Making Turkish Food with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
I was hired as an art and restaurant critic by the Monterey
County Weekly (Circulation: 100,000) based on the work I had done in my
memoirs writing class with Beat poet David Gitin at Monterey Peninsula College
in Monterey, California. (“Just send in
some college art history papers and the work you have done for me to the paper
and call them,” he said.)
The first assignment I worked on for the Weekly
was for the Turkish Festival held on the Monterey Wharf. I took Florence with me to Border’s to hear
the Turkish singers and band that was going to appear play the café at the
bookstore. We also met the artist who
would be doing the ebru paper marbling at the Festival.
When I studied French children’s literature and francophone
children’s culture at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin, I had to study
children’s culture of a francophone society as a class assignment.
I already knew much about the Vietnamese, who are a minority
in France along with “White Russians” and Algerians. The white Russians are aristocrats, who have
fled the Soviet Union and Russia over the decades for political
oppression. The French were the
colonizers of Vietnam and the rest of what was called “Indochina.”
They fought in Vietnam before the Americans took over. I also studied Khmer art by going to the
Guimet Museum in Paris often when I lived there and going to exhibits on my
“Louvre Supporter Card” that got me into all the museums of Paris for free.
Indochina was made up of today’s Vietnam, Cambodia,
Thailand, and Myanmar (former Burma).
I had to give the Weekly this information to cover art
openings in Carmel. (There really are
Monet paintings in bank vaults in our dinky Monterey Peninsula.) I studied East Asian civilization, art
history, and the languages of China, Japan, and Korea at the University of
Chicago as well. I obtained official
transcripts for them from the University before I was allowed to be a “young
mom” art critic.
I studied the culture of Islam for children from the
perspective of religious ceremonies and food.
I took Florence out to discover Islamic children’s culture with me in
Madison at a Turkish restaurant downtown called Husnus.
I had read about Turkish food in a cookbook before going out
with Florence. I ordered cheese and
spinach borek for us. These are
triangular folds of phyllo dough baked in butter.
I told Florence that cheese has calcium in it that was good
for building strong bones. I picked up
the spinach borek and told her that spinach has iron in it for making your
blood strong.
“The spinach borek is also made with onions sautéed in butter. Onions help prevent colds,” I said. All these sayings are a southern gardener’s
drug store wisdom that has to be verified, of course, with your nutritionist,
but I rarely catch colds.
(Note: The only time
I caught colds was when I worked with the children of farmworkers and their
parents in Monterey County. Many of the
Oaxacan workers form southern Mexico in the County come from a tropical
climate. They are not vaccinated in
Mexico nor in the US. I was sick several
times, because of this, but was able to get over the infections.)
After the meze (appetizers), I ordered hummus and baba ghanoush
for Florence and me with warm pita bread.
Both of these items were almost unheard of at the time. Hummus is a chickpea puree made with a
liquid-type of sesame seed butter, lemon juice, and garlic.
You are only supposed to eat a little hummus at a time,
because it is an appetizer. If you make
a meal of it, you can get fat quickly.
Hummus is incredibly inexpensive to make at home, but it takes time to
make at home as the only good homemade hummus is made from scratch with dry
beans.
Baba ghanoush is my favorite puree spread. It is a pain to make at home. It takes about 6 – 8 eggplants to get a small
bowl of this spread made. Basically, you
roast the eggplants, add the liquid-type sesame seed butter, lemon juice, and
garlic.
Turkish tabbouleh (parsley and bulgar wheat salad with lemon
juice and olive oil) is made with more bulgar wheat than parsley unlike the
Lebanese and Syrian versions that I ate growing up in Detroit, Michigan.
I told Florence, “I prefer buying the tabbouleh made at
Magic Mill Market in town, because it is made with quinoa, which is a
full-protein. Quinoa comes from Bolivia
and Peru. These are two countries in
Latin America high in the mountains.”
(Quinoa is now grown in the US in Colorado and in the
Canadian Rockies.)
