An old Turkish saying advises one to “eat sweetly and speak sweetly”.
Desserts have always been an important and distinctive element of Turkish cuisine; from the Ottoman times to the modern-day Turkey. The desserts are also an important part of the country’s customs and traditions. Halvah, a confection made from semolina, is offered on the occasion of birth, death, military induction, return from pilgrimage, house shifting , graduation, and also on special occasions such as praying for rain.
One of the most important holidays in the traditional Islamic calendar is the one that marks the end of the 30-day period of daytime fasting during the month of Ramadan. A popular Turkish name for the Ramadan festival is “Seker Bayrami” (Sugar Holiday), which is a sort of capstone to the lavish desserts prepared for the sundown meals during the holy month. These desserts are elaborate not only in their ingredients but also in their visual impact and presentation.
The desserts and confections of Turkey bear witness to the rich history of its cuisine and geography. The dessert known as “Tavuk Gögsü”, made with milk-white meat of chicken breast, was introduced in ancient Rome from the Mediterranean and reintroduced in Anatolia by the Romans. The Blancmange (Kazan Dibi) made in Turkey might be one of the loveliest parts of the mosaic that Turks have inherited from the ancient civilisations of Anatolia.
Then there’s “Asure”, a festive pudding of cereal grains, sugar, and raisins. According to a legend, it was originally concocted in the galley of Noah’s Ark from whatever was left in the pantry. The pudding is served traditionally on the tenth day of the month of Muharram; preparing a batch of “Asure” and distributing it among neighbours and acquaintances is still a custom in many areas.
The royal kitchens produced a refined version of Asure that was blended and strained; more common folk had to chew through the grains. They still do, to a great deal of joy. Many different parts of the Ottoman Empire contributed their own local specialties to the palace kitchens where they were refined and transformed into a distinctively Ottoman- Turkish cuisine. Turkish desserts usually fall into these three categories:
1 – Desserts made with fruits and vegetables
Many fresh and dried fruits are stewed into compotes in which the fluid is as important an element as the fruit itself. Desserts made from apricots or figs are given a topping of fresh clotted cream and sometimes crushed walnuts. The same topping is used on “Kabak Tatlisi”, an unusual dessert made by cooking pieces of pumpkin in syrup.
2 – Milk-based desserts
These include a wide variety of puddings, some of which are baked. “Keskul” is a milk pudding made with coconut. “Gullac” is a lovely confection of thin sheets of pastry in a milk sauce to which rosewater is added. I’ve already mentioned Tavuk Gogsu and Kazan Dibi.
3 – Pastry-based desserts
These include world-famous “Baklava”, “Kadayif” (made from shredded pastry baked in syrup, often filled with pistachio nuts, walnuts or clotted cream), “Revani” (a sweet made from semolina), “Hanim Göbegi” and “Sekerpare” (two kinds of small sweet cake), “Yogurt Tatlisi” (made with yogurt), “Badem Tatlisi” (made with almonds), and “Lokma” (deep-fried lumps of butter served in syrup).
Altogether there are about 25-30 basic recipes for desserts known but with the addition of local variations, the number is enormous (around 200). In 1539, Suleyman I gave a great feast to celebrate the circumcision of his two sons, Cihangir (Jahangir) and Beyazid. Archival records tell us that 53 different desserts were offered to guests, including different- flavored and coloured puddings, a variety of Helvahs, pastries and cakes, and a large assortment of jams and compotes.
There is an interesting anecdote that brings together the elements of Turkish desserts and the Ottoman court. During a Ramadan in the early 19th century, Sultan Mahmud II decided to pay a surprise visit to the mansion of Durrizade Esseyid Abdullah Efendi in Istanbul just before the cannon-shot, signaling the end of the fasting. By custom, he would have to be entertained there and Abdullah, a cultured intellectual as well as an accommodating and experienced host, managed to take care of his unexpected imperial guest brilliantly, marshalling the kitchen of the women’s half (harem) of the mansion to the support of the men’s side.
The individual courses were prepared to perfection and the service came off flawlessly all until it was time for dessert, fruit compote that arrived in a clumsy, ill-formed bowl. Appalled by the sight, the sultan asked those near him: “So far everything has been served in crystal and porcelain and eaten with gold cutlery; what is that ugly-looking bowl doing here?”. The host overheard this and immediately explained: “Your majesty, my butler goes up to Camlica mountain every day to fetch drinking water from a particular spring. Rather than throw ice into the compote and risk spoiling its flavor, he fashioned a bowl of ice out of Camlica spring water.”
The essence of traditional Turkish cuisine lies in the importance given to details, be it an elaborate pastry or a simple stewed fruit.
The blogger – a Microbiologist – has keen interest in writing and is willing to be an aspiring writer. She tweets as @SyedaSanaZehra1