Chapter i- turkish&romanian cuisines

CHAPTER

I

Common Romanian-Turkish Historical Cuisine. Culinary Movements Through History.

I.1 The Development of Turkish Cuisine and Historical Turkish Traditions At the mention of Turkish cuisine, Turkish history should come to mind, because a people does not readily lose their taste in food; they do not give up foods to which they have become accustomed over thousands of years. In addition, women in the kitchen are conservative; they learn their cooking traditions from those before them. Earlier on the environment was conducive to the changing of habits and manners as it is today. But the most important element which comprises the foundation of a people‟s cuisine is their economy.

Since the earliest Turkish history, one of the most important bases, and sometimes, the only base of the Turks‟ economy has been animal husbandry. Whether in Central Asia or in Anatolia after the adoption of a settled lifestyle, the Turks never abandoned animal husbandry. Animal husbandry does not simply mean that everyone has a few cows in their homes. In its greater sense, that is, Turkish animal husbandry, means yayla culture, the practice of transhumance, yearly migration from the lowlands to the mountain meadows and back. The term “sheepherding” does not mean grazing a few sheep. True sheepherding begins with flocks of 200 and more. For this reason, there is little evidence for the assertions that “animal husbandry or sheepherding was practiced in Anatolia before the arrival of the Turks.” The yayla culture came to Anatolia with the Turkmen tribes. During those times in Anatolia, with no security of life or belongings, who could engage in transhumance? The Turks always practiced animal husbandry with military precision. The founder of the Ottoman state, Osman Cari, was also a sheep herder.

The second base of the Turkish economy is wheat. However it would be more correct to broaden this go grains in general, because those who were unable either to obtain or plant wheat, planted the easierto-raise barley and millet. These can also grow in a variety of climates. But economically strong tribes such as the Oğuz in Anatolia ate wheat. The Dede Korkut book, in speaking of non-Turks in Anatolia, belittled them, calling them “infidels who ate millet bread.” This means that the cuisines of other 1

Turks, though based on the same source, could be distinguished one from another based on peoples‟ strength and the materials they used.

“Among the Turks, food is like a symbol, establishing social order.” Throughout history, Turkic societies developed within an order and discipline, because in order to protect their wealth against their surroundings, they developed as “military units.” The places where the people came together were feasts and banquets. The Khans and Beys had an obligation to feed their people and hold feasts. This has remained an indispensable tradition throughout Turkish history. The people even had the right to complain about a Khan or Bey that did not give feasts. During the incursion of the great Selçuk Sultan Melıkşah into Turkistan, the Çiğil and Yağma Turks complained about Melikşah, saying “we did not eat a single bite of his food,”and because of this, were disappointed in him. Among the Turkmens and Central Asian Kazakhs, there are “no classes.” However there is some social stratification among them, and this emerged at feasts and banquets. According to the traditional code of ethics among the Turks, caltraditional code of ethics among the Turks, which they called ülüs, in feasts everyone did not eat whatever part of a roast sheep they wanted. It was predetermined what part of the sheep everyone would eat. This was also a tradition inherited from their forefathers. In other words, the degree of service and bravery of their forefathers was recognized by the people and continued in this manner. The descendants could of course through their own service and bravery increase their ülüs, or the share to which they had a right. Those who committed an unseemly act and were punished would lose their rights to their share. At the feasts and banquets, those who had lost these rights also lost their rights to pasturage and grazing land.

It becomes clear that among the Turks then, food was not simply a substance to be eaten to fill the stomach. Food became a means and a symbol of societal order, which established their honor and discipline. Otherwise everyone belonged to lineage and was at the same level. However service and honor created a stratification among the people.

The boundaries of Turkish cuisine in the world, in terms of the Turkish cultural realm It is most appropriate to begin in the Far East, in China: Throughout history, North China remained within the Turkish cultural realm. For this reason the North Chinese economy also is based on the foundations of animal husbandry and wheat culture. Central and South China on the other hand have a rice-based culture. This is the reason that at a North Chinese restaurant, you can find the same foods as ours, made with beef, our söğüş, our mantı, and even our meat böreks. However in a Central and 2

Southern Chinese restaurant you will find none of these items. The reason for such a deep divide is not coincidental; it is the result of a development lasting thousands of years. In China there is a proverb: North Chinese are afraid of dogs, because dogs are dirty and can hurt them. But dogs are afraid of the Southern Chinese, because South Chinese eat dogs.

