turkish food

I'm a huge fan of well-prepared breakfasts. Although I love the American style breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, toast or pancakes, orange juice, etc, etc., it has none of the balance and airiness of the Turkish breakfast. This morning, I went to a brunch, and it was absolutely amazing. Rich omlettes with cheese and dill, sliced tomatoes, sourdough bread, bagels, jam, honey, butter, two types of cheese, sliced strawberries, apples, and pears, tea, grapefruit juice, orange juice, Turkish coffee, Turkish delight, and small dishes of dried apricots and walnuts (the last two might have been for decoration).

In Turkey, breakfasts consisted of pastries, toast, butter, olives, tomatoes, string cheese, fresh feta cheese, jams, and tea (of course!). It was just the perfect combination. I can't describe the taste of tomatoes, olives, and fresh cheese all at once. Quite delectable. I loved the fresh feta cheese. It's unsalted and lacks the strong, pungent taste of crumbly feta here in the US. One of my life goals is to serve a Turkish breakfast at least once. Being a typical American, I think it's too intricate to serve to myself or even two more people, but it's really dining at its best: healthy and delicious.

I do think that Turkish food is one of the top three cuisines in the world. It's prepared extraordinarily well and dazzles in its subtlety. It doesn't overly rely on spice or strange parts of strange animals to create a well-balanced and wholesome taste. The food is subtle. The one weed that I'm not too fond of is dill, which is used liberally in Turkish food. For me, the taste is very pungent and too earthy.

Kofte, or seasoned lamb meatballs, are quite amazing. The taste is richer than doner, or meat sliced from the turning spit. In general, the stuffed peppers and stuffed eggplant are quite sensational, although the fish is merely ordinary (I supposed I'm used to Chinese-style prepared fish). I was surprised to find Manti, or the equivalent (99% equivalent) of Chinese dumplings in Turkey, although it is eaten with yogurt.

Besides breakfast, my favorite Turkish food is dessert. We'll skip past the baklava (which is excellent but is generally not bad in the US) and get to the Turkish delight. I don't know what's in these little squares, but they're amazing. The taste is quite unlike anything else I've tasted. Next up is a concoction of slices of bread dripped in a honey mixture. It's so sweet and soft and pure heaven when eaten with fresh clotted cream. Also, stuffed and baked quince is delightful with ice cream. The cookies are generally excellent, as are dried cubes of almond powder that fall into pieces at the slightest touch (similar to a Chinese candy). There's so much more I can say about Turkish food, but this is a good stopping point...unless I want to start gnawing on my arm.