I told Florence what I knew about protein-combinations at
the time and why this food was very good for building muscle and keeping you
from catching colds. I had studied
vegetarianism while perusing the shelves in the various libraries at the
University of Chicago.
I told Florence, “If you all you eat is banana-nut muffins,
you can probably knock out a welter-weight Muhammad Ali. And, they are a lot cheaper than steak. I ate those all the time at the University of
Chicago.”
Florence nibbled everything and said, “All this tastes
okay.”
“Yes, and it is not expensive, and I can make everything
here. The Magic Mill Market carries all
the ingredients and so does Whole Foods, which is opening a store here
soon. I can make all sorts of gourmet
lunches and dinners with the ingredients in these two stores. If we eat at home most of the time, we can
afford to go to nice restaurants four or five times a month,” I said.
After our discussion, I ordered Turkish baklava for dessert,
which is made with pistachios and honey rather than walnuts like the Greeks do
it.
“Your daughter is the only American child, who has come in
here,” the waiter said as he handed me a Turkish coffee at the end of the meal
with a piece of loukum candy.
He also gave Florence a box of loukum candy for behaving
like a little lady and trying the Turkish food.
I paid the bill and wrapped Florence up in her scarf and hat
and headed out into the windy, cold Wisconsin day on one of our many visits to
Husnus when we lived in Madison.
On the way home, I told Florence, “It is important to know
about Turkey. Turkey was the head of
what was once the Ottoman Empire that includes modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and other countries.
Many of the foods eaten in Turkey are the same as those eaten throughout
the former Ottoman Empire. Some regions
use spicier ingredients, but that is the only difference.”
Florence already knew what the food of Turkey was like when
I took the family to the Turkish Festival on the Wharf to write about it for
the Monterey
County Weekly (Circulation: 100,000).
I wrote the following article about one of the most educational Turkish
Festivals ever to be held here. (We had
been to several before I wrote about them for the paper.) I have done some editing for items in the
article that are no longer relevant.:
“I’ll admit it. The
real reason I want to go to the Turkish Arts and Culture Festival this weekend
besides falling into a trance as I listen to Sahin Gunsel sing Turkish love
songs while he plays the oud; tapping my feet and clapping my hands as I watch
folk dancers in brightly-colored costumes; and seeing what Turkish towns look
like at the Orhan Coplu art exhibit among other Turkish delights; is to admire
skill of the belly dancers.
I love the sheer veils, sequined tops outlined with gold
coins, finger cymbals, and sinuous movements of this art form that began as a
ritual dance, representing childbirth in a region extending from Morocco to
Turkey.
I feel no guilt about sampling Turkish food made by women
who learn to cook without cookbooks and measure. Amazingly, the chefs at the Topkapi Palace in
Istanbul, the hub of the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire, operated on the same
principle.
An Ottoman chef threw out Empress Eurgenie’s French chef,
who was seeking an eggplant puree recipe for his sovereign, because he arrived
in the kitchens with paper and measures.
The Ottoman chef said, “”An Imperial chef cooks with his
feelings, his eyes, his nose.!”
So, the French empress never ate Turkish food again unlike
the fortunate souls who will attend the Turkish Festival this year.
Among the succulent menu offerings at the Festival are doner
kebap, slices of ground lamb seasoned with garlic that resemble Greek gyros and Levantine
shwarma; adana kebap, ground lamb meatballs seasoned with garlic, onion, cumin,
and red peppers, if the chef comes from southern Turkey; and borek – buttery
phyllo crust-pie filled with creamy cheese and spinach.
Of course, there are dolmas, grape leaves stuffed with rice
and seasoned with mint; musakka, baked slices of layered eggplant in tomato
sauce; and kisir-cracked wheat salad with parsley, tomato, and onion with
lemon-oil dressing.