The South Chinese are afraid of the North Chinese’ mantı, made from meat and dough, because mantı make South Chinese’ stomachs hurt.

We see that both of these societies have foods to which their bodies have grown accustomed, and it is not at all easy for one to abandon these habits.

The same situation is visible in the Balkans and in the Arab countries. Whatever positive ethnic elements came of the wealth of the Turkish state was adopted by the people under their power. The issue should be examined from just such a simple logic.

The adaptation of new ingredients vegetables into Turkish cuisine

and

The Turks should be credited for their technique at making dolma with vegetables that entered their cuisine later; or other stuffed foods such as dürüm or sucuk. When our landlady in Germany made stuffed cabbage, she had to tie them shut with a string. Earlier on, there was no such dolma tradition in German cuisine, and Turkish cuisine is widespread in Iran, because there is a Turkic majority in Iran. However the names of these foods have been Persianized, with the exception of dolma of course. The Persian word for dolma has remained “dolmeh.”

Eggplant became available to the Turks very late; it arrived in Europe before it came to us. However in Europe there is no karnıyarık, no imam bayıldı, söğürtme or hünkar beğendi. This difference is the result of a cooking technique. That is, the Turks, who made pide with meat and many similar foods, applied this same technique to the preparation of eggplant and came up with dishes such as karnıyarık and imam bayıldı. Some of the words having to do with the cooking of eggplant are Central Asian in origin, for example söğürtme or patlıcan söğürtmesi.

In this paper I could only address, within the context of Turkish culture, the “bounds and criteria that set Turkish cuisine apart from other cuisines.” The dishes made with milk and yogurt are heirlooms which have come down to us from the herdsman transhumant Turks who formed the first Turkish state.

The dishes with meat and dough are a second cuisine, invented and developed by Turks living in the villages and yaylas, and have their own special flavors. Now kebab shops, which have entered our large cities with a millennia-old cooking tradition, have reduced the numbers of our classic restaurants nearly 3

to the point of eliminating them. This means that Anatolian Turkish cuisine was like a representative of a higher civilization and taste. Intentionally or otherwise, they are taking our tastes back towards our old Turkish traditions.

Source: Bulletins of the Symposium on Turkish Cuisine, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Bureau of National Folklore Research Publications: 41. Seminar congress bulletin series: 12, Ankara University Press, Ankara, 1982.

Ottoman Cuisine In the late 13th century the Ottoman State, founded in northwestern Anatolia in the area of the Sakarya River and the valleys of its tributaries, developed rapidly and grew into a great empire. Taking the place of its predecessor the Byzantine Empire and wiping it from the map, the Ottomans became a great political presence as well as the most powerful representatives of the Islamic world. People from regions quite remote from each other, and from different ethnicities ad cultures were gathered together under a single political umbrella(1). Spreading over three continents, the Ottoman Empire thus blended with many different culture and as in every area, so in the areas of food and drink as well, found itself in cultural exchange with them in them.

Parallel to the development and growth of the Ottoman Empire, the cuisine of the palace also showed great development, and the gathering of high-ranking palace residents became one of the most important social activities of the period. This gave rise to the development of extremely rich and delicious dishes which displayed all the creativity and skill of the cooks(2). Sultans and state officials, in order to feed and hold feasts for foreign guests, ambassadors and other palace guests, had their cooks develop certain recipes. Of those working in the palace and mansions, the chefs were among the most beloved; French statesmen asked permission to retain the chefs which Sultan Abd端laziz took with him on his visit to Paris(3). During the rise of the Empire, the Ottomans added the cuisine of every area they conquered to their own cuisine(4). Thus the cuisine of the Ottoman palace and Istanbul in 4

particular became even richer during this period, to reach its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries when the Empire was moving into faster decline(5).

