Delicious tables spread from Istanbul to the world: A culinary journey with ‘The Tastes of the Bosphorus’
Istanbul’s historical districts also host historical flavors. For example, going to Eyüp Sultan is not easier than going to Akmanoğlu Bakery. Or who can say no to a cup of Turkish coffee with a delicious view of the Golden Horn? So, what can replace the pleasure of sipping tea while watching the Bosphorus at the historical Çınaraltı Kahvesi, which is around the corner with bagels or Çengelköy pastry with delicious walnuts? Still, in my opinion, the best address to buy spices is the Spice Bazaar. At the same time, Cankuran Gıda serves in the Spice Bazaar as the most assertive address for breakfast items. When you exit the side door of the Spice Bazaar and enter that long coffee queue, you can’t be interrupted. Especially if it is winter, a package of salep is added next to a package of coffee. It is very difficult for every Istanbulite to say no to the fish, bread and pickles on the beach when they say chestnut or corn maker. If the season is winter, it is not possible to go without visiting Vefa district. Who can say goodbye to winter without drinking a glass of boza from the historical Vefa Bozacisi? The marzipan still in Bebek and the Turkish delight of Haci Muhittin in Sirkeci are delicious. When the spring month shows itself, it will not be possible if we do not drop our way to Beylerbeyi. When we take the ferry to get the Bosphorus air in the seasons when the weather is getting hot, we realize that we miss Kanlıca’s yoghurt. When you drizzle some powdered sugar on it, it tastes inedible.
A small tour of Istanbul is enough for many tastes that identify Istanbul and its districts today. The book Tastes of the Bosphorus, co-written by Ömür Akkor and Zennup Pınar Çakmakçı, published the other day, takes us to a place through the passenger past of Istanbul. We learn about whom many flavors inspire and their immediate story.
- The book, which aims to protect the rich culture of the Bosphorus, was launched last week in Üsküdar Nevmekan. The host of the launch, attended by writers, journalists and writers, was Üsküdar Mayor Hilmi Türkmen, who is also the term president of the Istanbul Bosphorus Municipalities Union. Beykoz Mayor Murat Aydın and Fatih Mayor M. Ergün Turan did not leave him alone. The book, which also includes recipes for all kinds of delicacies from Istanbul’s fish families, to bread, from sherbet to fruits, gives detailed information about Istanbul’s eating and drinking culture.
JOURNEY TO THE PAST
On our way to the exit of Istanbul, we first meet the fish reliefs printed on the Roman coins. Because fish has been one of the important income sources of Istanbul since ancient times. It is possible to say that Turks have added a lot of things from their own eating and drinking culture to Istanbul’s eating and drinking culture. In this regard, Süheyl Ünver draws attention to the fact that Turks lived up to the borders of Üsküdar in the years before the conquest of Istanbul and that these two regions are mutually exclusive.
In the Ottoman period, when it comes to cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is the eggplant fries, which are made after the laundering writings. According to what is told, fires often broke out because of this eggplant love of Istanbulites, and because the houses were wooden, the fire spread in a short time. Tanpınar describes these fires as follows: “Weirdly enough, the fire, which was so exposed, created a kind of pleasure among the citizens of Istanbul after the Tanzimat. The mansions in red jackets, with half-open hands as thin as a pike, running and shouting ‘there is a fire’, cannot be heard.
ISTANBUL’S WATER
- It should not be forgotten that its waters, which are identified with Istanbul, are also the subject of many novels and stories. According to what we learned from the book, up to 30 streams flow into the Bosphorus, and the coşar type that crosses some of these streams dries up. Among its famous waters, we can count Gin, Caracal, Healing Water, Hünkar Water, Taşdelen, Sırmakeş. There are also famous fountains in every street of Istanbul as well as its healing waters. Like touching, these fountains are of great importance in Istanbul architecture.
BEYLERBEYI WHEEL AND THROAT
Bread is an indispensable part of the table. In addition to the yufka bread brought by the Turks with immigration, the bakery bread brought by the Muslims and Jews from Spain became famous in Istanbul. As in the past, we have historical bakeries in many districts today. It is not possible to talk about simit when the word is opened from its surroundings. The Istanbul simit is still very popular today. In the past, the Beylerbeyi analogy was quite famous. When Hans Jasop Breüning visited the city in the 16th century, he said: “The Turks also feed the fish by throwing bites of bread into the sea from the coast. Sometimes caged birds lock the door and the birds fly away. They are comforted by committing a good deed by believing in the positive work of feeding an animal and liberating a captive creature.”
Fish bread is among the tastes that have been eaten with pleasure since the Ottoman period. Fish bread was eaten in the Golden Horn, Karaköy, Üsküdar and Kadıköy at that time. The soup kitchens and fountains, which are part of mosque complexes and foundations, are also a part of Istanbul’s eating and drinking culture. People who came to Istanbul to visit used to be hosted free of charge in the almshouses for three days. According to Evliya Çelebi, the wheat soup drank by those who went to the Ottoman lodges was Hz. The first thing Adam receives is warm love. Ashura, which is cooked fondly on a special day, is also one of our oldest traditional desserts.
- The book, which deals with the dishes cooked in Istanbul’s kitchens under certain headings such as pilafs, meats, desserts and sherbets, also talks about the meals while going on a picnic to the promenade. Today, delicacies such as dolma, pastry, wrap and pita, which we love to eat, are indispensable for picnic tables.
It is possible to list the flavors that identify with Istanbul’s districts, such as Sarıyer pastry, Beykoz trotter, and Çengelköy almond. Of course, the delicious Kanlıca yogurt eaten by pouring sugar on an immigrant family who settled in Istanbul with the immigration of the Ottoman-Russian war, or the Ali Muhittin Hacı Bekir Turkish Delight made in 1777 in Bahçekapı, the baby marzipan made by a passenger family for the first time, Beykoz. It is impossible not to count the famous walnuts that gave the name to . Another information we learned from the book is that coffee was first brought to Istanbul during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim. The Governor of Yemen Özdemir Pasha brought the coffee and released it to the whole world in a short time. During the First World War, it was difficult to bring coffee. 2. Abdülhamid’s death, but the desired result was not achieved, the interest in tea grew like an avalanche in 1924, with the encouragement of Atatürk by the state, and planting in Rize. Çaycı İzzet Pasha tells the first tea treatise in 1879. He also wants to learn that salep also spread to the Western school for the first time from Istanbul.
Undoubtedly, Istanbul is more beautiful with its fragrant fruitful tables!
FISH CULTURE RICH
- l The fish life of the city, whose waters are so famous and plentiful, adorned the tables throughout the breath. Pierre Gilles, who came to Istanbul in 1544 during the Kanuni period and wrote the book “Istanbul’s Topography and Antique Artifacts”, mentions the abundance of fish in the Bosphorus, and says that Istanbul left behind the cities of Mersilya, Venice and Taranto, which are famous for their fish. Istanbul’s fish resources in the Bosphorus continued until the 1900s. Marine biology professor Prof. Dr. Bayram Öztürk, on the other hand, says that the Bosphorus had a unique abduction tradition until the 1970s. Stuffed fish, stuffed mackerel, pan, lobster, shrimp and mussels that come to the tables in Istanbul include both recipes from old books and information about which fish to eat in which season.
Istanbul is rich in products grown on land as well as seafood. The reason for this is the existence of a complete intersection, both sea and land. All kinds of food and beverages, from spices to observation and citrus fruits, have been traded to Istanbul, which has been a trade center since ancient times. At the same time, the meeting point of flavors grown in Anatolia and the Balkans was again the kitchens in Istanbul.