Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices have been used by mankind since ancient times for a variety of purposes. Sometimes a wild flower, the bark of a great tree or the fruit of a bush, spices show infinite variety in their form, characteristics and function.

The use of spices and herbs are very important in Turkish cooking. Turkish cuisine is healthy and nutritious. And spices are added due to increase  the dishes taste. Therefore spicing becomes crucial to add flavor to a Turkish dish.

The most famous place that it comes to your mind when someone talk about spice in Turkey is “Mısır Çarşısı” “Spice Bazaar” in İstanbul.

But you don't have to be in Istanbul to enjoy the best spices. Fresh spices are found everywhere from the local bazaars and markets to the largest supermarkets.

In fact, most spices used in Turkish cuisine are easy to find wherever you are. Just look in the spice section of your favorite market.

Here Yaren Çakır and Aleyna Coşkun visited for you some spice bazaar in Samsun.And took some photos to show our traditional spice markets.

A SHORT HISTORY OF LOKUM

     A traditional Turkish flavor, Lokum appears before us alongside mint
liquor or a strong Turkish coffee at festive celebrations… Varieties of
Turkish Delight are lined side by side in special gifts boxes and then
presented to guests like a jewel in special glass bowls that are as
elegant and fine as lace. Rose, mint, peanut, walnut, gum, and double
roasted – the heartwarming varieties are countless.

Developing with a culture that’s as deep-rooted and as old as

Anatolian history, lokum is a unique flavor that has been

maintained through to present day and known throughout the

world as Turkish Delight. It’s name in Ottoman is "Rahatü’lHulkum"

 meaning contentment of the throat. It gradually

became “latilokum” and finally “lokum”. Lokum has been made

in Anatolia for roughly 15 centuries. Its fame became

widespread within the borders of the Ottoman Empire in the

17th century and was taken beyond borders to Europe by a

traveler in the 18th century as ‘Turkish Delight’. Lokum was

firstly made with honey or molasses and flour but always with

the secrets of its maker. When refined sugar and starch

were discovered, its production technique changed but more

delicious with the magic of makers. And inevitably, lokum

started becoming associated with the maker.

The lokum of today is not very different. Varieties increase as it

becomes more popular and each lokum maker creates his own

followers. Lokum is an unequalled flavor in Turkey and around

the world. Lokum-making today is being preserved by

generations of families in Turkey’s east and west combined with

modern technology. Lokum is registered under the name of the

first person in the family to make it whether it’s the grandfather

or father. Its traditional flavor is maintained and developed for

future generations. Many in these families are each a famous

brand unto themselves. “Turk Lokumu”, known by the name of

the country, is an unrivalled brand around the world.

WHERE YOU CAN EAT IN SAMSUN

OSKAR Restaurant

Fevzi's- Fevzi'nin Yeri

http://www.samsunmidilli.com/

http://www.samsunbeyazev.com/

http://www.pamukkardesler.com/

http://www.candalbaliktesisleri.com.tr/

http://www.lezzetduragi.net/gulhan-restoran-pide-r123.html

EKMEK-BREAD

In Turkey,  the freshness of the ingredients is the reason that Turkish food tastes so good. The fruits and vegetables sing in your mouth. This guide will tell you about Turkish food, starting with bread.

The bakers of the Ottoman Empire thought that Adam, the patron saint of bakers was taught to make bread by the Archangel Gabriel. To this day bread has major cultural significance in Turkey. It is usually baked twice a day, early in the am and late in the afternoon so folks heading home from work can have fresh bread at dinner time. People in the west make do with packaged bread but in Turkey bread is bought fresh, when it is still crisp. There are many types of bread but here is information about four. The fresh baked elongated loaf of bread which looks like French bread is the bread that most people eat during the day. Then there is flat bread, familiar to all of us as pita bread (pide in Turkish) which is good for wrapping stuff up in, lavash a wafer thin type of bread also good for wrapping and simit, which is a round bread , rather like a bagel, covered with sesame seeds, sold everywhere - it is good for a snack on the run. There are many other varieties of bread and you can sample some of them at breakfast buffet's all over Turkey. The world for bread in Turkish is ekmek.