The Organization of the Kitchen and Rules Concerning Food in the Palace Kitchens Historians have classified the period from the establishment of the Empire until the end of the 16th century the “Classical Period;” the following period lasting until the 18th century the “Post-Classical Period,” and the 19th and 20th centuries, during which various experiments in modernization were undertaken, the “Final Period (1).” The historian Cevdet Paşa said, “If Istanbul had not been conquered, the Empire would not have attained this elevated power.” According to this him, Istanbul was in one of the most ideal geographical locations in the world, and it was natural that whatever state owned it would also have power over other nations. As Napoleon said, “If there were a single world government, its center should be Istanbul. (6).” Clearly, Istanbul has never lost its importance throughout history.

After Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Mehmet the Conqueror) took Istanbul and settled in Topkapı Palace, he also decreed the official etiquette and manners concerning food and eating. For this reason, the kitchen held an important place in palace life. Every day, Topkapı Palace produced food for 1,500-2,000 people, including servants, Janissaries, members of the Divan, civil servants, the Sultan and his family; and on feasts and other special days this number increased threefold(5).

Receptions and feasts given at the Divan for foreign ambassadors followed more or less the same protocol. Large silver trays bearing food brought by palace servants were placed on low tables and the guests ate in small groups. Information on this subject gained from foreign ambassadors and travelers as well as Ottoman sources show that Turkish society included an extremely rich culinary tradition and practice. In addition, weddings, military decorations and celebrations included some of the most brilliant pages of Ottoman history. With their ceremonies, guests, tributes, displays, and food and drink served, these celebrations were a cultural treasure.

I.2 A Short Incursion into the History of Romanian Cuisine Archaeological evidence that has come to light in the last 50 or 60 years suggests that our ancestors, the Dacians, in the second century AD, enjoyed a somewhat frugal mealtime, during which they partook of meat dishes (veal cooked on hot embers, roasted wild pigeon, spit-roasted game meat), honey, aromatic wines, and fruits, such as grapes, apples, and pears.

It is clear that all these food sources were possible due to the geographical zone, one which allowed the raising of animals, the cultivation of crops, as well as advantages the many talents of the Dacians, hunting numbering among them.

Although they excelled at breeding cattle and were good at growing crops, the Dacians were not as adepts at preparing dairy products, preferring to consume milk (from sheep and cows) in its raw form, while the vegetables which were known to them at the time were eaten boiled (boiled millet, boiled buckwheat, as well as the celebrated boiled wheat, which, as time passed, become what we know today in Romania as „coliva’, a type of porridge).

The Roman occupation brought with it to our lands, among other things, the well-known pie called „placinta’ (placenta in Latin), a range of soups and broths, bread (flatbreads or baked breads), cold5

pressed olive oil kept in amphorae, as well as the cloche (an earthenware pot with a bell-shaped lid; an ancestor of today‟s pressure cooker).

Due to our geographical position, and due too to the riches our country has always had, it has been the target of various invading peoples, a fact that has left its imprint on the way in which Romanian cuisine has evolved.

Being a people always under threat, Romanians learnt to eat on the run, keeping clear of the paths of the invaders, something that lead to the consumption of raw herbs and salad vegetables such as sorrel, lettuce, rhubarb, and coltsfoot, as well as raw meat, dry cured under their saddles.

Between the 3rd century AD and the 12th century AD, vegetable borsch with meat entered into the diet of the Romanians by way of the Slavs from south of the Danube, as did the two-pronged fork, brought in by Venetian merchants and used in the houses of local lords.

Between the 13th century and up until around 1820, there was the period of Ottoman occupation, but alongside this there were Greek, Arab, Armenian, and Byzantine influences on Romanian cuisine.

It was in this period that Romanians began to devour pilaf, ciulama (meat in white sauce), tocanita (stew), tuslama (tripe stew), moussaka, ghiveci (stew), zacusca (eggplant chutney), sis kebabs, baklava and sarayli pastries. They also brought us eggplants (a vegetable still used a lot in Turkish food), tomatoes, onions, peppers, okra, quinces, melons, and sweetcorn.

At the same time coffee was introduced, as was tobacco and the hubble-bubble pipe.

