object of existence is to feel that one exists, and experience the presence of God in all existence. The will of God lies in life itself, so making people aware of both themselves and love of God, other people, and the natural world.
Mevlana wrote his quatrains for God and dedicated them to Him. He always wrote about the need for true existence. He wrote love poems to truth, that is, God. Divine love is the sole objective of spiritual life. Everything in the universe is spinning, and the dervishes seek true love of the divine by spinning themselves. Whirling to the enchanting sound of the ney, they attain consciousness of God.
Seb-i Arus, meaning Night of Union, is a ceremony held every year on the anniversary of Mevlana's death. It begins after the afternoon prayer with the reading of the Koran. According to Mevlana's teachings, human beings are born twice, once of their mothers and the second time of their own bodies. The real birth is the second, spiritual birth. Mevlevi dervishes, guided by a spiritual leader, are expected to live as members of a Mevlevi lodge, according to the principles of his teaching. A long period of spiritual progress is necessary before they can participate in the whirling dance, for which they wear a tall cap symbolising the tomb of carnality, and a white robe which is its shroud. They dance to music played on the ney, a type of flute. Leave a Comment
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 Boozaaaa by Pinat
Boza is a cold drink made from fermented grain and has a slightly acidic sweet flavour. It is a drink of great antiquity, first originating in Mesopotamia 8.000-9.000 years ago. The Greek historian Xenophon records that boza was made in eastern Anatolia in 401 BC, and stored in clay jars that were buried under the ground. This local speciality remained confined to the region. Then the Turks arrived and took to this nourishing drink and spread it far and wide under the name boza, a word deriving from the Persian buze meaning millet. Boza enjoyed its golden age under the Ottomans, and boza making became one of the principal trades in towns and cities from the early Ottoman period.
In 1876 Haci Salih Bey established a boza shop in the Istanbul district of Vefa, close to the then centre of entertainment, Direklerarasi. This boza, with its thick consistency and tart flavour, became famous throughout the city, and is the only boza shop dating from that period still in business today. The firm, ”Vefa Bozacisi” is now run by Haci Salih Bey's great-great-grandchildren. Leave a Comment
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 This is how helva looks like. by Pinat
Although the Turkish love of sweet foods is known worldwide, this was not the case in the ancient past, as Central Asian Turkic cuisines almost completely lack in sweet dishes. Instead, the Turks acquired their taste for sweet confectionery in the lands of western Asia and the Middle East, where such foods were a deep-rooted tradition.
There are various types of helva but is basically made from wheat flour, starch or semolina and sugar. For those who love sweets, here is my mother-in-law's very own flour helva recipe:
Flour Helva for 10-12 People
Ingredients
250 grams of butter
500 grams (4 cups) of flour
1 litre (4 cups) of water
1 kg of sugar
200 grams of coarsely ground walnuts
Method
1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and when hot add the flour. Stir constantly over a very low heat for about 30 minutes until the flour is a rich amber colour.
2. Add boiling water a little at a time, stir well and cover the pan. Continue to cook until the water has been absorbed.
3. Add the sugar and stir, then cook for a few more minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat.
4. Stir in the walnuts. Take a spoonful at a time and shape by hand as desired. Arrange on a serving dish.
Afiyet olsun:) (Enjoy your meal:) Leave a Comment
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