GASTROMONDIALE

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.

Istanbul Adventures #1: In Search of Turbot

One of the delights of being in Istanbul in Spring is the chance of eating what, IMO, is the most flavorful turbot (called kalkan in Turkish) on earth. Turbot is a fish that I order often in France, Spain (rodaballo) and Italy (rombo), and I find the turbot from the Atlantic in general superior to the Mediterranean variety, but not quite on par with a Black Sea Turbot caught in the Marmara sea. Indeed the dense and meaty turbot from the cold waters of Brittany is quite similar in taste to the Black Sea turbot that is highly prized in Istanbul in Spring.  Unfortunately the increasing popularity and astronomical prices of this noble fish have led to its widespread farming, and fish markets in Istanbul are now filled with turbot farmed in the Balkans, especially Bulgaria. Although it is still a tasty fish, farmed turbot, which is brownish in color, is quite bland compared to the wild version.