As a result of the Ottoman occupation and the considerable victories which the Sublime Porte inflicted on us, Romanians were forced to adapt to the situation and cultivate more corn (which the Turks didn‟t want, something that lead to our wel-known form of polenta; mamaliga), and also to raise more pigs (which, similarly, due to their Islamic religion, the Turks did not care for either, preferring lamb and beef), which in turn lead to the Romanian custom of „pomana porcului’, in which a person who slaughters a pig will invite those around him – friends, family, neighbours – to come and share the first meal prepared from the meat and offal of the pig.

Also in this period of history, the influence of the Greek Orthodox patriarchy on the majority of the land owners pushed the church towards a more rural environment, where the majority of the 6

monasteries were to be found; an action that lead to the birth of the gastronomic calendar of religious vegan fasting periods (called „post’ in Romanian). This meant that various foods were assimilated into the Romanian diet, such as; sarmale (stuffed cabbage leaves) with walnuts or raisins, baked celeriac with olives, „caviar’ for post (usually made with semolina flour), vinegary dock leaves, mashed nettles with garlic sauce and mamaliga, monastery-style mushroom stew, mashed beans, eggplant croquettes, and others.

The westernization of Romanian food began in the 1700s. The Austro-Hungarian Empire began to influence the Transylvanian regions of Ardeal and Banat; the Russians made culinary inroads into Moldova; France, Greece, and Italy influenced Muntenia in the south; while Turkey continued to influence the eastern region of Dobrogea.

The greatest period of change occurred in the 1800s when an entire generation of children, born of the 1848 revolution and period of national revival and the children of the wealthy and influential boyar families who had studied in the great universities of Vienna, Paris, and Berlin, now came home with new revolutionary ideals and an intense thirst for the modernization of our country. The first cookery books written in Romanian also began to appear in this period, and amongst these pioneers appeared the writers M. Kogalniceanu and C. Negruzzi with their already celebrated collection entitled “200 tried and tested recipes, pastries and other household things”. So it was that these two renowned Moldavians, just as they had made their mark in the literary and political history of the country, also influenced the revolution of Romanian food, which Negruzzi had described as „a primitive cuisine‟, and which Kogalniceanu declared that in Romania was eaten carelessly, 'as-it-comes', and that „choice dishes‟ did not exist.

The truly modern period in Romania cuisine started, however, after the Great Unification of 1918, when, in Bucharest and other major cities around the country, luxurious restaurants began to open, into whose kitchens chefs would be brought in from the west, in particular from France or Germany, as well as the numerous local eateries that opened up around city neighbourhoods providing popular music to their clients.

With the arrival of Communism in 1947, Romanian gastronomy suffered some new modifications, starting with the censorship and eventually the elimination, as far as possible, of signs of westernization (they being maintained more or less exclusively for the social elite of that period) and eventually arriving at a more scientific and practical form of provisioning.

This period left a long-lasting impression on the „culinary‟ attitude of Romanians, who, once they had escaped from the bonds of those times, made a beeline straight for anything imported and beautifully packaged, without taking into account how healthy it was or was not, quickly getting used to purchasing fast food and junk food to the detriment of traditional Romanian dishes, which, are quite unfairly ignored by the majority of the population.

And now, in brief, here is a gastronomic map of Romania: - Dobrogea is influenced by Turkish, Aromanian, Greek, Tartar, and Lipovan cuisines, and also by its geographical position bordering both the Black Sea and the Danube, resulting in the widest variety of 7

fish dishes found in the entire country. We find here the famous fish borsch, fish sausages, sarmale stuffed with fish, moussaka, doughnuts, sorbets, Dobrogean sheep‟s cheese pie, fish sauces and spreads, garlic paste, baklava, and other sweet pastries, and much more.

- The cuisine of Moldova is somewhat more refined and is influenced mostly by Russian cuisine. This is the homeland of the cheese and egg soufflé, the sweet cheese pasty, and the meatball, of many famous borsches and poultry soups garnished with lovage, stews with mamaliga, and lamb‟s offal pie, of sausages made of chopped pork, of sweet loafs, and plaited pastries.

