My Favorite Turkish Cookbooks

I often get asked about the Turkish cookbooks in English I recommend. Overall I feel there it still too little written about this world-class cuisine, but fortunately there are a few great cookbooks out there. Here are the 5 favorites I often consult or simply page through for an inspiration.

Sultan’s Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook
by Özcan Ozan

Published in 2001, it remains my favorite Turkish cookbook. Turkey-born Mr. Ozan is currently living and cooking in the States. In his book he showcases a good range of Turkish classic recipes for home cooks of all levels. You can find such staples as zucchini fritters or green beans braised in olive oil, however the book also includes the dishes many experienced cooks would be curious to attempt - an exquisite Hünkar Beğendi (braised chunks of lamb with roasted eggplant puree) or the finicky creations of tel kadaif dough such as künefe. In addition, Mr. Ozan shares a range of heirloom recipes from the Turkish Aegean where her grew up (e.g. bread with a chickpea starter, meatballs in tomato sauce or grey mullet stew).

The instructions in the book are detailed and clear, and the recipes are reliable. When you cook from the book, you are most likely to come up with a dish tasting just as we know it in Turkey. I love the fact that while suggesting reasonable replacements (e.g. feta cheese instead of a regional Turkish cheese that is not exported), the author encourages you to look out for the ingredients that might be new for those just getting to know Turkish cooking. He conveniently includes a section where he walks your through the Turkish pantry and suggests a few shopping addresses.

Classic Turkish Cooking
by Ghillie Başan

Even by looking at this substantial volume you can tell this book is an encyclopedia of Turkish cooking (currently in the second edition). The book covers a broad range of recipes including the classics, regional dishes or Ottoman foods that only few have heard of. I am happy to see the recipes of the lesser known to a foreign cook treats such as hoşmerim cheese pudding and mackerel stuffed with nuts and herbs. Instructions are clear, and the recipes are also reliable. Here and there you find a few adaptations to please a Western palate (e.g. reduced sugar in some desserts).

My only trouble with this book is a lack of reference or explanations when it comes to more rarely found recipes. For instance, I am still not sure if the dishes like salad of cooked spinach roots with poppy seeds or potato bake exist in Turkey (perhaps as a part of a regional cuisine) or they are creations of Mrs. Başan. I feel the same way about certain techniques as I have seen them applied differently in the Turkish kitchens: e.g. to make a fluffy pilaf the grain (rice or bulgur) is first thoroughly coated in butter and only then water is added.

500 years of Ottoman Cuisine
by Marianna Yerasimos

The modern-day Ottoman hype convinces me of one thing: most of people have no idea of what they are talking about. When it comes to Ottoman food, seasoned with plenty of mysticism and oriental fantasies encouraged by visits to the Spice Market, the popular ideas don’t go beyond Turkish delight and meat stews . If you have the slightest interest in the realities of the Ottoman cooking and food culture, here is the book for you. It comes from the hands of an academician, which might have been a red light for anyone looking for a cookbook, but Mrs. Yerasimos is a born cookbook writer. Not only she supplies plenty of anecdotes to imagine the lavish feasts and regular meals at the Sultan palace, but also she presents a selection of the Ottoman recipes that every home cook can recreate.

This selection includes unique dishes only a few might have heard of (e.g. apple stuffed with pilaf of mutton, dry apricot and almonds cooked in grape juice), but also shows how many of the modern-day Turkish food was prototyped in the Ottoman kitchens: Sultans and their distinguished guests also used to eat yogurt-tempered soups (ak çorba) or egg-rish pancakes (kaygana). The recipes use the quantities relevant for a home cook (no meals for 300 people) that are converted in the metric system and cups (imagine the pain of converting 10 occe into cups). Finally, Mrs. Yerasimos has tested the recipes in the book and accompanied each with most clear and detailed directions.

Cooking New Istanbul Style
by Refika Birgül

Refika Birgül is substantial: she did the book before the popular TV show and the weekly column in a major daily that have made her into a household brand in Turkey. The cookbook is a manifesto of Mrs. Birgül’s approach to cooking: while paying respects to the Istanbul food traditions, she is not shy to play with them. Cooking New Istanbul Style starts with introducing you to the key Turkish pantry, cooking utensils, tips on how to choose fish and meat and even the basics of urban gardening. After this introduction you should be able to source everything you need for a fondu of string cheese and grape molasses (pekmez) or mantı, Turkish ravioli, made from scratch and dried in the oven and served as a snack instead of a main course.

I must admit the Mrs. Birgül’s ideas are often way better than her recipes that I find almost impossible to follow and come up with the same results she promises. But if you are a confident cook interested in the new angles on the Turkish cooking, this book is for you. Moreover if you are living in Istanbul or planning to more here, this book is a must read to get oriented in the city’s food culture. The book is bi-lingual, and while the English translation can’t fully express the author’s unique style (recipe for “minced meat which sells itself as döner kebab” anybody?), it gives you a sense of a very personal and playful relationships Mrs. Birgül has with her food, and you can’t help getting infected.

Turquoise
by Greg Malouf

This is not a book to learn authentic Turkish cooking from, but the one to get if you want to relive your travels to Turkey and try to recreate the dishes you’ve eaten here - in a slightly twisted way. Turquoise boasts stunning travel and food photography, brief tales of the authors’ travels around Turkey and of course - the recipes, most of which are the updates takes on the Turkish classics that could grace a menu of a fine dining restaurant but are not too intimidating for an experienced home cook.

Mr. Malouf builds on his expertise in the Middle Eastern cooking that makes him confident with many Turkish ingredients and dishes. I can ensure you that you will want to lick every single page of the book, because the recipes scream fresh, wholesome, exotic and delicious. He triples the greenness of the pistachio pilaf by adding spinach and herbs and then fills the famed cigar-shaped pastries with lamb brain instead of the plain cheese. But then Mr. Malouf also shows you how to cook stuffed mussels, Istanbul street-style or prepare a real Turkish flat-bread, pide.