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CNA
30-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNA
Turkish Delight: 6 fantastic food stops in Istanbul
Türkiye's largest city, once known as Constantinople and famous for straddling both Europe and Asia, also marks a culinary crossroads. The remarkable diversity of influences and people who have called it home ensure that it is one of the world's most thrilling places to dine out. Such a metropolis – more than 15 million people call it home – offers an extraordinary array of eating options, from roadside stalls to elegant dining rooms, local smoky grills to cutting-edge neo-Turkish bistros. Here are six spots for guaranteed deliciousness, authentic hospitality and windows on Turkey's remarkable, multi-layered culinary culture. KARAKOY CAFE Taking up the ground floor of a modest Novotel hotel, Karakoy Cafe is an unassuming spot but a surefire winner for those seeking real-deal Turkish cuisine. Bookings are essential as it fills up quickly with local families and larger groups enjoying impeccable plates, while the interiors and design are elevated and elegant, the service warm and the prices distinctly fair. The eyes are immediately drawn to a long, refrigerated counter, not unlike those in tapas bars, filled with a tempting array of mezze which are also listed on a long menu. Muhammara has long been a personal favourite, a sweet and spicy paste of peppers, walnuts and herbs, but the version at Karakoy is also cut through with fresh parsley for added freshness. A roasted aubergine salad, patlican salatasi, is another notch above the normal thanks to the smoky char on the vegetables, slowly blistered on the restaurant's vast grill. Oven-baked sheep's cheese with spices marked the final mezze, a simple but excellent addition, especially with their addictive breads hot from the oven. An extensive wine and raki list accompany the food, along with plenty of no-alcohol choices. GALLADA AT THE PENINSULA ISTANBUL Fatih Tutak is arguably Türkiye's most famous celebrity chef, a regular sight on TV and someone who proudly flies the flag for his country's cuisine. He boasts a distinguished resume which includes Türkiye's only two Michelin-starred restaurant, Turk Fatih Tutak, as well as the highly acclaimed Gallada at The Peninsula Istanbul. The hotel is an absolute beauty, sweeping along The Bosporus riverfront, featuring three separate buildings, including an Art Deco pearl which was once a ticket office for a ferry company. Another is crowned by Gallada with its vast terrace, incredible views over Hagia Sofia mosque and generous tables decked in pristine white linen. Every seat is taken, and the room buzzes with energy and a United Nations of accents. As the plates begin to arrive, it's clear why. Perfect batons of pickles are joined by Sichuan peanuts and a Turkish pinot noir, before the first course of lamb's liver with Kesan pepper and crispy potato, to be wrapped in gossamer-thin bread. Surely Istanbul's most elegant lamb shashlik kebab comes next, with vinegary onion, cumin and paprika, then Black Sea turbot with superior soy and morel mushrooms reflecting chef Fatih's years spent in Asia, in cities including Hong Kong and Bangkok. Frozen chocolate mousse with Madagascar vanilla rounds out a spectacular a la carte dinner. SERICA It's probably unsurprising that Istanbul's Bank Hotel was once a bank, one where sublime original interiors and architecture have been highlighted and restored with true style. One of its restaurants sits up on the sixth floor, with romantic views over the mosques of Sultanahmet and beyond. Serica's cuisine is neo-Turkish, namely rooted in tradition but unafraid to experiment and innovate. It also reflects regions including Anatolia, the Black Sea coast and Cappadocia. Dinner started with bread from a tandoor style oven, served volcanically hot with basil and herb butter. A crunchy rectangle of bread was then topped with anchovies, bottarga and aioli, a trio of powerful ingredients which nonetheless complimented one another well. The tandoor came to the fore again with fall-apart tender lamb shoulder, slow cooked and served with stuffed onion and apricot puree. More excellent Turkish wines paired perfectly. ADANA OCKABASI Open-fire grills called mangal proudly define Turkish cuisine more than any other. Always smoke-filled, invariably involving a wait to get a table, their friendly, communal atmosphere celebrates kebabs beautifully kissed by charcoal-fuelled fire in a tradition known as Ockabsi. There are thousands of them across Istanbul, but one of the best we encountered was Adana Ockabsi in the Osmanbey neighbourhood. Taking inspiration from the culinary traditions of Adana on Türkiye's Mediterranean coast, go with as many people as possible to enjoy as wide a spread of dishes as your table can hold. Wood-fired breads are dangerously addictive, especially swept through rich and creamy meze dips. Fragrant hand-chopped kebabs are moulded around huge sword-like skewers, while some offer kokorec, made from lamb or goat intestines wrapped around seasoned offal such as sweetbreads, hearts or lungs. To drink, the aniseed flavours of the strong national liquor raki are an acquired taste but an important communal toasting tradition. Just be warned that after a few shots you may find yourself wanting to hit another bar to carry on well