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November 14, 2005

ISTANBUL ADVENTURES 2: KEBAP HOUSES.

If you think that kebap is simply ground and grilled meat on a skewer and that you can have it in Turkish restaurants in New York or Paris, then you are only partially correct. While it is true that kebap is grilled on a skewer, it is not ground. An authentic kebap is always hand cut with a special knife which is called zirh, and it is quite an art form, not unlike sushi, to master the trade. The meat cut with this sharp knife remains quite juicy and does not taste like a burger when grilled. I have never seen a Turkish or Middle Eastern restaurant outside Turkey which actually cares to prepare authentic kebap.

But the difference between a real kebap house, which represents the tradition of Southeast Turkey, and the US- or Western Europe-based restaurants featuring kebap goes beyond this technical issue. The ingredients used, as well as the quality of these ingredients, is different too. That is, in most kebaps in Turkey, lamb meat is used, and the lamb in question cannot be one that has started grazing, as the meat will not then be as tender as it should be, and the smell will be too strong if the lamb is not young. The best lamb in Turkey is a breed called “kivircik” which resembles the Castilian “churra” breed, and it is raised in Trakia.

Instead, in kebap houses outside of Turkey, mostly ground beef is used, and if it is lamb, it is typically a sheep slaughtered when it was more than one year old. In addition to the quality issue, authentic kebap houses use the fat from the tail, and some kebaps are wrapped in the membrane that comes from the kidney (French call it crepinette), and these labor intensive and taste enhancing methods are simply ignored in places whose clientele is essentially non-Turkish. In eating at a celebrated Washington DC restaurant, called ZAYTINYA, for instance, I was astonished to see that their version of kebaps had very little relation or no relation with the real thing.

Alas, the real thing is getting rarer in Istanbul too. It is simply too labor intensive to prepare authentic kebaps using good quality meat. But, fortunately, there are still good places. I will also go out on a limb to say that, were I to eat only one meal in Istanbul, I would have a hard time choosing between a fish restaurant versus having a meal in one of my favorite kebap houses, especially when kalkan (turbot) or lufer (no translation as this fish is quite unique to the Marmara) is in season. A well rounded meal in a kebap house is truly a hedonistic experience, especially if you make it clear to the restaurant that you have plenty of time, so that they don’t rush you. (Turks will otherwise assume that foreigners are always on the rush and want to be served quickly.) One can either drink a robust red wine or the Turkish favorite raki with the meal.

I don’t have one favorite kebap house, and I have chosen some pictures from two of my favorites: KOZA in Goztepe (216/ 348 78 78) and HAMDI in Eminonu. DEVELI, which is featured in Zagat, used to be good, but nowadays it has become too touristic, although their Samatya location is still the best of the three locations, especially if you can manage to eat on the ground floor with the locals. In terms of the quality of the meat and some unique dishes (such as stuffed sun dried eggplant), GUNAYDIN in Bostanci is also excellent. The owners of Gunaydin own a farm in Trakia (the part of Turkey located in Europe), and they also have their own butcher which supplies the restaurant.

A true kebap feast is part and parcel of a culinary tradition, and rushing throughout the meal (and not having an adequate meal) is tolerated, but frowned upon. Ideally speaking, when you are known by the establishment, they prepare some special salads before you get there, and it is part of the hospitality to welcome the guest and direct him to a table enriched by wonderfully fresh salads composed of fresh herbs, non-greenhouse tomatoes, various nuts, different spices (the artisanal paprika from the city of Urfa, which is slowly sun dried and ground with a mortar and pestle is especially well known), onion, garlic, etc. The dressing is typically made from olive oil and pomegranate vinegar, which reminds me a fine balsamic vinegar. The photo below is from Koza, as they greeted us with these homemade specialties.

Koza does not have a view, but Hamdi does. When you enter this restaurant in Eminonu, you are led to an elevator and ushered to the top floor which reminds me of the 3 star LEDOYEN in Paris. Ask to be seated in their terrace if you can.

If you can sit on the terrace or near it inside, you can also relish the view of the Galata tower. Also notice that, in the event you ordered red wine (my preference, however, is raki), they supply you with adequate glasses.

You may or may not finish your salads before venturing to the next set of cold appetizers. Some of the classic appetizers include ezme, which features a hot pepper sauce and is a great compliment to raki, eggplant salad (Turkish never use tahini and the eggplant should be charred and then hand cut and not put to a blender), artichoke cooked in olive oil with fresh peas when in season, yogurt which has been put in a sieve to make it concentrated, some fresh cheese from the region that kebap houses directly purchase from local artisans (below the cheese is from the city of Kars), some icli kofte or kibbe which can be fried or boiled, etc.

