1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (123 page)

Every Turkish food worth its sugar (or salt) is available for sampling here, whether at the walkway stalls or on nearby streets. A rite of passage for first-time visitors may be a meal at the pricey restaurant Pandeli, on the upper level of the bazaar, but the real action lies in the rowdier halls and stalls from which no one comes back without mentioning the sound. Not to be confused with noise, it’s a musical cacophony of hawking and haggling. Joining in is highly recommended.

Where:
Eminönü section of Istanbul. Every day except Sunday. Walking tours can be arranged at
misircarsisi.org
. Pandeli Restaurant, tel 90/212-527-3909,
pandeli.com.tr
.

Although pastrami (see
listing
) is generally thought of as an eastern European Jewish delicatessen specialty, its origins go back at least to the sixteenth century. Turkey’s Suleiman the Magnificent would have known it as
pastromani
, or
pastramach
, or
pasdirma
, a smoked or salt-dried meat specialty thought to be at its best if the meat came from cows in calf, because their flesh was more savory and salty.

Now, as then, the meat is rubbed with a spice mix that might include saffron, fenugreek seed, cloves, mustard seed, salt, pepper, and garlic before being smoked or salt-dried for ten days, and then stored away in wooden kegs until it loses its bright red color and turns firm. In the earliest times, it was pounded to a powder and reformed into sausages, hash, or pressed slices; today’s pastirma is cured in whole pieces and sliced very thinly as it is served. The result is a palate-teasing cross between the air-dried Swiss
bündnerfleisch
(see
listing
) and the fattier, juicier New York–style pastrami we know and love. The Turkish version, now also made in California, is chewy, pungent, and tingling with salt and spices, a perfect accompaniment to aperitifs, especially the iced, milky, and licorice-flavored Turkish raki.

Where:
In Los Angeles
, Sahag’s Basturma Sandwich Shop, tel 323-661-5311;
in Glendale, CA
, Phoenicia, tel 818-956-7800,
phoeniciala.com
.
Mail order:
Marky’s, tel 800-522-8427,
markys.com
(search basturma);
littlearmenia.com
(click on Stores, then Basturma).
Further information and recipes:
Treasured Armenian Recipes
edited by Mrs. Alex Manoogian (1949);
kalofagas.ca
(search pastourma takes patience);
youtube.com
(search basturma step by step).

Vintage ad for Camel figs.

The Turkish town of Smyrna is now known as İzmir, but the region’s legendary figs still bear its ancient name—though these days, the Smyrna fig (the variety that becomes the world’s most exquisite dried fig) is cultivated in many parts of the world. Most commonly grown in Europe and in California, it is also known as the Calimyrna fig.

Delicious as its offspring may be, none rivals the figs grown in their native soil. Fresh Smyrna figs are delectably honey-sweet, soft, and chewy, and cannot be sampled anywhere but in Turkey; for the best, you must travel to İzmir and its surroundings during harvest, between mid-August and mid-September. Soon after, most of the crop is sun-dried.

In the best tradition, the silver-brown, cushiony figs are “pulled” onto rush strands and tied into a garland. This way, the fruit is not compressed and so remains pillowy; as it dries its surface develops a sugary crystal veneer, the figs’ centers retaining a velvety softness that is offset by the needling crackle of its tiny seeds. But to prevent them from drying too much during export or long storage, Smyrna figs can be layered and packaged in paper or baskets.

Any that do become too dry and hard to chew still have delicious possibilities. Dried
figs can be steamed until malleable and then stuffed with a toasted almond and a clove or a mix of creamy cheese and honey, and baked with a dousing of port wine until the fruit is glazed and the wine is syrupy. It’s a dessert best served warm with a splash of cold sweet cream.

Mail order:
amazon.com (search indus organic turkish dried figs; turkish figs sun dried);
igourmet.com
(search smyrna figs).
Further information and recipes:
The Glorious Foods of Greece
by Diane Kochilas (2001);
food52.com
(search roasted stuffed figs);
lidiasitaly.com
(search stuffed figs sibari-style).
Special event:
Fig Fest, San Diego, September,
figfestsd.com
.
See also:
Fichi Ripieni al Forno
.

A “delight” invented during the eighteenth century.

To many an acquired taste,
rahat lokum
, or Turkish delight, is a seriously sweet, compressed jelly known for both its gummy texture and its generous coating of confectioners’ sugar. Colored pink when flavored with rosewater or strawberries, green when mint-flavored, this candy is dredged in the powdered sugar that both sweetens and preserves it, and often in a coating of crushed pistachios. Citrus juices are alternative flavorings, while chopped dried apricots can add a sunny dimension.

