Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the American Kitchen

by Ayla Esen Algar

Turkish food is one of the world's great cuisines. Its taste and depth place it with French and Chinese; its simplicity and healthfulness rank it number one. Turkish-born Ayla Algar offers 175 recipes for this vibrant and tasty food, presented against the rich and fascinating backdrop of Turkish history and culture. Tempting recipes for kebabs, pilafs, meze (appetizers), dolmas (those delicious stuffed vegetables or vine leaves), soups, fish, manti and other pasta dishes, lamb, poultry, yogurt, bread, and traditional sweets such as baklava are introduced here to American cooks in accessible form. With its emphasis on grains, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and other healthful foods, Turkish cooking puts a new spin on familiar ingredients and offers culinary adventure coupled with satisfying and delicious meals.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 1991

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not knowing much about Turkish cuisine, I bought this book in order to surprise and delight my new Turkish boyfriend. Between Ayla Hanim's delicious and authentic recipies and my cooking, something must have gone right...because that Turkish boyfriend is now my Turkish husband, and happily fed, at that!

[Ana Menendez-tuckman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried the Baked Manti recipe - lots of crazy measurements and instructions. For example:
1) There was a tremendous amount of onion, more than the actual lamb. The onion should not have been finely chopped- it should have been either minced or grated - all the pieces of onion made preparing the manti a very arduous task since I had to remove a fair amount to be able to close the manti.
2) There was no salt or pepper amount given - by the time you can actually taste the manti it’s too late to adjust and sampling raw lamb is not recommended.
3) The recipe says to boil the manti and then serve with the broth - absolutely ridiculous - it’s not soup and the broth would just water down the sauce making a mess.
Did the author ever actually eat Manti or try to cook this recipe? I am going to try to get my money back from Barnes & Noble just based on this stupid recipe since I am afraid to make anything else from this book.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent cookbook, but I wish there were pictures!

[Jo Daneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

History and recipes

Not just recipes. Interesting overview of the influences on Turkish cuisine. And how it then influenced the Europeans and Middle East. A must companion book for the novel "The Pasha of Cuisine"

[Mae Cayir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really appreciate the culinary historian narrative and personal entries throughout this "cookbook". For those who are new to the Turkish culinary culture, this provides a brief overview of a very rich and diverse landscape. The recipes are clearly and simply written, and can be followed from any kitchen in any part of this globe. Ingredients that are from Turkey are not difficult to find in this age of the Internet, in addition to places where there are shops selling Turkish goods. On a trip to Turkey, it is worth filling your luggage with the local spices and herbs, most of which are organically grown and naturally dried in the summer sun.

[okyrhoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best cookbooks on Eastern Mediterranean cooking I happen to own. I just wish I could find as sensible a cookbook for Greek cuisine as this one is.
There are good explanations of techniques and ingredients for the "Western" cook who may not be familiar with many of the Middle Eastern staples, such as tahini, vine leaves, bulgur, clarified butter, etc. There's also a simple recipe for making natural yogurt that I have prepared many times.
Many of the recipes here are very similar to Greek (especially 'Politiki'), Armenian, or Lebanese dishes, so if you like any of these cuisines, you may discover many of the Turkish recipes in this cookbook are familiar.