- Ardeal and Banat have been heavily influenced by Austro-Hungary. The Ardeleni are the most Germanic of the Romanians, eating well and working hard. Pork fat, smoked or boiled, but well prepared, is consumed all year round, be it in its purest state or as an addition to various dishes in the form of „chisaturii’ (smoked fat, finely chopped and mixed with onion, which is added to soups, stews, and other dishes); pork sausages, fresh or smoked, prepared according to Saxon or Hungarian recipes, adapted to the tastes of the locals; black puddings and offal sausages; pork scratching cold of hot; „chisca’ pork and rice sausages; the mixture of dripping and onion called „rantas’ which is used to thicken most of the soups in the Ardeal and Banat regions; soups flavoured with tarragon and soured with vinegar or cabbage brine and enriched with egg yolk, flour, and sour cream. Moreover we find broths with semolina-flour dumplings or homemade noodles. It is here that we encounter the Viennese schnitzels, as well as Hungarian goulash soups, paprika dishes, lettuce soup garnished with fried egg and smoked ribs, and not forgetting the cakes covered with cream and walnuts, and the omnipresent pork dripping (as in this region pork is the star ingredient) that turns up in so many recipes, from the soups right through to the pastries.

- Muntenia is a region which has come under many spheres of influence: French, Italian, Bulgarian, as well as from the East through the Greek, Turkish, Jewish (stuffed pike, for example) or Russian (many soups come to us from them), and thus Muntenians are amongst the most renowned soup-makers in Romania.

I.3 The Turks in Romania The presence of the Turkish community in Romania goes back to the 13th century when about 12,000 Tatars settled in the Dobruja region. The Ottoman Turkish colonisers emerged in the same region during the 15th century, and by the 17th century most of the settlements in Dobruja had Turkish names. In the nineteenth century, Turks and Tatars were more numerous in Dobruja than the Romanians.

After the end of Ottoman rule the Turks of Romania, despite nearly losing their cultural identity under various pressures, are striving hard to preserve their customs and traditions, and pass these on to future generation.

In this context, we will examine the important place of eating and culinary habits within the values of the Turks living in Romania. The chief characteristics of this cultural wealth are: As the Turkish and Romanian peoples lived in among each other for centuries, may different Turkish dishes have entered Bulgarian cooking, many of which have 8

still preserved their Turkish names. Among the first to come to mind, for example, include turşu, paça, işkembe, kıyma, yufka, musakka, yahni, imambayıldı, güveç, köfte, kavurma, kapama, kebap, çömlek kebabı, çöp kebabı, tas kebabı, şiş, sarma, börek and yoğurt.

Yogurt, a food enjoyed today in Europe and America, passed to these continents via the Bulgarians and Romanians.

Turks living in Romania maintain a strong tradition of Baklava making, especially for religious holidays and celebrations, the feast (Bayram) of Ramadan in particular, where the making of baklava begins a week before the holiday. The baklava is sent to special bakeries to be cooked, and on these days, large crowds gather outside the bakeries. Names or other markings are written on the pans to avoid confusion. Following the Bayram prayers, baklava is served to those who come to visit their parents, close relatives and neighbors, and is sent to their nonMuslim Romanian neighbours as well.

Similarly, the Turks living in Romania also hold festive celebrations of the Feast of the Sacrifice. The meat of the slaughtered animals is first distributed to those who could not make a sacrifice, relatives, neighbors and the poor. Romanian neighbours are also not forgotten; they are also given boiled mutton.

As fruits and vegetables were not plentiful in every season in Romania until fairly recently, winter preparations were a very important part of the Turks‟ culinary culture. This accounts for the broad variety of soup components, pickles and preserves, dried vegetables and fruits and various canned and brined staples. It was traditional in every Turkish home to make at least three types of fruit preserves. When women visit each other, they always serve a spoon of preserves accompanied by a glass of water. The main types of preserves made are cherry, tomato, plum, squash, grape, sour cherry, apricot, peach, quince, apple, pear and rose. Just before they are removed from the heat, it is common to add a few washed rose geranium leaves, which lends a pleasant aroma to the preserve.

The order of dishes served on special occasion meals is: Soup, a dish of vegetables and meat, kapama, börek, a sweet (revani, milk/yogurt cake, kadıngöbeği, baklava), stuffed vine leaves with meat, yogurt, and Turkish coffee.

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