Classical Turkish Cooking: Traditional Turkish Food for the American Kitchen

Author: Ayla Algar
ISBN: 0060931639
Publisher: Quill
Published: May 1999
Pages: 320

Turkish food is one of the world's great cuisines. Its taste and depth place it with French and Chinese; its simplicity and healthfulness rank it number one. Turkish-born Ayla Algar offers 175 recipes for this vibrant and tasty food, presented against the rich and fascinating backdrop of Turkish history and culture. Tempting recipes for kebabs, pilafs, "meze" (appetizers), dolmas (those delicious stuffed vegetables or vine leaves), soups, fish, "manti" and other pasta dishes, lamb, poultry, yogurt, bread, and traditional sweets such as baklava are introduced here to American cooks in accessible form. With its emphasis on grains, vegetables, fruits, olive oil, and other healthful foods, Turkish cooking puts a new spin on familiar ingredients and offers culinary adventure coupled with satisfying and delicious meals.

Classical Turkish Cooking... is a splendid introduction to a cuisine that straddles Europe and Asia, drawing on East and West alike. Savory rice pilafs, stuffed vegetables and rolled grape leaves, crisp salads dressed with yogurt and more complex savory pies and turnovers, along with syrupy Middle Eastern sweets made with rosewater, apricots, figs and walnuts, are among delicious offerings.

Classical Turkish Cooking... is a splendid introduction to a cuisine that straddles Europe and Asia, drawing on East and West alike. Savory rice pilafs, stuffed vegetables and rolled grape leaves, crisp salads dressed with yogurt and more complex savory pies and turnovers, along with syrupy Middle Eastern sweets made with rosewater, apricots, figs and walnuts, are among delicious offerings."
-- Nancy Harmon Jenkins, The New York Times

"The recipes in Classical Turkish Cooking are very appealing to the contemporary cook, yet have a slightly exotic touch. Now that we have accepted risotto, pilaf can't be far behind in capturing our tastebuds. The book is also a bonanza for vegetarians."
-- Joyce Goldstein, author of "The Mediterranean Kitchen"

"The foods of the classical Turkish kitchen seem closer to us than many of the experimental dishes of our time, and if you cook Roasted Eggplant and Chili Salad or the delicious Lamb Chops with Molasses-Glazed Chestnuts, I think you'll agree with me."
-- George Lang, author of "Nobody Knows The Truffles I've Seen"

"Liberally spiced with historical allusions, Classical Turkish Cooking takes you into a world that prized colors and fragrant essences like rubies... One can only wish that more cookbook writers were as charged with purposeful conviction as Algar."
-- Anne Mendelson, Los Angeles Times

"An important addition to gastronomic literature."
-- Booklist