Turkish Food - Turkish Meze- Meze- Mezeler - Yemek - Yemek Tarifleri.

One of my favorite aspects of a Turkish restaurant experience is that as soon as you are seated, the food arrives.  A huge tray (I mean about 2 feet in diameter) is immediately presented to your table with about 10 to 20 different mouth-watering items from which to choose.  They are generally small portions - 2 people could share a few plates as an appetizer - so when you are with a larger group it is fun try an assortment of plates. This system is perfect for people like me who are usually ravenous when dining out and head straight for the bread basket.  In a Turkish restaurant, I bypass the bread and head straight for the fresh and savory meze.

A typical meze tray will consist of:

a big slab of beyaz peynir (white cheese-feta) cut in 1” thick slices, usually served with turkish olives, olive oil and oregano
acili ezme - a dark red, thick pepper puree often with walnuts
haydari- a thick yogurt that cools the palette of the spicy ezme
patlican salatasi - eggplant salad - roasted eggplants chopped and blended with garlic-a puree)
kalamar - fried calamari or grilled calamari served with wedges of lemon
enginar - artichoke hearts - tender and served with vinaigrette, peas and lemons
dolma - stuffed grape leaves - usually stuffed with rice or ground meat (kirema) and a myriad of spices
havuc salatasi- sliced and steamed until tender and served in a thick yogurt with lots of garlic - served cold
pastirma  - slices of air dried and cured beef
rocket salad (arugula) - with a simple dressing of olive oil, lemon and a touch of salt
patates kizartma - the Turks make some darn good fries...generally speaking they are crisp on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside.
deniz borulcesi- looks like seaweed, tastes like seaweed...hey, it is seaweed but surprisingly delicious- always served with a pungent and tangy vinaigrette
hamsi - anchovies - one of the Bosphorus’s specialities
barbunya - a zeytinyagli (any vegetable/bean dish that is sauteed and then simmered with olive oil and tomatoes) made of romano beans
tursu - pickled herring, another Bosphorus speciality
cigara borek - these are dangerous...soooo good, you can’t have just one.  Yufka (thin pastry) cut into triangles, filled with a cheese mixture and rolled up into the shape of a cigar.  Then deep-fried until they turn a golden brown and the cheese is melted and delicious...(can’t you tell these are my weakness?)
fried eggplant - thinly sliced eggplant is deep-fried and then topped with tomato and yogurt and garlic- heavenly!
mucver - fried patties that are made of cabak (zucchini, squash) egg & flour
cacik - yogurt watered down with a touch of olive oil and loads of garlic and finely chopped cucumber (salatalik)
coban salata - the perfect salad: cucumbers, vine-ripened tomatoes, parsley, olives, salt & pepper.  A drizzle of olive oil, vinegar (or pomegranate sauce - nar)

Of course with all of these delicious meze you need to sop up the sauces left on your plate, so, on second thought, pass the bread basket.  Rememeber that meze are essentially appetizers, so you will want to save room for your entree, coffee and dessert.  It is of course acceptable to stick to the meze and just order more instead of a main course.  Keep in mind, most of these dishes  (minus my favorite fried ones) are super healthy, so eat up and enjoy.

You will also need to wash it down with a delicious Turkish beverage.  The drink of choice to compliment the flavors?  Try a nice Turkish wine made of Turkey’s native grapes, like an Okuzgozu / Bogazkere combo.  Kayra’s Buzbag Rezerv is a beautiful wine that combines the two.  Or do like the Turks do and have a glass of Raki. (check out this link for more info on raki:
http://www.turkishwineforum.com/2010/09/12/raki-raki-turkish-lions-milk-aslan-sutu/)

For all of my wines (sarap,saraplar ) and spirits in Istanbul I go to www.Kavist.com at Istanbul Sapphire Shopping Mall ( Safir Alisveris Merkezi)  They have an incredible selection and they deliver, anywhere in Turkey for 6TL or free for orders over 99TL.  They can also deliver internationally.  Go to their site for more info www.kavist.com

Additional articles about acili ezme

About the author

Liz Smith is a freelance Food & Beverage writer who resides in Miami and Istanbul. She writes for www.TurkishWineForum.com (She would love to have your comments or feedback about everything Turkish) and buys her wine & spirits at www.Kavist.com when in Istanbul.

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