RE: Food for thought: Turkish Cuisine
Oh no, the white brine cheese that I thought was a Bulgarian patent, I see it here too! 😄 It is very strange how mixed our cuisines are after five centuries of slavery under this country and so many centuries of neighborliness. Not everything, of course, but baklava, for example, was a traditional dessert for my family, which was only prepared on special occasions, because it requires skill and takes a lot of time.
Personally, I don't like Turkish desserts, as you say yourself - too much sugar, my body just can't take it, so they don't taste good to me, but I know people who love them. Lokum was my grandmother's favorite dessert, for example, but it's not that sweet and it's quite unpretentious.
By the way, doesn't one of the pictures show the sweet salami that you yourself once wrote a post about? Then I did not comment that it is also prepared in Bulgaria and I love it very much. Wikipedia says it originated in Italy and Portugal, but that seems a bit implausible to me now.
It's funny sometimes when, for example, I'm in Greece and I see some of the traditional Bulgarian dishes in the restaurants there. They are not actually Bulgarian, they are in Turkey as well, but they originate from somewhere completely different.
Anyway, I can see you thoroughly enjoyed the gastronomic part of the trip. It's wonderful and that's what makes it complete and fulfilling.😊
It's fascinating how intertwined the cuisines have become over the centuries! Same is the case with Pakistan and India. Also your grandmother is a lot like me or maybe the other way around. I also liked the lokum the most.
The sweet salami is totally different from cold cake that I once wrote about. Only somewhat same in appearance. Actually, there’s a funny story behind it. The hotel we were staying at had a café near the reception, and my daughter spotted it there on the very first day. She even thought it was cold cake! Cold cake is an absolute favorite in our home. She really wanted to have it right then but casually mentioned that they had cold cake too. And then, a day later, this was served to us at breakfast, and everyone rushed to take it first. Erm, it was quite good but nothing like the frozen cold cake that I make.
I think this happens with all neighboring countries—their cultures and food preferences tend to overlap. But I haven't been to Bulgaria, or anywhere else for that matter, to make that comparison. My husband has visited Azerbaijan, Baku several times, and he says their cuisine is quite similar to Turkey’s.
And I also noticed that you conveniently ignored the term cuisine... but I like it for how fancy it sounds. Lol. I know cuisine is a more specific term!
Thanks a lot for stopping by and for your such valuable comment. I really appreciate it ❤️❤️❤️
Haha, I'm not into such fancy terms, maybe because food is just a means of survival for me, although I don't eat a lot of things, actually.
Now I looked at the recipes and I have to tell you that for Bulgaria the sweet salami and your cold cake are the same thing, maybe only the proportions of the ingredients vary. But here it is also served cold - from the fridge or freezer, but to tell you the truth, it is something that is prepared at home, I have never seen it offered in a restaurant. And what is made with the right ingredients at home by the home master chef probably cannot be compared to what is offered in the commercial restaurant.😊