Other Turkish delicacies to be sampled will be cucik, a
yogurt and garlic sauce, which goes well with the doner kebap, piyaz – white
kidney bean salad seasoned with parsley, dill, mint, and onion topped off with
lemon-oil dressing; and Shepherd Salad, a tomato, onion, and cucumber dish made
with the freshest vegetables available.
And, finally, there is the traditional ending to a proper
Turkish meal – a cup of strong coffee.
When you have drained the last drop, then turn the cup upside down and
let Ilge Ozersen read your fortune in the grounds remaining in the cup.
Don’t miss your chance to view the Turkish art on display,
which includes Arabic calligraphy (Beautiful writing that enhanced a word’s
meaning. The calligrapher used his skill
to decorate religious manuscripts with flowers and geometric shapes as well.
The Hadith, the collected sayings of Mohammed, prohibited
the use of human form in religious manuscripts to prevent idolatry. The artwork on view at this Festival featured
manuscripts with gold gilding (Turkish artists painted gold onto their works
rather than embossing as done in Europe.), tapestries (the decorations on the
tapestries include figures such as sultans, Mosque motifs, and flowers), ebru
(paper marbling), and carpets.
Women weavers have anonymously made Turkish carpets one of
the world’s premier art forms, since time immemorial. One-of-a-kind carpets carry tribal symbols, the
guls, which vary in the same way that Scottish tartans do.
The weavers vary tone and minute details to create movement
among the repeating shapes on the predominantly red carpets.
With artwork like this on the floors, the Turks naturally
remove their shoes before entering a home like the Japanese do. Flowery “Garden of Paradise” carpets can make
a dessert lush and attest to the weaver’s skill in coaxing circular shapes out
of an angular medium.
Festival-goers can also view silk prayer rugs decorated with
a mihrab, the Mosque niche that points in the direction of Mecca, and a lamp
that represents Allah.
A trip to the Turkish Festival would be incomplete without
knowing a little about Turkey’s wise-fool priest, Nasreddin Hoca. One day, the Hoca was discussing the
completeness of creation with a friend during a walk. Hoca said, “I think horses would have been
much more useful to mankind, if they had wings.”
Just then, some pigeon droppings fell on Hoca’s turban.
“Allah knows best,” he said.
Florence giggled about that joke at home.
The Turkish Festival, lovingly prepared by the non-profit
Turkish American Association of California, truly offers many delights not to
be missed, including a children’s tent with folk dancing, face painting, and
story telling.
End of Article –
I bought some extra pistachio baklava to go home in boxes to
eat with tea and more discussion with Laurent and Florence both about how we
took a trip to Turkey without spending any money on airfare or hotels.
The following books have information on Turkish cuisine and
Mediterranean cuisine food in general, which includes Turkish food:
Books on Turkish
Cuisine
-Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the
American Kitchen by Ayla Algar
-The Art of Turkish Cooking by Neset Eren published by
Hippocrene International Cookbook Classics
-Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon by
Claudia Roden
-The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean: 215 Healthy, Vibrant, and Inspired Recipes by Paula Wolfert
-Mediterranean Grains and Greens: A Book of Savory, Sun-Drenched Recipes by Paula Wolfert
-The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean: 215 Healthy, Vibrant, and Inspired Recipes by Paula Wolfert
-Mediterranean Grains and Greens: A Book of Savory, Sun-Drenched Recipes by Paula Wolfert
Books on
Mediterranean Cuisine in General, which includes Turkey
-A Mediterranean Feast: The Story of the Birth of the
Mediterranean from the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs (with more
than 500 recipes) by Clifford A. Wright
-Little Foods of the Mediterranean: 500 Fabulous Recipes for
Antipasti, tapas, hors d’oeuvre, meze, and more by Clifford A. Wright
-Mediterranean Cookery by Claudia Roden
-A Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
I would get books like these at the library in DeForest, Wisconsin
where we lived at the time. The Library
had free inter-library load with the University of Wisconsin and wealthy
neighborhoods around Madison.
By Ruth Paget, Author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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Click here for: Ruth Paget's Amazon Books
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