The World of Turkish Desserts
No meal is complete without a dessert; as the old Turkish saying goes : "Eat sweet,
talk sweet".
Turkish desserts are a whole culture on their own. Usually served after meals
as snacks there are also different families of desserts that are enjoyed at
different times throughout the day. Some desserts are associated with special
occasions, holidays or celebrations and only prepared at those times.
Baked pastries
are group of "snacks" served after the meal along with Turkish Coffee. One
group is prepared with paper thin pastry sheets, brushed with butter and
folded, layered, rolled after being filled with ground pistachios, walnuts or
heavy cream then baked. Another group is prepared with cookie dough with different
flours; dried first-fried later or dried first-baked later or just baked.
After the cooking process, a special syrup is slowly poured on
top (ağda). The way the ingredients are prepared, syrup, size of the grains,
flakiness of the final product differ from region to region. The most known
desserts in this family are :
baklava,
sobiyet,
kadayif,
sekerpare,
sarma,
tulumba,
revani and
kemalpasa.
Turkish delight
is a snack which is not associated with a meal at all.
It is sometimes served as appetizer or welcome serving to guests. It is
also customary to serve some cologne & napkins afterwards, since Turkish
delight is eaten in very small quantities and with fingers most of the time.
Common ingredients are starch, sugar and water. It is quite soft to the touch
and can be flavored with rose, citrus fruits; can be double / triple roasted;
can contain pistachio, walnut, hazelnut; and can be topped with powdered sugar
or coconut flakes. Another variation of Turkish delight is cezerye; which is
prepared with carrot.
Muhallebi family is the
dairy group. These are among the rare guilt-free desserts - sometimes referred
to as puddings - made with starch and rice flour. Originally they do not
contain egg or butter, but some variations do. They can be flavored with gum,
citrus fruits, various nuts and even strands of chick-breast. Most known
desserts in this family are :
Kazandibi,
gullac,
muhallebi,
puddings.
Welcome to the vast world of Turkish desserts. |
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