Ramadan in Turkey

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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
Ramadan in Turkey MORE THAN A SHOPPING CENTRE: A CENTRE OF ATTRACTION, ZORLU SHOPPING MALL Zorlu is a unique shopping mall in the heart of Istanbul, a magnet for international interest that is “the city’s new meeting point”. Generating powerful synergies with Zorlu’s other functions, including the Performing Arts Center, Raffles Hotel, residences and offices, Zorlu Shopping Mall features a range of high profile stores opening in Turkey for the first time, ambitious gourmet offerings and an alfresco city square concept in Istanbul and one of the most talked-about malls in Europe. With approximately 180 stores comprising 70,000 square meters of gross leasable area along with a 10,000 square meters main square adjoined by a 12,000 square meters park, Zorlu Shopping Mall is a new urban destination built on a 105,000 square meters property, the centerpieces of which are its inviting squares and green spaces, which offer a combination of alfresco and enclosed areas. Beymen, Turkey’s top highend multi-brand retailer, opened a 9,600 square meters flagship store with an all-new concept at Zorlu Shopping Mall. Apple opened its first store in Turkey at Zorlu Shopping Mall using the iconic “cube store” format of its New York location. Other brands opening their first stores in Turkey at Zorlu Shopping Mall including Brooks Brothers, Industrie Denim, Cos, Lanvin, Pomellato, Stella McCartney and Superdry. In addition to fashion leaders such as Dolce&Gabbana, Valentino, Saint Laurent, Tiffany & Co., Fendi, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry, Cavalli, Michael Kors, Moncler, Mont Blanc, Vakko, Sevan Bicakci, Sponza, Urart and Max&Co., Zorlu Shopping Mall also features locomotive brands like Beymen Club, GAP, Pinko, Faconnable, Tommy Hilfiger, Gant, Network, Ipekyol, Abdullah Kigili, Koton, Mango, Yargici and Lacoste, as well as, at 3,000 square meters, the largest H&M location in Turkey. Zorlu Shopping Mall also sets itself apart with its gourmet dining concepts. In addition to gourmet restaurants coming to Turkey for the first time like Eataly, Jamie’s Italian, Tom’s Kitchen, Morini, Zorlu Center also highlights fresh and exciting new concepts from Turkish restaurants including Parle, Kosebasi and Gunaydin Kofte. Zorlu Shopping Mall also features home décor, consumer electronics and special interest stores such as Crate and Barrel, Linens, Chakra, Esse, English Home, Monev, Pasabahce, Vestel, Bimeks Teknoport, Sony and D&R, as well as stores featuring eye-catching collections for kids including Burberry Kids, Carter’s, Imaginarium, Jacadi, Joker Baby, Joker Toys, Mothercare, Superkids and Tartine et Chocolat.Zorlu Shopping Mall’s newly developed lighting technology adjusts the lighting system on different floors of the mall to changes in levels of daylight. Visitors enjoy outstanding weather whenever they visit thanks to superior design that includes ice and snow melting systems in the square and all walkways, while the alfresco space brings boutique shopping to Zorlu Shopping Mall. Zorlu Shopping Mall brings movie lovers an exceptional cinematic experience at the 1,600 person Cinemaximum, which features a total of 14 cinemas, including two VIP cinemas. Located in the heart of modern Istanbul, Zorlu Shopping Mall is within walking distance of the prestigious Levazim and Zincirlikuyu neighborhoods. Moreover, Zorlu Shopping Mall is easy to reach thanks to access tunnels connecting it to the Istanbul metro and the metrobus system. Visitors can access Zorlu Shopping Mall from a variety of routes, with eyecatching and user-friendly wayfinding making it easy to reach via Ulus, Levent, Levazim, Barbaros Boulevard and Zincirlikuyu. RAMADAN AT ZORLU During Ramadan, Zorlu will be hosting a wide range of activities targeting both adults and kids. There will be traditional music concerts held in the Zorlu Park area between 23rd June and 30th June. There will also be an exhibition of Karagoz and Hacivat, the lead characters in the traditional Turkish shadow play. In addition, there will be Karagoz and Hacivat events for kids including puppet workshops, a puppet show and a diverse 40-minute show of the shadow play. Also during Ramadan, there will be mini-kid workshop events including making kites, painting flowerpots, planting small greenhouses, etc. RC GULF_29,5x22 cm copy.pdf 1 01.06.2015 15:16
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