What to Eat in Cappadocia?
What to eat in Cappadocia ? Cappadocia flavors that you should definitely taste.
As a subject that has become extremely fashionable in today's Turkey, food occupies a wide place in both visual and written media. Cookbooks are waiting for their readers by presenting a colorful world on the shelves of bookstores. In television programs, food is one of the most popular topics that are most often covered. News related to foods, restaurant promotions, recipes occupy a very significant place in the media. Studies related to the field of food history in Turkey, as well as in Europe, first began as part of economic history with a quantitative approach to food under the influence of the Annales school since the 1950s (Samancı 2012). The resource studies, which are important for the food history studies to be carried out in relation to Ottoman geography and Turkey, have started since the 1980s. Qualitative studies carried out from a socio-cultural point of view in relation to the study of Ottoman geography and food culture about Turkey have gained momentum since the 2000s. Although the food and cultural nutrition specific to each province of Turkey varies, the harmonious combination of meat, legumes and vegetables that are similar to each other in general and their cooking with pot – test in the Cappadocia region adds flavor to the taste. Testi kebab is the most favorite and preferred dish of Cappadocia, and when you come to Cappadocia, you will not be able to return without tasting it. Instead of limiting yourself to just testi kebabs, you should create a list for yourself so that you can try other flavors specific to the region. Because the list may be a little fluffy. In this article, we will give you a few examples of dishes that are most preferred by domestic and foreign tourists coming to our region and are unique to the Cappadocia region.
Tastes that will leave a permanent place in your mind and palate when you come to Cappadocia!!
Cappadocia Testi Kebab: One of the unique tastes of the Cappadocia region is the its famous testi kebab. To begin with, It is a dish that is formed around the Tandoori culture. Nowadays, in addition to tandoor, it is also made in ovens and in chimenea. Traditional testi kebab is prepared by placing meat and ingredients in earthenware containers called testi and pots produced in Avanos district and cooking them in a tandoor. The meat is cooked by burying the test in the middle of the fire in the form of pre-prepared embers. When the meat is drained and begins to be roasted, tomatoes, garlic, hot pepper, salt and pepper are added into it and it becomes a complete mixture. Then, after the mouth of the test is put on a cloth, it is plastered with prepared dough of medium consistency. A small hole is opened in the middle of the dough. In this form, the embers are buried in the fire. It is left on fire for about two hours. During this time, the test is occasionally shaken to ensure a balanced cooking. From the baking of the dough on the test, it becomes clear that the material contained in it is also cooked. Then the test is removed from the fire and left to rest for 20 minutes. In order to serve, the dough plastered in the mouth of the test is removed, spices such as cumin, black pepper are sprinkled on it and it is ready to serve. The service manager who wants to present you with a visual show breaks the test from the neck and opens the service on your desk. It will only be up to you to enjoy your meal.
Apricot Stew : one of the dishes of Anatolia that combines fruit and meat. In this recipe, which belongs to the Nevsehir cuisine, the main ingredients are dried apricots and lamb meat, but if there are no dried apricots, yellow prunes can also be preferred instead. If apricots or plums are not very sweet, a little molasses is also added into them when cooking. If you care about your taste buds, you will love the zerdeli pilaf served next to it. Zerdeli pilaf, a pilaf unique to the Nevsehir region, is one of the Nevsehir flavors that has a slightly sweet taste that comes from dried fruit, as in internal pilaf. Zerdeli pilaf is a pilaf consisting of two layers. The bottom layer consists of molasses, grape turmeric rice and the top layer consists of classic chickpea rice.
Quince Stuffed: Quince Stuffed is a dish consisting of a combination of fruit and meat that is popular in Ottoman cuisine. According to Nevsehir procedure, the inside of the quince is filled with spicy minced meat and cooked in a bulgur way. Carefully cooked quince stuffing requires a separate visual presentation when our dish is decorated with greens and served. Wine options belonging to the Cappadocia region can be preferred next to your meal.
Düğü Soup: Düğü is a kind of thin bulgur. Wedding soup is a light soup made since ancient times belonging to the Cappadocia region, which will be preferred before meals. It is a soup with tomato paste made by roasting butter and adding onion and pepper, and then adding thin bulgur.
Dry Kaymak: Dry cream made by local people at their own expense in the Kaymaklı district, which is another flavor stop in the Cappadocia region, is indispensable for breakfast with plain or honey. The visual and taste state takes on a crispy shape resembling a wafer from milk. By boiling the milk, resting, drying the Kaymak, it takes at least 5 days of labor to make it. It can withstand 15-20 days in the refrigerator. Already dried cream is one of the proprietary flavors of the village.
Chickpea Stew: In the original, it is made by burying it in a pot or tandoor over an ember fire and cooking it. Chickpeas are soaked in water overnight to make them soft, and the next day onions and mutton are fried in oil, water and tomato paste are added and combined with chickpeas to cook slowly, then buried in the fire of embers in the tandoor. It is served after the cooking stage.