The soft, chewy candy is cut into many different forms to create a pretty pastel rainbow of shapes and colors on serving trays and in confectionery showcases. They are front and center in the pristine cases of Hacı Bekir, the famous Istanbul shop that has been in existence since 1777, when it was founded by the confectioner who invented Turkish delight.

The candy itself has been an important export since 1936, when each year Turkey reportedly shipped off 750 tons. As with halvah (see
listing
), that other famous Turkish sweet, “delight” is best experienced when accompanied by unsweetened hot tea or strong coffee. It also is best purchased in Middle Eastern food stores, where rapid turnover promises it will be fresh and cut into portions as ordered.

Retail and mail order:
In Istanbul
, Hacı Bekir, tel 90/216-336-1519,
hacibekir.com
(search turkish delight);
in New York
, Kalustyan’s, tel 800-352-3451,
kalustyans.com
(search turkish delight).
Further information and recipes:
The Oxford Companion to Food
by Alan Davidson (2006);
The Balkan Cookbook
by Vladimir Mirodan (1989);
A Mediterranean Feast
by Clifford A. Wright (1999);
epicurious.com
(search pistachio rosewater turkish delight);
candy.about.com
(search turkish delight).

Spiral-shaped, crusty, and often compared to the pretzel.

Jewelry or bagel-like baked treat? This may be the first question that comes to mind when you spot this big, sesame-veneered, spiraled bread ring sold mornings on street corners in cities such as Istanbul, Athens, and Tunis. One whiff should provide the answer, for the aroma of these toasty rolls is hard to resist. Traditionally eaten with either yogurt or jam, they’d be excellent vehicles for lox and cream cheese as well.

In addition to their satisfying texture and flavor,
simitler
(in plural form) provide entertainment as their vendors vie for attention, some with the most alluring cries. Others carry baskets of the breads on their heads, stacking the simitler in ever more creative arrangements that may suggest the tower of Pisa, complete with the lean.

Where:
In New York and Cliffside, NJ
, Simit and Smith at multiple locations,
simitandsmith.com
.
Mail order:
Istanbul Food Bazaar, tel 973-955-2989,
istanbulfoodbazaar.com
(search simit).
Further information and recipes:
The Food and Wine of Greece
by Diane Kochilas (1993);
mideastfood.about.com
(search simit);
turkishcookbook.com
(click Pastries, then Turkish Bagel with Sesame Seeds).
See also:
Bagels
;
Bialys
;
Soft Pretzels
.

Unctuously oily and lemony tender, artichoke bottoms steamed with chunks of potato and onion make a sublime appetizer. Redolent of dill, onion, and lemon, they need only some thin, toasted pita to absorb any leftover dressing. It is a preparation akin to artichokes
à la Greque
, or what in Greece is called
aginares me lemoni ke skordo
, both sunny, hearty salads that make the most of their ingredients.

Serves 6 as an appetizer

2 lemons

6 very large artichokes, about 4" across top

4 medium onions, peeled and quartered lengthwise

4 medium waxy potatoes such as Yukon Gold, peeled and sliced ¼ to ½ inch thick

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon minced fresh dill

1 cup olive oil

1.
Fill a large mixing bowl with cold water and add the juice of 1 lemon. Using a stainless-steel knife, remove all of the leaves from the artichokes but do not cut off the stems. (You can discard the leaves or, if you like, boil them and eat them.) Trim just the outer coating of the stems and scrape away the fuzzy choke from the base of each artichoke. Trim a small slice from the bottom of each artichoke stem. Cut each artichoke in half vertically, through the stem, and put the artichoke halves in the lemon water to keep them from turning brown.

2.
Choose a large, nonreactive saucepan or skillet, preferably of enameled cast iron, in which the artichokes can fit in a single layer. Place the artichokes in the pan or skillet, cut side down. Fit the onion and the potato pieces around the artichokes, also in a single layer. Lightly sprinkle salt, white pepper, and sugar on top, followed by the dill. Add ½ cup of the olive oil.

3.
Cover the artichoke mixture with an inverted heatproof dinner plate that fits very snugly within the rim of the pan or skillet. Pour 2½ cups of water over the plate and cover the pan.

4.
Cook the artichoke mixture over medium heat until tender, about 45 minutes. If the water evaporates, lift plate and trickle in a small amount of water as needed to maintain the simmer. Then remove the lid and plate and add the remaining ½ cup of olive oil. Continue cooking until the artichokes are tender but not mushy when pierced with a skewer or knife blade, about 10 minutes longer.