“Gönül, ne kahve ister ne kahvehane, gönül sohbet ister, kahve bahane.” – Turkish idiom
Translation – “The heart does not want coffee or coffee house, the heart wants a chat, coffee is an excuse.”
First time visitors to Turkey can easily be overwhelmed. It’s my own concerted opinion that three weeks is the minimum time needed to introduce oneself to Turkey, but even one hour is preferable to never visiting. The places of cultural and historical significance are so vast and numerous that it’s nearly impossible to visit them all. In Istanbul alone the remnants of Byzantine and Ottoman empires intertwine with the modern Turkish Republic in a rich tapestry. The beauty of Turkey’s Taurus Mountains, Marama coast, and Lycian Trail have inspired many to abandon their home countries and retire to its tranquil beauty.
However, it is only through food can anyone appreciate Turkey and Turkish culture. Unlike the abrupt social interactions typical in America, relationships in Turkey are dependent on conversation. Enter tea and coffee. The coffee houses of the Ottoman Empire were famous as gathering places where politics, poetry, and business were discussed. In a narrower circle, a hot cup of tea or coffee allowed two friends to converse as the boiling liquid cooled.
Turkish cuisine is far more than the assemblage of ingredients and flavors on the plate. No Turkish kitchen is complete without a healthy supply of garlic, onion, and parsley, but it’s the time spent cutting those onions, shredding tomatoes, or wrapping grape leaves are where mothers, sisters, and daughters connect. Families and friends gathered together for grilled fish (balık) accompanied by glasses of Turkey’s anise drink, Rakı – famously called a “rakı balık” dinner – will enjoy hours of fellowship while eating mezes under the evening sky. I could list more, but dining in Turkey is an experience for the soul as well as a delight for the stomach.
Food is so central to Turkish identity and culture that it permeates the language. Parsley is so prevalent in Turkish dishes that to admonish someone for being a gossip you would say: “Don’t be a parsley!” (“maydanoz olma!”) (i.e. don’t be in everything or everyone’s business). Or if someone did something stupid you might say: “Look at the mint he ate.” (“yediği naneye bak”). A final example is “ağzında bakla ıslanmamak”) which translates to “To eat beans without getting them wet.” You have to soak beans to soften them before cooking, so this phrase would be used to describe someone that passes news without thinking over the consequences first.
There’s even the song “Domates Biber Patlıcan” by artist Barış Manço, (translation: Tomatoes, Pepper, an eggplant dish). Listen to a modern cover by Turkish pop singer Karsu.
Which brings me to my two favorite words in the Turkish language:
“Dolmuş” from the root word dolma, “to stuff”.
My wife jokes that there isn’t a food that a Turkish cook doesn’t want to stuff. Turkish cuisine includes stuffed bell peppers, various forms of stuffed eggplants (patlican), stuffed pastas (mantı), fried pastries stuffed with cheese (sigara böreği), and stuffed grape leaves (dolma). Whatever it is, a Turk can find a way to stuff it and serve it for lunch.
In Turkish cities there are multiple methods of transportation. Istanbul boasts bus service, metro lines, trams, a funicular, and taxi service. Ubiquitous in the city is the presence of the shared taxis that service the areas not reached by regular metro or bus service. They were also fairly inexpensive and even the poorest of travelers could afford to use them. The original shared taxis were large, yellow four-door cars. Were it to be privately owned a reasonable person would identify a driver plus four seats, however as a shared taxi commuters would cram into the every cubic foot of the shared space. They became known as “Dolmuş” (pronounced “dole-mush”) – which literally translates to “I heard it is stuffed” – stuffed with people. A dolmuş today is the size of a mini bus, but the name stuck and I’m all the happier for it.
“Sarımsaklı” adj. garlicky, from the noun, garlic – “sarımsak”
My wife had led a typical Turkish life in the thirty years before we met. She worked in her home city of Istanbul and each summer she would take a beach vacation to enjoy the turquatic waters, sun, and peaceful atmosphere somewhere on Turkey’s southwestern coast. She had often told me about the most famous, posh or popular beaches for Turks along the coast. Some attract foreign tourists, and some remain known only to Turks. One such location is Sarımsaklı Plajı near the town of Ayvalık. It took me a few years to connect the restaurant-Turkish I had learned to the image of beachgoers in an exclusive destination, but once I made the connection I can never forget it. Sarımsaklı Plajı = Garlicky Beach.
There is no better proof of the integral nature of food and cuisine in Turkish culture than discovering it mixed into the Turkish place names, idioms, and expressions that decorate the Turkish language. Take a visit, a bite, or just lend Turkey your ear.
Andrew Zapf is a co-founder of Pushing Horizons.
Disclaimer: All views expressed are that of the author.
