destinations

Nathan Fong by Photography by Michel Chicoine T48 taste& travel international april–juneurkish 2014 destinations

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Delightapril–june 2014 taste& travel international 49 destinations turkey

lying over the former ancient metropolis of , the once-glorious capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires, I was overwhelmed by the sheer scope and size of ‘new’ . This ancient city, which had been engrained in my memory since I was a child attending bible classes, has always been an area of intrigue, from its tumultuous beginnings under the Eastern FOrthodox Christians of the Byzantine Empire, to its capture by the , and final collapse in 1923 when the country was replaced by the new Republic of Turkey, named after its founder, Mustafa Atatürk. The capital was moved to Ankara, and the renamed Istanbul continued to thrive and grow as one of the most historically rich and diverse financial cities in the world. It is a city divided by polarizations, yet everything seems to work and blend harmoniously. Once the largest and wealthiest city in the Eastern Mediterranean, its fortune was due to its strategic position on the famed Silk Road trading route between the Aegean and Black Seas, at the meeting point between Western Europe and the glorious wealth and mystique of continental Asia… making it the only transcontinental city in the world! Driving through this traffic-crazed urban agglomeration of some 14 million, one forgets that the city was built along the steep shoreline of the swift- paced Bosphorus, the straight that forms the boundary between Europe and Asia, not to mention the soaring hills and narrow roadways that were originally built for horse and carriage. Istanbul’s lack of a decent rapid transit system and the challenges it offers the automobile are thought to be the main reasons Istanbul did not get the nod for the summer Olympics Turkey in 2020. Where on Earth

50 taste& travel international april–june 2014 destinations

Cook it turkey

Serves 6–8 Roasted red peppers are blended with , and to make a wonderful hot pepper dip. Originally made with the famed Aleppo peppers from Syria, this popular dip is found throughout the Middle East as well as Turkey. This recipe is from ‘In the Kitchen with Selin’ Turkish Flavours Cooking Class in Istanbul.

Red Bell Peppers a paper bag and seal tightly, 3 large or place into a deep bowl Walnuts 1 3/4cups and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let peppers sit until Paste 1 Tbs cool enough to handle, about Crumbs 3/4cup 15 minutes, then slip off the

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Xxxxxx Extra-Virgin Olive Oil charred skins and remove seeds 3/4 cup from the interior. Lemon Juice1 2 Place the walnuts in a food freshly squeezed, 1 Tbs processor and pulse several Hot Red Pepper times until they are coarsely coarsely ground, 1 tsp ground. Add the peppers and Cumin Seed 1 tsp pulse several times. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and and Freshly add the remaining ingredients Ground and process into a coarse to taste paste, scraping down from time to time. Season with salt 1 Roast the peppers over a gas flame and pepper, or with the other or under a broiler, ingredients until desired texture turning with and taste. Serve with warm tongs, until they or naan. are completely 3 Muhammara can be kept in charred. Transfer an air-tight container for up to the peppers to a week.

1 Or pomegranate molasses.

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… As our driver inches through the crowded streets, we are in awe of the countless palaces, imperial turkey Nothing is more and minarets that line Istanbul’s hills, reminders of the city’s previous central role. We arrive Ottomanthan aromatic at one of the city’s famous buildings, now the Ciragan … Palace Kempinski Istanbul hotel. Originally built as a private palace for the Ottoman Sultan Abdülâziz in kalbuni rice 1872, the ornate residence was destroyed by a spectacular fire in 1910 that left only the outer walls

Cook P aul K eller standing. The property stood in ruins for decades until the hotel chain renovated it, bringing back its former it opulence, in one of the signature hotels in the city. Dining at the Tugra Restaurant (tugra means ‘Signature of the Sultan’) is the ultimate Ottoman dining experience. Set in the hotel’s historic palace wing with its ornate, vaulted marble ceilings, sumptuous crystal chandeliers and breathtaking views of the Bosphorus, it is certainly one of the most romantic dining venues I have ever seen. The style of cuisine, rich with ingredients from along the Silk Road, includes a cornucopia of hot and cold mezze starters, vegetable salads (not the leafy lettuce varieties we’re most familiar with) and ornately presented entrees of meats and wonderful seafood. Serves 4 Menemen

This popular Turkish dish comprises of moist gently mixed with , peppers, tomatoes, feta cheese and red pepper flakes is usually served with warm pita.

