Gozleme
Borek |
Grains: Bread to Borek
The
foundation of Turkish food is, if anything, dough made
of wheat flour. Besides "ekmek" (ordinary white bread),
"pide" (flat bread), "simit" (sesame seed rings), and
"manti" (similar to ravioli), a whole family of food
made up of thin sheets of a pastry called "börek"
falls into this category. The bakers of the Ottoman
period believed that after his expulsion from the
Garden of Eden, Adana, the Patron Saint of Bakers,
learned how to make bread from the Archangel Gabriel.
Obviously, the secret is still held dear by present-day
Turkish bakers. No other bread tastes like everyday
Turkish bread. One realizes the wonderful luxury of
Turkish bread only upon leaving the country. This
glorious food is enjoyed in large quantities and is
loved by all, rich and poor, simple and sophisticated.
Every neighborhood has a bread bakery that produces
the olden, crisp loaves twice a day, morning and
afternoon, filling the streets with their irresistible
and wholesome aroma. People pick up a few loaves on
their way home from work, and end up eating the crisp
ends by the time they get there. After a hard day's
work, holding the warm loaf is the best reward,
convincing one that all is well. Ekmek, pide and simit
are meant to be eaten the same day they are baked, as
they usually are. The leftover ekmek goes into a
variety of dishes, becomes chicken feed, or is mixed
with milk for the neighborhood cats since they don’t
pay attention alone.
Manti, small dumplings of dough filled with a special
meat mix, are eaten with generous serving of garlic
yogurt and a dash of melted butter with paprika. This
is a meal in itself as a Sunday lunch affair for the
whole family, to be followed by an afternoon nap.
Börek is a dish for special occasions and requires
great skill and patience, unless you have thin sheets
of dough already collect out bought from your corner
grocery store. Anyone who can accomplish this delicate
task using the rolling pin, becomes the most sought-out
person in their circle of firmly and friends. The
sheets are then layered or folded into various shapes
before being filled with cheese or meat mixes and
baked or fried. Every household enjoys at least five
different varieties of börek as a regular part of its
menu. Along with bread, "pilav" is another staple o
the Turkish kitchen. The most common versions are the
cracked-wheat pilaf and the rice pilaf. A good cracked-wheat
pilaf made with whole onions, sliced tomatoes, green
peppers sautéed in butter, and boiled in beef stock is
a meal in itself. Many versions of the rice pilav
accompany, vegetable and meat dishes. The
distinguishing feature of the Turkish pilaf is the
soft buttery, morsels of rice which readily roll off
your spoon, rather than sticking together in a mushy
clump.
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