Med and Mideast meet at Turkish food festival

Maria Endah Hulupi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Turkish cuisine boasts an extensive number of healthy and lightly spiced dishes with a highlight on the ingredients' natural flavors.

"We use spices sparingly and usually season the main vegetable and grain dishes with a little salt and pepper. This method enables us to enjoy the flavor of the dish's main ingredients," explained president of the Association of Professional Turkish Chefs, Yahya Erdogan.

He explained that the Turks popular diets mainly use grains, vegetables and fruits, while specially cooked meat and dairy products are used sparingly. "This is why Turkish cuisine is often associated with healthy dishes," he added.

The cuisine has a long history and its dishes can be described as a mixture of Mediterranean, Southern European and Middle Eastern influences, to which its typical flavors originated.

"It's a unique cuisine and its distinctive flavors have its root with a foreign influence," said Mathiew Alpay, chef instructor with the Promotion Foundation of Turkey.

Erdogan and Alpay are two of the four chefs, invited by the foundation for the Turkish food and cultural promotion at the Jakarta Hilton International's Sriwedari garden restaurant.

The chefs prepare about 60 dishes including soups, main dishes and deserts for Rp 135,000++. The nine-day promotion, ending on Sept. 15, 2002 is jointly held by the Turkish embassy and Turkish airlines.

The country's abundant supply of vegetables encourage locals to create a wide variety of dishes with no less than 200 hot and cold vegetable-based dishes and a variety of rice dishes, initially introduced to the country by several foreign ethnic groups.

Among its popular vegetable dishes include zucchini, tomato, capsicum, spinach and eggplant. And though used in moderation, Turkish cuisine also has a number of popular meat-based dishes, like different kinds of kebab. Popular meats used in everyday cooking are beef, chicken, veal and lamb.

Dishes are lightly spiced with popular spices, mainly cumin, all spices and other cooking herbs but most foods are prepared using olive oil.

Apart from the ingredients, its traditional cooking method, especially to make the meat-based dishes, also makes the meal contain less fat. "Kebab (doner kebab) is lightly marinated and cooked vertically so that the fat can drip off. Cutting the meat is also important. We usually cut the meat into thin slices," said Alpay.

He added that Turkish meat, though slightly rubbery, has a better flavor compared to meat from other countries and this is mainly because local farmers cultivate their cattle by letting the animal graze freely in the open pasture, where cooking herbs also grow naturally. "This way of cultivation gives a special taste to the meat," Alpay said.

For this promotion, the chefs prepare the country's popular dishes and among them are kebab, vine leaves dolma (with pine nuts and currant filling), musakka (cauliflower and minced meat dish), different kinds of pilaff (seasoned rice), baklava (pastry with pistachio and walnut filling) and maras ice cream.

While enjoying the delectable menu, guests are also entertained with traditional performances, like whirling dervishes (a mystical dance with a dominant nuance of sufism's tolerance teaching), silifke dance (performed by couples, holding wooden spoons in their hands to create rhythm), cifteteli dance (a celebration dance), karadeniz dance (depicting the strong waves of the Black Sea and swimming hamsi fish) and of course, belly dancers. There is also Janissary Band to enhance the atmosphere with Turkish songs and Turkish carpets can also be purchased.