Ramadan in Turkey

Ramadan in Turkey
AN IFTAR WORTHY OF SULTANS
Chef Kadir Yılmaz of Matbah Restaurant in Sultanahmet, Istanbul invites guests
to discover the cuisine of the Ottoman palace and enjoy more than just a meal
Ramadan pide is
a type of flat
yeast bread
BY NILGUN YILMAZ
We are in the garden
of Matbah
Restaurant, right
next to the Hagia
Sophia. The view from the centre
of the garden is of the madrasa
located right by the restaurant.
The decor, ambiance and music
are enchanting. But what’s more
special is that the restaurant’s
recipes are exclusively from the
kitchen of the Ottoman palace.
The venue gets its name from
Matbah-i Amire (Palace Kitchen)
and strives to preserve that legacy
and cuisine.
We spot a note on the menu:
“We will not accept payment for
meals you do not enjoy.” So here’s
a risk-free experience for iftar in
Ramadan. Chef Kadir Yılmaz, a
student of the Ottoman cuisine
for 20 years, offers us a glass of
sherbet as we start talking.
What makes the Topkapi Palace’s
kitchen special for you?
The palace cuisine is a rich one,
nurtured by the legacy of all those
who lived in Ottoman territories. I
was lucky that my chef Rasit Ozdemir
was immensely keen on
sustaining it and his enthusiasm
sparked mine as well. The cuisine
is quite different. Every dish
features a particular meat, spices,
cooking method and presentation
style. I’ve been in this business for
22 years, but I’m excited about it
as I was when I first started.
How did you manage to find the
recipes?
Going through the Ottoman
Dessert isn’t so innocent,
and it’s hard to
enjoy it in peace especially
if you have put
on a few extra pounds. However,
this doesn’t mean you can’t indulge
your sweet tooth once in
a while, especially if you are on a
vacation in Istanbul with a dessert
culture, which is as delicious
as it is ancient. Refined sugar may
have seeped into Turkish cuisine
as late as the 17th century but the
residents of Istanbul were happily
indulging in desserts much before
that. The halwas -- sweetened
using molasses and honey
-- Turkish delights and fruit desserts
were meal staples during
the reign of the Ottomans. There
is no doubt that the arrival of refined
sugar enriched its sweets
further. Those who have visited
Istanbul must have noticed that
it’s hard to find a street without a
dessert or a baklava shop.
archives requires a strong command
of Ottoman Turkish as
well as academic know-how.
We compile recipes that the researchers
have uncovered, and
then we try to adapt it to contemporary
times, which is quite difficult
considering that even the
measurements used then were
different. Sometimes the kitchen
resembles a laboratory with the
whole lot of us referring to various
sources while creating a particular
dish. We try to develop suitable
formulas by experimenting with
them. Visual aesthetics is another
point to take into consideration.
We add a dish to the menu only
after trying it out again and again
and after getting approval from
our patrons.
As far as we can see from the
menu, the cuisine is made up of
mainly meat dishes.
It’s a very rich cuisine that
utilises an abundance of items.
While suckling lamb is the preferred
choice, game, duck, goose,
Chef Kadir Yılmaz of Matbah
Restaurant in Sultanahmet
Sweetest ISTANBUL
A slice of baklava after
breaking your fast, a few
pieces of Turkish delight
with coffee, or a cookie with
your tea – here are some of
the most exclusive spots in
Istanbul’s dessert culture
TRADITIONAL DELICACIES
The centrepieces of Istanbul’s
dessert culture are Turkish delight
and Akide (colourful and aromatic
candy). Akide candy was
handed out in bonus distribution
ceremonies to Janissary corps
during the Ottoman era and was
a symbol of the Janissaries’ satisfaction
with the reigning sultan,
as well as their loyalty to him.
Rose, hazelnut, cinnamon, and
mint flavours are popular among
most people, while children prefer
banana and strawberry.
Turkish delight, made of water,
sugar and starch, is also
among the most important desserts
in the country. It is an old
Istanbul tradition to offer mint or
rose-flavoured Turkish delight
after meals to guests, to freshen
the palate. It should be noted
that the store where Turkish
delight was invented, Ali Muhiddin
Haci Bekir, still operates in
its Eminonu and Istiklal Street
branches (hacibekir.com). You
can also head to Halis Bekrizade
in Karakoy for these. (Tersane
Cad. No.5 Karakoy).
WITH SHERBET, OR MILK?
Baklava is a widely consumed
dessert in the Middle East and
Greece. Istanbul too offers some
quail, chicken, freshwater fish
and seafood are also used to a
great extent. Special hunting
teams were formed for the palace.
One of the key points was the
use of local and seasonal ingredients.
Each ingredient was sourced
from where it was best produced.
Meats are for the most part
cooked with dry fruits like apricots,
grapes and figs and fresh
fruits such as apples, pears and
melons. We currently have nearly
300 dishes. Before we add them
to the menu, we try out and select
those that are most suitable
for the season and today’s palate.
What went on at the Ottoman
palace during the holy month?
In addition to the main dishes,
sherbet, dessert and halva came
to prominence in Ramadan during
the Ottoman era. We, too, revamp
our menu every Ramadan.
