VEGETABLES AND PULSES
The mild climate of Turkey is suitable
to grow very different kinds of fruits and
vegetables which are presented in colorful and cheerful market places arranged
neatly in rows together with herbs, pulses and spices.
These market places are so attractive
that you can not just pass by without buying an item. Vegetables are never
treated as second class. in the Turkish cuisine. They may be sauteed or fried,
like sauteed spinach; cooked in olive oil, like green beans in olive oil or
cooked with meat, poultry, pastirma or sucuk (both spicy charcuterie) to be
served as main course. They are also used lavishly in salads, boreks, mezes and
soups. Among all vegetables, eggplants have a special place. They are cooked in
nearly fourty different ways. They are fried, stuffed, baked, charcoaled and
used in boreks, jams pilafs, kebaps. Most popular examples are; karruyank;
baked aubergine stuffed with minced meat, tomato, parsley and onion, imam
bayildi; cooked in olive oil stuffed with onion and tomato, salad made of
charcoaled aubergine, with a smoky odor and taste. Green vegetables like
spinach, chard, purslane are not accessories served with meat as in foreign
cuisines, they are cooked with onion and tomato with a little water, served
with yoghurt or cooked with a little fat to which eggs may be added if desired.
Besides vegetables, pulses are mainly
consumed in winter.In summer fresh and green pulses are widely used. White
beans either with pastirma, sucuk or meat is the favorite and served with
plentiful of rice pilaf and mixed pickled vegetables and generally onion.
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