Olive Oil 1 Tbs 1 Heat the butter and olive oil Butter 1 Tbs in a medium sized frying pan over medium-low heat. Onion ½ small, finely chopped 2 Stir in the onion and and sauté for a couple Green Pepper 1 small, of minutes or until soft. cored and seeded, finely diced 3 Add the green , tomatoes and red pepper Green Onions flakes. Mix well. 2 finely sliced 4 Beat the eggs into a bowl Tomatoes and add the feta cheese and 4, finely diced combine well. Red Pepper Flakes 2 tsp 5 Stir in the egg mixture to the Eggs 8 tomato mixture and stir well. Feta Cheese 6 Scramble until the eggs 4 oz, crumbled are just set, retaining their Salt and Freshly Ground moisture. Season and serve Black Pepper to taste immediately.

52 taste& travel international april–june 2014 destinations

Cook it turkey

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Serves 6 Cheese Borek

Turkish cuisine is known for its many varieties of layered pies and pastries called borek. This popular baked or fried pastry is made with yufka, which is slightly thicker than filo, Salads, a relatively new menu item in Turkey, began but is hard to find, so filo is a ready substitute. to appear towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, as Borek is made with cheese, spinach and herbs a seasonal meal during harvest. Salads are considered or aromatic minced meat infused with spices and can be made in a pan and portion cut, or as more than just a compliment to a meal and vary individual pastries. greatly, with combinations of cheeses, spices, dried fruits and fresh buffalo . At Tugra, we’re Feta Cheese 8 oz, with a piece of plastic wrap, introduced to a sublime mashed cucumber and crumbled then with a damp towel. Brush salad, richly interwoven with dense yogurt Ricotta Cheese ½ cup the bottom of a 9 x 13" baking infused with heady , vivid green , and dish with butter, then lay down ruby pomegranate sauce. Eggs 2 large, lightly beaten and sheet of filo and brush it During the Ottoman Empire, people believed that with butter. Continue layering soups were an ideal and healthy meal that satisfied Italian and brushing with butter until chopped, 4 Tbs one’s hunger easily. Soups were therefore one of the you have used up about half most important dishes that young women of marrying Filo Dough 8 oz of the filo sheets (about 10) age cooked to prove their culinary talents, using Unsalted Butter 4 oz, then evenly spread the filling. recipes passed down through the generations. Many melted Repeat with layering and Ottoman meals started with a soup course. A buttering the remaining sheets traditional fihi ma fih soup, based on chicken stock 1 Heat oven to 375°F. on top of the filling. with morsels of chicken and duck, is enhanced with 2 In a large bowl With a sharp knife cut the borek rice, dried cherries, pomegranate, and beans, 4 mix together feta, into squares, making sure to and finished with herbs and red pepper oil. ricotta, eggs and cut through all the layers. Place Külbasti is the method of quickly grilling thin parsley. Set aside. into the middle of the oven and cutlets, keeping the meat tender and moist. Flavourful bake until golden brown, about grill-marked lamb loins are served on smoky-rich 3 Unroll the dough 40–50 minutes. Serve warm or mashed with roasted tomatoes, onto a clean work at room temperature. pomegranate and red onion relish. And nothing is surface and cover more Ottoman than an aromatic kalbuni rice pilaf,