We welcome our guests with a
sumptuous iftar spread. Among
soups, I recommend the almond
soup. Followed by the sailor’s roll
as an appetiser, and then the
lamb shank as the main dish.
Guests can try the almond halva
for dessert. We have a rich halva
menu as it was an important
dessert in the Ottoman palace. A
special halva-making shop was
built, and halva was treated as
not only dessert but also medicine.
Sherbet would be a perfect
end to the meal. I recommend
hibiscus, rose, melon seed and
tamarind sherbet.
amazing baklava specialities
made by chefs from Gaziantep.
You should also try rolled baklava
made by stuffing very thin filo
dough sheets with ground pistachio.
Baklava should ideally be
enjoyed in the first few days after
it is made, but if you are going
to take it with you back home,
you should tell the shopkeeper.
He will pack it accordingly. Karakoy
Gulluoglu can help you with
that (Rihtim Cad. No.3 Karakoy).
Not all the desserts you can
enjoy in Istanbul are heavy on
calories. This is a city with a
strong milk dessert culture, and
you can find many stores around
you that stock only milk desserts.
Muhallebi, made from
starch, milk, and eggs; sutlac (rice
pudding) made with rice; keskul,
made with almonds and rice
flour; and tavukgogsu, made from
ground chicken breast, are light
and healthy milk desserts. Hafiz
Mustafa in Sirkeci is also a wellknown
place for milk desserts, as
well as baklava and Turkish delight.
(hafizmustafa.com).
One can trace the influence
of the Balkans on Istanbul’s dessert
culture with marzipan as the
city has mastered it well. You can
count on the almond marzipan
as well as pistachio and hazelnut
pastes. For instance, Bebek Badem
Ezmecisi has only one location
and produces almond and
pistachio marzipan using traditional
methods under its brand
(Cevdet Pasa Cad. 53 Bebek).
SPECIALLY
BAKED
FOR RAMADAN
SPECIALLY BAKED
If you’re going to spend time in Istanbul during
FOR Ramadan, don’t RAMADAN
miss out on the joy of breaking fast
with warm, freshly baked pide (Turkish flatbread)
BY AYSE KAYA
For the past few years,
Ramadan in Istanbul
has coincided with
summer. The weather
is wonderful. In a historic and
traditional part of Sariyer, one
of Istanbul’s northern neighbourhoods,
I walk towards
the bakery on my way home
from work. There’s a 150-metre-long
queue in front of me.
Everyone is waiting in line for
the same thing: The musthave
of iftar (the meal at sunset
that breaks the fast) meals
in Turkey–warm, freshly
baked Ramadan pide bread.
Even if you’re tired and hungry,
the amazing smell of leavened
bread, sesame, and black
cumin seed wafting in the air
gives you enough reason to
wait in line for 20 minutes.
Ramadan pide is a type of
flat yeast bread. It has a very
different texture and taste
compared to conventional pita.
It is topped with sesame
and black cumin seeds, and
brushed with whisked egg. It
can be found only during the
month of Ramadan, during iftar
and suhoor (pre-dawn
meal before the fast), and because
its taste changes when
it cools down, it must be purchased
right before a meal.
That’s why people form long
lines for it.
It’s not unusual for the
youngest member of the family,
who is usually sent to the
bakery to buy the pide, to nibble
on their first pide before
they bring it home. I live alone,
and I don’t have such luxury; I
have to buy my own pide.
BUTTER AND
CHEESE COMBO
A good pide must be
cooked in a stone, wood-fired
oven. When you walk into
the bakery, you will see pides
and breads being prepared in
front of you. The dough master
sprinkles the balls of dough
in his hands with flour, and
then gives each of them a circular
shape with his fingers.
He makes little round indents
on the top and decorates the
dough. As he loads the pide
loaves onto the peel, a freshly
baked batch comes out of the
oven. This appetising smell is
the hardest stage of preserving
your self-control.
Do not slice the pide before
it cools down; tear off pieces
with your hands instead.
Turks usually break their
fast first with a glass of water,
and then a piece of warm
pide with butter and cheese.
Other popular sides with pide
are tulum (a traditional Turkish
goat’s milk cheese), walnuts,
yogurt, olives, jam, and,
for children, hazelnut spread.
Pide is an appropriate choice
for those who like the crispy
crust of the bread, rather
than the inside. If you’re in Istanbul
during Ramadan, don’t
deprive yourself of the joy of
spreading butter on warm pide,
and, even better, sharing
pide with someone.
HOW TO BAKE RAMADAN PIDE AT HOME
To bake the perfect Ramadan pide, first you need a yeast mix.
Mix 2 packets of fast- rising dry yeast, half a tablespoon of salt,
a dessert spoon of sugar, and 200ml of tepid water in a deep
bowl and let it sit for 2 minutes. Add 500 grams of flour to the mix
and knead for 10 minutes. Let the dough rise for approximately 2
hours in an oiled pan until it doubles. Spread the dough on a 14-
inch pizza pan. You can brush it with egg yolks and sprinkle with
sesame or black cumin seeds if you like. Bake in the oven for 12–
18 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. Enjoy!
12 > 13 GLOBAL CONNECTION JUNE 2015