into the night. KUMPIR Kumpir – a unique Turkish take on baked potatoes – is seen all over Istanbul, but the riverside district of Ortakoy is particularly famed for them, with lanes dotted with dozens of vendors trying to outdo one another with eye-catching displays of dozens of toppings. There's no science or culinary wizardry at work, just huge fluffy spuds, cleaved open and spread with liberal amounts of butter. The only challenge comes in choosing what to fill them with. Red cabbage, chopped olives, sweetcorn, pickled vegetables, chopped eggs, sausage, pepper, tuna, cheeses like kasar or mozzarella – the only limit is your imagination and appetite. The best bit? They're more than enough for a meal, perfect eaten al fresco in the gardens around Ortakoy Bridge – and run no more than US$3 (S$3.85) to US$4. At weekends, you can expect large crowds as the treat is understandably popular with families wandering the pedestrianised streets. Just look for a street known as Kumpir Sokak by the Ortakoy mosque and get stuck in. MARKETS Incredible produce is piled high on low tables across Istanbul's hundreds of neighbourhood food markets. The freshest fish and seafood, incredible fruit and vegetables and fascinating local characters make for a great culinary cocktail. Have a look online to see what's on and don't be afraid to jump on a ferry to head out into the depths of the city, away from the tourist traps. I found artichoke hearts floating in red buckets of water, ruby-red beetroot, massive mountains of aubergines, carefully arranged pyramids of tomatoes and beautifully fragrant herbs as just some of the tempting ingredients. Dried fruit and nuts are another specialty, with tables covered in walnuts that are carefully picked through by discerning local grandmothers. Simply follow your nose for something delicious to chew on as you wander. Simit are the ubiquitous sesame-flecked rings of bread, sold from portable carts. Stalls sell all manner of homemade borek, the addictive layered pastry with salty white cheese, while whorls of pastry are stuffed with nettles, spinach, herbs and more cheese to be washed down with a glass of strong and sweet Turkish tea.
Irish Times
10-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Irish Times
Two summer salads using outstanding ingredients that are a meal in themselves
This week we are looking at summer salads. As you can see from the photographs, the focus is on colour, flavours and seasoning. These recipes are great standalone dishes that can also double as simple side salads for a larger spread or a barbecue if the weather allows. Salads offer a world of possibility but so often we revert to the tried and tested staples. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, but there's plenty of flavour to be found beyond a bag of mixed leaves. Aside from all of this, the summer season also allows us to support as many local producers as possible. I look to the Dublin-based McNally's Family Farm or The Happy Pear farm for beautiful ingredients that bring our cooking to the next level. First up I have chosen a Middle East-inspired mezze. These are flavours I always return to when the weather is decent; it feels like really clean eating without compromising on flavour. While I'm using lamb shoulder here, this can be substituted for any grilled meat, or omitted completely. The secret is in the cooking of the couscous. READ MORE Spiced cous cous with crispy lamb shoulder and mint. Photograph: Harry weir This is a must-have store cupboard ingredient for bulking up dinners. It is cost effective, a great sponge for flavours, sauces and juices and cooks in less than five minutes. There are a few key points to cooking it properly. The ratio of liquid to grain is about two to one. Here you'll see I have also added the juices and fat from the lamb shoulder to pump up the flavour. For 400g of grain, I'll always add a teaspoon of sea salt to ensure perfect seasoning. Turmeric adds the golden colour while ras el hanout spice provides the kick. This is a great Arabic blend with its origins in north Africa. It translates as 'head of the shop' and would traditionally incorporate the best-quality ingredients available: the spice equivalent of 'catch of the day'. It commonly blends cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, chilli, pepper, dried rose petal and coriander. These work wonders alongside lamb. Pay attention to scraping the couscous with the back of a fork to achieve that really light texture. Feta cheese, pomegranate and mint leaves bring everything together. This is a salad I could eat forever. The second recipe uses another beautiful but often overlooked ingredient. Chicory or endive comes in yellow (grown in darkness) or red. Both are crisp with a bitter-sweet flavour and pair nicely with citrus and sugar. I've served them here with a really simple dressing. As such, the ingredients need to be of high quality so I'll spend a little more on olive oil and wholegrain mustard. Some crumbled goat's cheese ties everything together while the croutons add texture. I regularly have stale bread left over in the house, and this is a great way of turning it back into something useable and delicious. I've used focaccia here. Simple food is often the best. Recipe: Spiced couscous with crispy lamb shoulder and mint Recipe: Chicory salad with goat's cheese, croutons and mustard
