Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the American Kitchen - Hardcover

Algar, Ayla Esen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060163178 ISBN 13: 9780060163174

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1991

Synopsis

Turkish food ranks high among the world's great cuisines. Its taste and depth place it with French and Chinese; its simplicity and healthfulness rank it number one. Developed by Turkish peasants for whom eating was obviously a great pleasure, Turkish cooking evolved to include the sophisticated "palace" cooking of Istanbul. It remains, however, a simple cuisine based on fragrant Mediterranean ingredients combined in exciting and unexpected ways.

Ayla Algar, a Turkish-born lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, provides American cooks with 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, baklava and other traditional sweets are introduced here to American cooks in accessible form, easy for any home cook to make. With its emphasis on grains, vegetables, fruits, olive oil and other healthy foods, Turkish cooking puts a new spin on familiar ingredients and offers culinary adventure coupled with a satisfying and delicious diet.

About this title

Review:

"An important addition to gastronomic literature." -- BOOKLIST

""Classical Turkish Cooking" . . . is a splendid introduction to a cuisine that straddles Europe and Asia, drawing on East and West alike. Savory rice pilafs, stuffed vegetables and rolled grape leaves, crisp salads dressed with yogurt and more complex savory pies and turnovers, along with syrupy Middle Eastern sweets made with rosewater, apricots, figs and walnuts, are among delicious offerings."-- Nancy Harmon Jenkins, "New York Times""The recipes [in "Classical Turkish Cooking"] are very appealing to the contemporary cook, yet have a slightly exotic touch. Now that we have accepted risotto, pilaf can't be far behind in capturing our tastebuds. The book is also a bonanza for vegetarians."-- Joyce Goldstein, author of "The Mediterranean Kitchen""The foods of the classical Turkish kitchen seem closer to us than many of the experimental dishes of our time, and if you cook Roasted Eggplant and Chili Salad or the delicious Lamb Chops with Molasses-Glazed Chestnuts, I think you'll agree with me."-- George Lang, author of "Nobody Knows The Truffles I've Seen""Liberally spiced with historical allusions, ["Classical Turkish Cooking"] takes you into a world that prized colors and fragrant essences like rubies. . . . One can only wish that more cookbook writers were as charged with purposeful conviction as Algar."-- Anne Mendelson, "Los Angeles Times""An important addition to gastronomic literature."-- "Booklist"

From the Back Cover:

Turkish food is on eof 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.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0060163178
• ISBN 13: 9780060163174
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 306