The Ottoman Kitchen: Modern Recipes from Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, Lebanon, Syria and Beyond [Paperback]

Sarah Woodward (Author), Surah Woodward (Author), David Spillman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002 | Series: Cookbooks

Nowhere has there ever been a city more famous for its bazaars than Constantinople (now Istanbul), Turkey. Standing at the gateway from Europe to the East, the once-fabled Byzantine capital became the center of the vast Ottoman Empire, which at the height of its glory spread East-West from Baghdad to Tripoli and North-South from Budapest to Cairo. Every Ottoman city was a shopping center, and as early as the sixteenth century Western travelers wrote of the glories of the bazaars across the Eastern Mediterranean and from beyond.

The Ottoman Kitchen explores the culinary traditions of the region, and offers a collection of practical recipes for up-to-date versions of classic dishes. Interwoven with illuminating tales of history and culture, over 100 photographs are featured-stunning recipe pictures and evocative location shots of modern-day life. Much-traveled recipes include the luscious pastry baklava from Armenia; the egg and lemon sauce known to the Greeks as avgolémono, with its Byzantine origin; and the boregs or pastries for which the Turks have long been famous, modeled on the dumplings of Mongolia and China from where the Turkic tribes came west. Then there are the dishes, such as Circassian chicken and Albanian liver, whose very names denote their origins.

This is food that was brought together in the bazaar and perfected and refined in the palace kitchens of the Ottoman sultans. One of the earliest exponents of fusion cooking, the Ottomans elaborated and refined the culinary traditions of the entire Eastern Mediterranean region to create one of the world's greatest, and most eclectic, cuisines.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah Woodward first became fascinated with the lands of the former Ottoman Empire when reading history at Trinity College, Cambridge. She has since traveled widely in the region, from the Balkans to Egypt and Yemen, across Turkey and throughout Syria and Lebanon, picking up recipes along the way. Her cookbooks include Oranges & Lemons, The Classic Mediterranean Cookbook, and Tastes of North Africa. She is a regular contributor to Condé Nast Traveller, Wine, and Red magazines and is Food and Drink Editor of bol.com.

Jan Baldwin is a leading international photographer of food and interiors. Her photographs illustrate one other Interlink cookbook, The African Kitchen. Her work appears regularly in The World of Interiors, Harpers & Queen, and leading international newspapers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Publishing Group (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566564328
• ISBN-13: 978-1566564328
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,252 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #44 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Turkish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay for those not married to a Turk, December 30, 2007

By 

L. Kavanaugh (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ottoman Kitchen: Modern Recipes from Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, Lebanon, Syria and Beyond (Paperback)

I originally got this book about 5 years ago. I believe I enjoyed the book at first because of the beautiful pictures and gorgeous text. I've tried some of the recipes and they were good over the years including the Imam Bayaldi and mezze dishes. However, as I've become more familiar with Turkish cuisine, I am less enamoured with this cookbook. For Manti, they suggest using meat tortellini smothered in yogurt sauce. I've gorged myself on manti more times than I care to remember and cannot see how meat tortellini is a fair substitute. I much prefer "The Art of Turkish Cooking" by Neset Eren. It's not beautiful but it is practical and useful for this yabanci.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars How Not to Cook for a Turk, March 30, 2009

By 

Turkish Kate - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ottoman Kitchen: Modern Recipes from Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, Lebanon, Syria and Beyond (Paperback)

This book is not a total waste of money, the photos are fabulous. While I cannot speak for the recipes from outside of Turkiye, I have to say that this is a collection of the worst Turkish recipes I have ever seen in my life, bar none. In the discussion portions of the book, the author states that she has collected recipes from many famous Turkish chefs, but she has apparently missed a well-known secret of Turkish households and restaurants--no Turkish cook *ever* gives out the true recipe! From the recipe for Imam Bayildi that doesn't use fresh (or even canned tomatoes) to the recipe for Gozleme that uses yufka, these recipes are designed only to be prepared for those who have no previous experience with Turkish food. For anyone who is looking to recreate the fabulous dishes they experienced while on vacation or who are wanting to impress a Turkish boyfriend (or mother-in-law), please do yourself a favor and skip over this book (unless you're wanting to get rid of the Turkish boyfriend or mother-in-law!). If you've already purchased this book and are looking for a way to recoup your investment without unloading it on some poor unsuspecting person, do what I did: cut out the photos and frame them!

My cred: I spent years living in Istanbul with my Turkish husband and cooking for my mother-in-law--without complaint.