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studded with chickpeas, almonds, and black before being converted into a and now one of the city’s raisins, infused with cumin, mastic (the unique iconic museums. Diverse architectural styles are the hallmark of the turkey pine resin used in ) and the Topkapi, the royal residence and palace of the Ottoman Sultans for intensity of their beloved saffron. some 400 years. The other renowned site is the immense, domed The Turkish enjoy their sweets and certainly Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the the most renowned is . Although there is blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior, built in 1609. Four Seasons no well-documented history of this popular Hotels has two unique properties, one an intimate 65-room hotel layered-filo sweet, it became characteristic of the housed in a neoclassically designed prison (the one featured in Billy cuisine of the former Ottoman Empire. We visit Haye’s 1977 book Midnight Express) in the landmark neighbourhood one of the city’s most famous bakeries, Karaköy of Sultanahmet, the other a spectacular converted Ottoman palace Güllüoğlu. The Güllü family has been known for set on the banks of the Bosphorus. baking the best of these delicate pastries since Despite the vast area of the city, Istanbul is a great city to explore the 1800s. We’re taken to the main bakery on foot. Besides wandering on your own, there are excellent culinary kitchen a couple of blocks away from the store, walking tours. A highlight is a tour called Two Markets, Two where I’m entranced to see how the billowy-thin Continents, by a company called Culinary Backstreets, which filo sheets are hand rolled. Expecting to see explores the eateries in local markets on both sides of the massive steel rollers producing these delicate Bosphorus, crossing on the public ferry. Starting in the European sheets, I am impressed by the dexterity of these Karakby area, we venture through the historic mariners’ craftsmen, many who have worked for the family neighbourhood of fish markets and Ottoman caravanserai. After a for generations, as they roll and layer the sheets glorious crossing, we walk through the beautiful stalls of flowers, with vivid green crushed pistachios and warm fruits, seafood and vegetables in the restaurant and food-fixated elixirs of melted butter. Aromatic and hot from streets of the Kadikoy area. their ovens and quickly cut into diamond nuggets Another tour, which starts in the sensorily-overloaded Spice of gold, they’re doused with warm sugar syrup, Market, is led by cooking instructor Selin Rozanes. After a session of cooled, then sent immediately for sale. Not spice tasting, we head to her home for a cooking class. Our intimate usually one for sweets, I’ve never tasted such a group is taught several dishes, including a of artichokes delicacy — slightly warm, layers of crispness, with braised in olive oil; a carrot dip heady with garlic and yogurt; the intense sweetness softened by a garnish of muhammara, a vibrantly coloured and aromatic red pepper and clotted cream. Heavenly! dip; baked stuffed and borek, the popular filo In addition to all this eating, there’s always pastry layered with feta cheese and herbs. time for shopping, especially in Istanbul’s historic We walk along Istiklai Street in the fashionable Taksim area, with shopping districts, which include the covered its cobbled streets and nostalgic tram to the Pera District, centre of Grand , the outdoor Mahmutpasha Bazaar urban life in the 19th century. After decades of neglect and disrepair, and the 17th century Spice Bazaar. the neighbourhood bedecked in rustic charm has become the The famous Grand Bazaar, built in the cosmopolitan heart of chic, modern day Istanbul. shadows of the monumental Hagia Sophia and From its historic beginnings Istanbul has become one of the Blue Mosques, has been in operation since 1461 worlds’ most cultured and culinary-obsessed cities. A quick jaunt and is among the world’s oldest and largest through this amazing city doesn’t do it justice! I’ll be back soon! covered markets. Some 4,000 shops offering jewelry, carpets and textiles compete for business in the hectic, overwhelming and somewhat Vancouver born Nathan Fong mesmerizing maze. As a food writer, I much segued from cooking and catering to a preferred the slightly smaller Spice Bazaar where brilliant career as a food and props stylist vendors hawk their vibrant array of herbs and spices, scented oils and waters, and wonderful for culinary print and film advertising, powdery morsels of . with a distinguished international client Famed for the variety of its architecture — list. He is celebrating his 25th year as a primarily Byzantine and Ottoman — Istanbul is a host on Global TV and has a new regular vast collection of buildings that reflect the food and travel segment on ShawTV’s various peoples and empires that have ruled Click The Rush. He is also a columnist for The Vancouver Sun this metropolis. The pinnacle of Byzantine and writes his popular blogs at www.vancouversun.com style, Hagia Sophia, stood for over 1,000 and www. fongonfood.com years as the largest cathedral in the world, it

