|
GRILLED MEATS
“Kebab” is another category of food which, like the börek, is
typically Turkish dating back to the time when the nomadic Turks
learned to grill and roast meat over camp fires.
Given the numerous types of kebabs, it helps to realize that they
are categorized by the way the meat is cooked. The Western world
knows the “şiş kebab” and the “döner” introduced to them mostly by
Greek entrepreneurs, who have a good nose for what will sell! Şiş
kebab is grilled cubes of skewered meat. Döner kebab is made by
stacking alternating layers of ground meat and sliced leg of lamb on
a large upright skewer, which is slowly rotated in front of a
vertical grill. As the outer layer of the meat s roasted, thin
slices are shaved off and served.
There are numerous other grilled kebabs including those cooked in a
clay oven. It should be noted that the unique taste of kebabs is due
more to the breeds of sheep and cattle raised in open marinades and
ways of cooking. Therefore, you should stop at a kebab reataurant in
Turkey to taste the authentic item. Kebabçı is by far the most
common and the least expensive type of restaurant, ranging froma
hole in the wall to a large and lavish establishment. Kebab is the
traditional Turkish response to fast food and at the same time is
not unhealthy for you. A generic kebabçı will have lahmacun (meat
pide) and “Adana Kebab” (spicy, skewered ground meat, named after
the southern city where it was born), salad greens with red onions
and baklava to top it all off. Beyond that the menu will tell you
the speciality of the kebapçı. The best plan is to seek out the
well-known ones and to try the less spicy types if you are not used
to kebab. Once you develop a taste for it, you can have inexpensive
feasts by goin to the neighborhood kebapçı anywhere in the city.
“Izgara” (grilled), is how the main course meat dishes are prepared
at a meat restaurant. Mixed grills are likely to include lamb chops,
“köfte” or “şiş”. The way of preparing ground meat will be the “köfte”.
These are grilled, fried, oven-cooked or boiled, after being mixed
with special spices, eggs, and grated onions and carefully shaped
into balls, oblongs, or round or long patties. Another popular dish
is raw meat balls, inspired by the nomadic Turks who carried spiced,
raw meat in their saddles, and is known to Europeans as “steak
Tartar”. It is made of raw, twice-ground meat, by kneading it with
thin bulgur and hot spices vigorously for a new hours. Then
bite-size patties are made, and served with chilantro, known for its
stomach-protecting qualities.
Some restaurants specialize only in grilled meats, in which case
they are called meat restaurants. The fare will be a constant stream
of grilled meats served hot in portions straight off the grill,
untill you tell the waiter that you are full. The best one is Beyti
in Florya, Istanbul, ant the best way to get there is to take the
commuter train from Sirkeci, the main train station on the European
side, rather than negotiating the highway traffic. This way you can
also see the local folk, especially the kids who seem to use the
train to the fullest, out for their summer holiday adventures of
fishing and possible some variety of mischief. |
