Refined spices and aromatic strong coffee are just a small drop in the unique cuisine of the Ottomans. For centuries she has absorbed a huge number of culinary experiences of different peoples and it is surprising that this did not make her worse.
On the contrary, Turkish food has acquired that very Ottoman flavor.
But today our story is about gorgeous oriental Turkish desserts, not about food or coffee.
It has long been said in the East:
Sweets are a sign of joy. They heal the soul, nourish the head and fill it with happiness!
If you watched the series "The Magnificent Century" and "The Kyosem Empire", then you were probably also impressed by the luxurious tray on which sweets were served for the Sultan or for his beloved women.
Let's talk a little about them, about the most famous Turkish delicacies.
Once upon a time, Arab healers claimed that sweetness has amazing healing properties, and with the help of such delicious medicines, you can quickly improve your health.
The East is recognized as the homeland of the most exquisite desserts. For hundreds of years, fragrant Turkish delight, fruit and berry sorbets, tahini, peanut or nut halva, sugary-sweet nougat and révanie were not only a sign of the refined taste of the owners of the house, but also an indicator of their prosperity.
However, some desserts were available only to wealthy people due to the complex and expensive preparation technology. The ingredients themselves then, and still are, were very expensive. The same honey or almonds.
And just imagine what magic confectioners-sorcerers possessed 500 years ago, when they did not have modern refrigerators, they served their master a refreshing glass on a hot summer afternoon cold sorbet. Yes, sherbet (şerbet) is a drink!
And since sweets were considered signs of wealth, they were cooked only in rich Turkish cuisines. More often than not, in the huge kitchen of the Topkapi Sultan's Palace, hundreds of trays with various delicacies for its inhabitants went on endlessly, even more likely in full swing.
The master confectioners had to keep the secret of the preparation of many sweet Ottoman delights in the strictest confidence and had no right to give out that secret, even on pain of death.
It is for this reason that some recipes disappeared along with those who invented them and knew how to cook. Sadly, the recipe for the famous halva obi-nabot has not reached our days, enthusiastic references to which are found in many medieval treatises.
There was a legend that this dessert could only be prepared in Bukhara, because it was there that there were some magical conditions so necessary to create this dessert dish.
Translated from Arabic, the word "halva" (tur. helva) means sweetness. It can be different, but it used to be considered a sign of good halva that you can sculpt small balls from it with one hand and immediately throw it into your mouth.
How did Turkish delight come about? Who came up with an incredible delicacy, the favorite of all Turkish sultans and court ladies?
Now his turn will come. The Turks also like to tell an almost legendary story about him.
Once upon a time there was a certain sultan who adored sweets. I was ready to eat desserts three times a day, maybe more. Until he broke a tooth, feasting on hard candy. In anger, the Sultan demanded to give him soft candies, otherwise the head would fly off the shoulders of the one who prepared those unfortunate hard candies.
The courtiers scattered in panic in some direction, they were terrified: no one in this area had ever heard of such a dish.
But then a miracle happened. One pastry chef was not at a loss, but stepped forward and said that he would figure out how to please the padishah and keep his head. He went to the kitchen where he mixed water, sugar, starch, rose essence and... poured the resulting mixture into flat plates.
Then, when the mass was completely frozen, he took a knife and carefully cut it into pieces. Which I rolled in powdered sugar with starch and crushed nuts.
Proudly striding along the corridors of Topkapi, the pastry chef carried a tray with his invented legendary dessert. He called it Turkish Delight and served it to the Sultan. Needless to say, he was delighted.
Turkish delight (Rahat-lokum) in translation from Turkish means "convenient piece". Centuries have passed, there are no sultans for a long time and nothing is cooked in their beautiful kitchen, and the whole world continues to enjoy this "convenient" delicacy.
The Turks themselves are very proud of their dessert, but at the same time they are sure that the best Turkish delight is made in the town of Afion. And they don't make it out of fruit juice or rose water.
Local Turkish delight is made from kaymak - heavy ghee and has a unique taste with incredible properties, according to the same Turks. And the reason is that Athonite cows graze not in ordinary meadows, but where it grows in abundance... opium poppy!
And, by the way, it was in that very Afion that Turkish baklava or baklava was first baked.
A little bit about the legend of Russian resorts - about honey baklava. So, baklava or Baklava.
They knew how to bake such delicacies for a long time. But the date of birth of real Turkish baklava is considered to be August 1453. History has not preserved the exact day of the invention of the great dessert. But there is a legend that it was in August of that year that the court confectioner first invented and presented the Sultan with multilayer pastries with honey and nuts in the form of tiny slices.
A real Turkish baklava has at least 40 thinnest layers of dough, thinner than a sheet of paper, sprinkled with crushed pistachios, and it is baked in butter.
Interestingly, the very original Ottoman baklava was not honey at all initially. That is, it did not contain honey in itself. The syrup was prepared from molasses, water and lemon.
Sherbet (Şerbet) is a sweet drink of pleasure.
In many eastern countries there are special infusions or decoctions based on fruits and spices. One such sherbet. It is considered an old soft drink and is served in hot weather.
In Turkey and Egypt, scoops of ice cream are often added to sherbet, in addition to a mixture of fruit juices and spices, to add a sophisticated taste to the drink.
This drink has been known since the time of the Ancient World, namely from Persia.
The word “sherbet” is the Turkic version of the Arabic “sharbat” from the Persian verb “sharba” meaning “to drink”.
Sharbat by the Arabs is essentially any non-alcoholic sweet drink that would be called "syrup" in Europe. By the way, there is the Arabic word “sharab”, which has a single root sherbet, which means an alcoholic drink. That is, sherbet and mash are somewhere very close.
Sherbet has been used for a long time as a cooling drink, refreshing on a hot Turkish day. Healers recommended it to the sultans and sultans for medicinal purposes.
For example, to support the love attraction (still in the customs of some eastern countries, the bride, in in case of a positive answer to the marriage proposal, I must drink a glass of this old drink).
According to legend, this liquid Turkish dessert came to Europe thanks to the Italian merchant and traveler Marco Polo in the 13th century. He was on the road for over 20 years and collected in his wanderings a lot of useful ancient recipes and potions, which he described and recorded for posterity.
Revani - semolina pie or just manna.
Yes, this sweetness is really similar to our manna, only its difference lies in the fact that Revaney is abundantly saturated with syrup.
This classic dessert has existed in Turkish cuisine since the time of the Ottoman Empire. It is also known as rabani.
And again the legend. The battle for Revan, the capital of medieval Armenia, was the reason for the creation of this dessert cake. When the Ottomans conquered that city of Revan or modern Yerevan in the 16th century, a new dish was served to the sultan in honor of the victory, with the taste of the holiday - revani.
But there is another version of the origin of the Turkish manna. The Turks say that the name comes from the name of the poet Revani, who lived in the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 16th centuries. Basically, this is almost the same time as the battle for Revan.
These are just some of the traditional desserts from Turkish cuisine, which were in TV shows and are popular among the people of modern Turkey themselves.
In the following publications we will tell you about luxurious quince with whipped cream (Ayva tatlısı) and real Sultan fig jam (İncir reçeli), and also why halva was made from flour (Un helvası) and why the dessert writing (Pişmaniye) in Turkish means "repentance".
According to the TV series "The Magnificent Century", namely with the dessert Ayva tatlısıtried to poison Khyurrem Sultan in the chambers of Suleiman the Magnificent. But more on that next time. Necessarily!
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This material belongs to the author of the "Culinary Notes on Everything" channel, that is, to me, and it was previously published by me personally in my blog channel on the platform Pulse.
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