Being a vegetarian on the road can be challenging especially in certain countries, and thank to its reputation as a kebab motherland Turkey may seem frightening to many vegetarian travelers. However, all those frightened could not be more mistaken. The abundance of fresh produce in any season makes Turkish cuisine one of the richest depositories of the vegetable-based dishes. And here is the guide that can help you discover and enjoy the vegetarian side of Istanbul food. [click to continue…]
Vegetarian Istanbul
A while ago I wrote about a vegetarian kebab at Kebabçi Iskender in Kadıköy. The post was not only received well by vegetarian eaters but also created an unexpected side effect: my low-carb eating friend said that now she’s ordering her inskenders on the bed of roasted eggplants rather than flat bread. A trick worth knowing for those eating gluten-free in Istanbul! So let’s continue talking about the kebabs sensitively prepared for the non-conventional foodies in Istanbul. Here comes another trip to the Asia side of the city where you will be heading out to Çiya, a little restaurant empire of Musa Dağdeviren sprawled around the Kadıköy market.
Vegetarians in the city, please, stop your illusive pursuits of vegetarian restaurants in Istanbul unless you think that foregoing meat means depriving yourself from attractive flavorful food. I can see stones being thrown upon me from far away but I am going to be upfront here: there is no pure vegetarian restaurant in Istanbul where you would be eating and not thinking about 101 ways to improve every single dish you order.
Instead vegetarians in Istanbul should venture into the regular places where people eat and discover a (huge) meatless side of the Turkish cooking. And - just as counter-intuitive as it sounds - you should not shy away from the eateries that seemingly do not cater to a non-carnivore. Like kebab houses. In fact you can get blissfully full with excellent treats without ever touching meat in a good kebab house in Istanbul. And if you are lucky brave enough you can feast on out-of-this-world vegetarian kebab .. at a stronghold of the Turkish kebab tradition, Kebapçı İskender.
If I were to open a restaurant in Istanbul I would never consider - not even for a second - to do Turkish home food. It is the trickiest restaurant concept in this country because when it comes to home-style food in Turkey everyone has got something to say. A lot to say in fact but I will not go into detail and just distill that “a lot” to “my mother does it better”.
Now, this is changing with the new generation of young Turkish women who want a career instead of spending time on the home-cooked meals. But we are still witnessing the fruits of the generation of solid home cooks, i.e. their children who did not grow on köfte and french fries. Of course there are many succulent kebabs turning on the spits out there and fish sandwiches assembled on the rocking boats but no Turk has grown up eating those. People here have grown up eating wholesome meals caringly put together by their mothers. So Turkish mothers bring up very demanding eaters who want their kuru fasulye found elsewhere to be just like their mother’s.
Last month we went to see Skyfall. My husband was bewildered by my unwitnessed before enthusiasm about an action movie. I reassured him it was not for Daniel Craig (oh, is he not the hottest Bond of all?) but the Istanbul scenes of the movie. A good part of the summer during my food walks I had to take my clients rounds and rounds around the “Oriental bazaar” built for the Skyfall stunts before we could enter the actual Spice Market. Those weeks of filming in Istanbul were packed into the minutes of motorcycle chase on the vast roof of the Grand Bazaar. While I was thrilled by the stunts my husband got puzzled that the directors have chosen Istanbul to shoot the Grand Bazaar and but then flew to Shanghai (instead of going to Maslak) for the backdrop of lit up skyscrapers.
“This is what people think of Turkey, honey!” I told him. “Oriental and a tad backward“. I see it a lot of this thinking in the dining choices foreign tourists make in Istanbul. In the pursuit of the local flavors travelers wow about archaic canteens (lokanta) where local hardware sellers dine but they are less interested in the places where local industrialists go for lunch. Do the hardware sellers really know their food better? Do you actually identify yourself with a hardware seller with choosing a place for lunch back in your home country? With all my respect to the Istanbul tradesmen’s canteens (esnaf lokantası) and forgiveness to all the mediocre food they have served me I beg you to have a better look around. And maybe get in a cab to a different kind of canteen. The Kantin.
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If you pass by and glance at the window of Gram you would be sure it is a pastry shop. With gigantic meringues, with tiny sandwiches where pungent tulum cheese is hidden between the toasted buns and with best-looking brownies in Istanbul. You would think it is yet another Turkish take on foreign food which makes you long for the original. You would be so wrong. Because if you - with Alice-like courage to enter a rabbit hole - pass the meringues-graced counter you will see a small dining room and equally small kitchen. And this is an attempt to show how Turkish food can be exciting and trendy. This is Gram.
From the first sight of its busy streets Istanbul presents itself as a kebab capital of the world steering away vegetarian foodies. This impression is deceiving. Do not despair neither sheer number of kebab shops made even more noticeable thanks to the stentorian cries of the vendors. Do not take seriously locals fainting after you declare your meatless agenda. Instead, get ready to fetch finest local flavors from the menus of best Istanbul restaurants.