54 taste& travel international april–june 2014 destinations

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Visit The Four Seasons Bosphorus

www.fourseasons.com/bosphorus turkey it The Shangri-la Istanbul www.shangri-la/istanbul The Four Seasons Sultanahmet www.fourseasons.com/istanbul The Ciragan Palace Kempinski Istanbul www.kempinski.com/en/istanbul/ciragan-palace Serves 4

Karakoy Gulluoglu Karniyarik For wonderful baklava. Eat www.karakoygulluoglu.com/eng Split Belly Stuffed Eggplants Lokanta Maya Use the elongated Asian style eggplants it Modern chic contemporary Mediterranean. www.lokantamaya.com as they are tender and sweet and perfect for this comforting Turkish dish. Mikla, The Marmara Pera Hotel Upscale modern Turkish with stunning For the For the Eggplants rooftop views. Eggplants www.miklarestaurant.com 1 Using a peeler, peel a strip of skin Asian Eggplants 4 Ciya Sofrasi lengthwise off one side, then roll the Traditional old-style Turkish comfort cuisine. Canola Oil ½ cup eggplant a quarter turn and peel another www.ciya.com.tr/index_en.php The Filling strip. Continue until all four quarters have a Tugra Restaurant strip removed. Olive Oil 1 Tbs For upscale in a stunning Palace 2 Heat the canola oil in a deep skillet over setting overlooking the Bosphorus. Onion 1 medium, medium heat. www.kempinski.com/en/istanbul/ciragan-palace finely chopped 3 Add the eggplants and sauté, turning over Gile Restaurant Ground Beef or in the oil, until golden brown all around. Modern Turkish/ with a Lamb 8 oz great bar. 4 Make a slit lengthwise in the eggplant, Tomatoes wwwgilerestaurant.com leaving an inch at each end so that they 2 medium, skinned remain in one whole piece. Place them side Inciralti Meyhanesi and coarsely Old style Turkish cuisine in a local neighbourhood. chopped by side in a single layer slit face up in a www.inciralti.com.tr baking dish. Flat Leaf Parsley Maria’nın Bahcesi chopped, ½ cup The Filling Classic Turkish/, outstanding

seafood and wine list. Red Pepper Flakes 5 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over www.marianinbahcesi.com 1 tsp medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until Sugar ½ tsp lightly browned. Add the meat and sauté for Selin Rozanes Spice Market Salt and Freshly 10 minutes, then cover and cook over low and Cooking Class Ground Black heat until there is no moisture left. Add the Do www.turkishflavours.com Pepper chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 Istanbul Eats/Culinary Backstreets Tomatoes minutes. Mix in parsley, red pepper flakes, www.istanbuleats.com it 2 medium, sliced sugar and season with salt and pepper. Istanbul Culinary Institute Hot Water 1 cup 6 Enlarge the slit in each eggplant and www.istanbulculinary.com.tr/eng (250 ml) stuff with the meat mixture. Place a couple of tomato slices on top of each eggplant. Tomato Paste 1 Tbs Click Thanks to UnisoN TURKEY Whisk together the hot water, tomato paste, for organizing my cultural and Red Pepper Paste red pepper paste and olive oil. Pour around or Chili Paste 1 Tbs culinary tour of Turkey. the eggplants. Bake 15–20 minutes in a it www.unisonturkey.com Olive Oil 1 tsp (5 ml) preheated 350°F oven. Serve hot.

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