After the cold hors d’oeuvres it is time for hot pizzas, i.e. Turkish pide and lahmacun (lahmajoon). Different houses have different specialties, as there are many kinds of lahmacun in Turkey. The Ciya restaurant in Kadikoy is an excellent place for lahmacun (whose owner Musa Dagdeviren has taught at the Culinary Institute in CA and will soon open a restaurant in New York), but his kebap specialties, although good, are not quite on par with the places indicated above. The pide offerings below are from Koza before they were plated.

Soon thereafter the pides were placed on our plates, which also combined other goodies such as icli kofte, haydari (concentrated yogurt and spices), and a great humus with pastirma.

All good kebap houses prepare their own pide, lahmacun and bread. The bread is like pita bread, but bears no resemblance in taste to the industrial product I see in the States. The pita is served hot from the oven, as in Koza.

It is considered bad taste if the kebap house does not serve the so-called cig kofte or raw kofte, the Turkish version of steak tartare. In Hamdi they present it to you as soon as it is ready. The cig kofte is very labor intensive to prepare (you have to knead the hand cut meat) and the meat (not lamb but certain parts of veal) is combined with special bulghur rice and various spices, including artisanal paprika in the best places. Hamdi has one chef in charge of preparing this specialty.

One eats the Turkish steak tartare by wrapping it in iceberg lettuce. Various herbs are served alongside it. I also like the so-called gavurdagi salad with it, as you can see from the photo. This is a hot salad, but it is also refreshing when prepared without shortcuts. I also recommend that you drink raki, as opposed to red wine, with cig kofte.

Kebap houses of some repute feature some specials before serving the final meat, i.e. a kebap. Hamdi in summer served us a very tasty braised and cubed lamb with whole garlic cloves and seasonal plums, which are called can erigi and are quite sour. It is served with a special rice dish, or pilav, prepared with minced lamb cooked in the tandoor, that is, a clay oven. This seasonal dish, which is a specialty of the southeast town of Gaziantep, is especially interesting in that it is a rustic recipe which makes ingenious use of a contrasting ingredient (plums) to create a zesty combination. We drank the broth which was flavorful.

There is a specialty in Koza which is very rare, and it is worthwhile to ask for it. The dish is named after the particular cut from young lamb and is called kusneme. The cut is from the part that lies in between the tail and the ribs. Each lamb has two pieces of kusneme. This is why it is so rare and hardly available in butcher shops—as the butchers allocate it to themselves! The kusneme is first presented to you before it is cooked.

Wait for another 10 minutes and it will be cooked medium rare. The only other place which has this cut is GUNAYDIN, but they had overcooked it. Koza’s version, pictured below, was optimum.

Now it is time for specialty kebaps. There are just too many variations, and each city in the south has its specialties. Ask the restaurant about the origin of the chef and select accordingly. You may also ask for a mixed grill. My wife loves Alinazik, which features a special sauce made from concentrated yogurt and eggplant puree with lots of garlic. Koza prepares a top notch kebap with pistachios. The pistachios in question are quite special because, to the best of my knowledge, pistachios from Gaziantep (simply called Antep pistachios) are the best.

Hamdi, in their turn, may show off by bringing a thick kebap (much harder to prepare than the pedestrian versions which are thinner), featuring three different versions on a single skewer, with different seasonings. The version with the hashis is especially recommended. They called this original kebap kolbasi (as it is as thick as an arm, kol in Turkish).

Best kebap houses prepare their own desserts. But especially in summer I ask for a fruit plate, as the fruits in Turkey are still very high quality and relatively cheap. The picture is from Koza. The cherries, apricots, plums and strawberries were as good as they look!

If you choose baklava to finish the meal, you will be happy as the uninteresting phyllo dough is never used in Turkey and the baklava melts in the mouth—especially if it is prepared with the heavy fat from the sheep’s tail. But I usually opt for kunefe which is a kind of kadaif stuffed by an interesting mozzarella-like fresh cheese and baked in the oven. It is dusted with a generous dose of the wonderful ground Antep pistachios before it is served piping hot.

I would like to conclude with a general remark. I never ask to see the menu in a good kebap house as it gives the wrong signal and most specialties are not on the written menu anyway. Besides, there is a typical per head price you will pay, with a good bottle of raki for four people. On the average the cost will be around $30 to $40 per person.

VM.

Posted at 09:00 PM | Comments (6)