Vegetarian Turkish Cooking: Over 100 of Turkey's Classic Recipes for the Vegetarian Cook [Paperback]

Carol Robertson (Author), David Robertson (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2001

Robertson relates a series of captivating and delightful travel adventures in the first half of the book, unveiling the wonders of Turkey—from the ancient cities of Ankara to the spas at Bursa to the small village bazaars, where fresh vegetables line stone pathways and aged stucco homes. The second portion is dedicated to vegetarian foods and recipes. Over one hundred Turkish dishes, including Spinach with Yogurt Sauce, Eggplant Puree, assorted Sis Kebabs, Minted Pea Pilav, and the ever-popular Baklava, await the cook wanting to explore Turkish cuisine.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carol Robertson has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and Africa, both professionally and for pleasure. She is an artist and teacher and makes a home in Juno Beach, Florida.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Frog Books (February 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583940383
• ISBN-13: 978-1583940389
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.9 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,465,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Regional & International > European > Turkish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, June 8, 2001

By 

Schiellein (Strasbourg) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vegetarian Turkish Cooking: Over 100 of Turkey's Classic Recipes for the Vegetarian Cook (Paperback)

I find this book disappointing. Firstly, one fourth of the book is taken up by the author's travel accounts. It's a different story when an author gives some background to each recipe. But it is not the case here and I find the result of those two books rolled into one very awkward. Second, and more annoyingly, many recipes rely on meat substitutes. I have always found it sad and the sign of a certain lack of imagination when vegetarian cooking tries to mimick meat-based dishes. It is particularly regrettable in a book on Turkish cooking which has a rich tradition of NATURALLY vegetarian dishes. Which is why I ordered the book in the first place !

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good cook book, November 28, 2003

By 

merrymousies (Waterford, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vegetarian Turkish Cooking: Over 100 of Turkey's Classic Recipes for the Vegetarian Cook (Paperback)

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Istanbul and Greece and I must say upon returning I was looking for some more of those wonderful meze and the Turkish Delights (yum). So I took a chance on this cookbook since there aren't many (any others) out there that are vegetarian never mind vegan! I'm really enjoying this cookbook - the first 76 pages (out of 249 so that's not a big deal) are indeed history/travelogue but its kind of fun to flip through and the pictures were of some of the same places we visited so that was neat. Just before the recipes there's a section on subsitites and here the author gives you the info you need to find certain ingedients that might not be in the local supermarket - e.g. there's discussion of egg substitites and where to find them, non-dairy butter substitites and where to find them, meat/fish substitites and where to find them etc. In the recipes there are some ingredients like non-meat chicken broth that is called for. Why not just go with a vegetable broth? I did. Anyway, the recipes have all been great so far. I've tried mostly mezes so far - the fried carrots, the fried eggplant with two sauces, stuffed grapeleaves (mine never turn out looking like they should - need more practice...). There are wonderful soups in here - the only one I've made so far was the hot and spicy soup, but others like the lentil look good too. I definitely recommend this cookbook. I had a *really* hard time finding vegetarian dishes in restarants in Istanbul which is why I enjoyed a lot of mezes, so I can see why there are recipes in here (like Sultan's delight) that use meat substitutes. I think this is quite authentic and the author did a terrific job at trying to bring the Turkish flavors to the vegetarian table!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sadly misleading, January 9, 2010

By 

E. Lang "I dream of tiki" (South Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vegetarian Turkish Cooking: Over 100 of Turkey's Classic Recipes for the Vegetarian Cook (Paperback)

I truly wanted to like this book. I like travelogues to tell the reader about the culture while delving into the recipes.

Unfortunately, I found the recipes were actually the same meat based dishes from her other book "Turkish Cooking" with soy subsitutes where the meat would be. Broth becomes non-meat flavored bouillon. I'm upset to have found only a handful of actual vegetable based recipes. Alas, vegans will not find anything of use in this book.

I then flipped through the sister book, "Turkish Cooking," to find the same layout and identical recipes listing the originally intended meat or fish. Dear seeker, I'm very disappointed to say that you are better off purchasing the other book for the real deal and seeking another title to truly find Turkish vegetarian recipes.