A delicious taste of Turkey in Jakarta

A delicious taste of Turkey in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): As Turkey braces itself for yet another winter,
a long way away on a balmy night in Jakarta guests sit fanned by
a gentle breeze with the full moon shining above.

They sip chilled Turkish wine, nibble on a variety of small
Turkish appetizers, chatting about this and that as an entire
song and dance troop brought all the way from Istanbul performs
in the background.

It is possible to sample today here in Jakarta more than 60
different dishes from the delectable kitchen of yet another
restaurant from yet another ancient civilization, with the
sensual encouragement of beautiful belly dancers who sway beneath
palm trees to music both pop and traditional from different parts
of the country.

It is no accident that Turkish cuisine and culture is so
captivating. Turkey's fertile land, forever nourished by the
waters of the Mediterranean, has produced an abundance of flora
and fauna and has subsequently developed a rich variety of
national dishes.

The fruits of this abundant land have needed little else to
prepare them for country's tables than the Mediterranean sun. As
a result, most of Turkey's food, from its dips to its main
courses, is healthy and wholesome. What can be more pure than a
handful of chickpeas boiled till tender, then ground and peppered
with salt, sesame seed paste and green herbs and eaten with the
famous oven-baked Turkish bread as a starter, or as an entire
meal?

It is the wide variety, the simplicity and the generous use of
fresh fruits and vegetables that make Turkish cuisine such a
finger licking affair. As in other parts of the Middle East, lamb
remains the basic meat. Pieces of lamb threaded on a skewer and
grilled over hot charcoal is known around the world as shish
kebab.

Doner kebab is to the Turks what the swarma kebab is to the
Egyptians. It is not uncommon even in the remotest corner of the
world to come across a roll of lamb wrapped around a vertical
skewer turning parallel to a hot grill, sending appetizing smoke
signals for miles before being sliced and packed with green
vegetables and yogurt sauce into packets made out of pita-like
bread.

Eggplant is also prepared in the most unique of ways be it as
a simple paste, chopped into a thick tomato, onion and garlic
sauce, or stuffed inside cabbage or vine leaves.

Throughout the history of Turkey, the imperial kitchen has
held an exalted position, perhaps second only to the king's
throne in Istanbul, inspiring many around the world to admit that
the planet's three major cuisines are indeed Turkish, French and
Chinese. And the evolution of Turkey's remarkable food range is
also a result of its location at the center of the spice trade
route and at the crossroads of the Far East and the
Mediterranean, mirroring a long history of migrations to and from
the steppes of Central Asia to the interior of central Europe.

The open nature of the Turkish people along with their
creativity has resulted in a cuisine that is one of the richest
and most varied in the world, easy to prepare and served in
almost infinite combinations.

The same is true of the country's equally rich culture. Each
region has a different characteristic that distinguishes its
dances from the others. These traditions are born from separate
ways of life of a people who once lived in small isolated pockets
and who later came together, ultimately producing a united hybrid
of five great cultural trends over a period of 900 years,
according to scholars.

The first great cultural influence was that of ancient
Anatolia inhabited for thousands of years by peoples of various
civilizations like the Greek, Phrygian, Lydian, Cappodocian and
Byzantine to name a few. The second most important cultural
influence was that of Asia, particularly of China and the
shamanistic rituals of the Ural-Altaic region which is the origin
of modern Turkey.

As the Turkish Ottoman empire expanded between the 15th and
19th centuries sweeping across Asia, Africa and Europe right up
to the gates of Vienna, it readily absorbed the different ways of
life of the people it ruled.

It is possible to experience the on-going Turkish extravaganza
here at the sprawling Sriwedari Garden Restaurant at the Hilton
Hotel until Oct. 22, where a colorful bazaar of exquisite
handicrafts and silver jewelry accompanies the exotic
festivities.

--Mehru Jaffer