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GRAINS : BREAD TO BÖREK
The foundation of Turkish food is, if anything, dough made of wheat
flour.
Besides “ekmek” (ordinary white bread), “pide” (flat bread), “simit”
(sesame seed rings), and “mantý” (similar to ravioli), a whole
family of food made up of thin sheets of a pastry called “börek”
falls into this category.
The bakers of the Ottoman period believed that after his expulsion
from the Garden of Eden, Adam, the Patron Saint of Bakers, learned
how to make bread from the Archangel Gabriel. Obviously, the secret
is still held dear by present-day Turkish bakers. No other bread
tastes like everyday Turkish bread. One realizes the wonderful luury
of Turkish bread only upon leaving the country. This glorious food
is enjoyed in large quantities and is loved by all, rich and poor,
simple and sophisticated. Every neighborhood has a bread bakery that
produces the golden, crisp loaves twice a day, morning and
afternoon, filling the streets with their irresistible and wholesome
aroma. People pick up a few loaves on their way home from work, and
end up eating the crisp ends by the time they get there. After a
hard day’s work, holding the warm loaf is the best reward,
convincing one that all is well.
Ekmek, pide and simit are meant to be eaten the same day they are
baked, as they useally are. The leftover ekmek goes into a variety
of dishes, becomes chicken feed, or is mixed with milk for the
neighborhood cats.
Mantý small dumplings of dough filled with a special meat mix, are
eaten with generous serving of garlic yogurt and a dash of melted
butter with paprika. This is a meal in itself as a Sunday lunch
affair for the whole family, to be followed by an afternoon nap.
Börek is a dish for special occasions and requires great skill and
patience, unless you have thin sheets of dough already rolled out
bought from your corner grocery store. Anyone who can accomplish
this delicatetask using the rolling pin, becomes the most sought-out
person in their circle of family and friends. The sheets are then
leyered or folded into various shapes before being filled with
cheese or meat mixed and baked or fried. Every household enjoys at
least five different varieties of börek as a regular part of its
menu.
Along with bread “pilav” is another staple of the Turkish kitchen.
The most common versions are the cracked-wheat pilaf and the rice
pilaf. A good cracked-wheat pilaf made with whole onions, sliced
tomatoes, green peppers sauteed in butter, and boiled in beef stock
is a meal in itself. Many versions of the rice pilaf accompany
vegetable and meat dishes. The distinguishing feature of the Turkish
pilaf is the soft buttery morsels of rice which readily roll off
your spoon, rather than sticking together in a mushy clump. |
