Before I moved to Turkey, I didn’t even know what Turkish food was. I knew about Mediterranean food (it was all Greek to me). My international food experience was mostly Mexican or Peruvian, and all kinds of Asian. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Indian. I had eaten some broadly Middle Eastern foods before like falafel and hummus and shawarma from a Middle Eastern food truck. Once, when I went to a “Turkish” restaurant in the US, I ended up in a place that mostly sold gyros and Greek salads. Because of this I never had a clear idea of what Turkish food was until I came to Turkey. It has been fun to discover one thing after another over these last 3 years. I’ve shared a couple of other early discoveries a while back here and here. At that time, I was neck deep in learning Turkish at a language school and discovered those things during quick breaks from class.
Over time I’ve gotten to explore more and more and discover new favorite foods along the way. One of my earliest favorites is a classic dish called Iskender. Cubes of bread, sliced beef döner meat, tomato based sauce, and hot melted butter. I mean, come on. I’ll share more about that one another time. Of course, you can imagine how heavy that dish is. It’s a great meal when you’re in the mood and have a big appetite. It’s especially good when you’re in a place that specializes in making it.
After a while, I discovered a whole new genre of Turkish food. It quickly became my favorite genre and is a good option whether you’re in a home, a tiny bare-bones corner shop, or in a luxury restaurant. It’s called Ev Yemekleri, or Home Cooking.
Turkish Home Cooking
(in Turkish: “Ev Yemekleri”)
Turkish Home Cooking is a broad category including lots of kinds of food. You’ll find things like Köfte beef meatballs, chicken, eggplant dishes, beans, casserole type dishes, all kinds of veggie dishes, soups, breads, dips, and more. It is amazing. The most common things seem to be Kuru Fasulye (“dry beans” – think baked beans), Taze Fasulye (“fresh beans” – think green beans), rice, and soups. I’ve never had anything I didn’t like.
My favorite smell in the city is when I pass by an Ev Yemekleri restaurant at lunch time. It is heavenly. It’s the closest I get to that feeling in the classic cartoons:
Recently, a Turkish friend of mine took me to his favorite bean place. To my American ears, that seemed like an odd combination. But I’ve been in Turkey long enough to know it was something to get excited about. We live near each other and went about 10 minutes by car a bit farther south to an area of Istanbul that is even more solidly Turkish than the area I live in. I live in a district of Istanbul called Maltepe. There aren’t a lot of foreigners where I live, and not a whole lot of English. We went down to Kartal, a neighboring district in Istanbul, for this meal.
When I’m in situations like this, I just tell my friend to tell me what to order. In this case, he even ordered it for me. This plate was filled with Kuru Fasulye, Kavurma (roasted beef) and rice. On the side was a bowl of “cacik” (a cool, minty dill yogurt dish eaten with a spoon). This restaurant didn’t have American brands of cola so I got the Turkish brand called Çamlıca which is like Sprite. I prefer getting the local brands and local flavors whenever I can.
We finished off our meal with Turkish tea and a Turkish coffee and some good conversation. The conversation and relationship is the one thing better than the food itself. The food and drink are just a flavorful bridge.
One of the reasons I have come to love Turkish Home Cooking is simply because it is so flavorful and real. It tastes like home, actually, for me and for my Turkish friends. I love finding things that my Turkish friends love and I really enjoy connecting with things that feel like a part of them. It feels like stepping beyond the meal table into the culture itself. If you get the chance to visit Turkey or meet a new Turkish friend, why not ask them what their favorite food is – what tastes the most like home to them?
Along the Silk Road 