Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.