I promised more information about Turkey and here they are!
DONDURMA
It's time to show you the traditional Turkish ice creams (dondurma), which differ from the European in taste and texture. Turkish ice creams dissolve more slowly and are very hard, so it is impossible to serve them by a round spoon for ice cream. Sellers use for this special metal spatula. No doubt, it requires from them extraordinary precision and strength, but it seems that they are not doing anything else in life because it does not make them any problems.
Dondurma owes its density to two specific components. The first is salep (a type of flour that arises from the tuber of wild orchids - two varieties), and the second - mastic (resin with a distinctive flavor, obtained from a shrub growing in the Aegean region).
The homeland of Turkish ice creams with the addition of salep is the city of Kahramanmaras. According to the legend, they originated in the foothills of the snow-covered mountains Ahir. Snow imported from the mountains, along with the milk of goats grazing on mountain pastures, feeding on the aforementioned orchid tubers, and fresh fruit juice gave dondurma.
Points where you can buy this ice cream are everywhere, basically along the major streets you can see a dozen. Interesting is the method of administration ice cream, which aroused fear in me, and then annoyance and anger. I am not a supporter of the street shows, but unfortunately buying ice cream requires patience because it's some kind of performance.
What makes me so annoyed? Mr. Seller dangled ice patches in the air, spread it like gum and hit the bell. Three times I tried to take my ice cream, but unfortunately I had to wait until the end of the show.
KOLONYA
Another Turkish product that I love utterly is cologne.
Eau de Cologne (kolonya) came Ottoman Empire in the XIX century. A pioneer in production was Ahmed Faruqi, who in 1882 founded the first perfume factory in Turkey, producing different varieties of water (lemon, orange, lilac and rose). Over time, to expand the range and the diversion of water was added aroma of lavender, tobacco, bergamot or rosemary.
To this day a real hit remains lemon water that you can buy ... Everywhere! It's valued because of the antibacterial properties, refreshing and cooling (Really True!).
According to Turkish tradition, kolonya is in every house, and hosts pour water over their guests hands. This practice is also used in Turkish buses and other means of transport during travel, but also in restaurants after the end of the meal.
Personally, I have found that it is very effective in case of nausea and motion sickness. Just short sniffing of water and its sharp (but relaxing) smell makes all such complaints depart.
Radical Muslims do not use cologne, because it contains alcohol. As a substitute in stores occurs a rose water, but in my opinion it is not as effective when it comes to disinfection and improve well-being (the smell of rose water itself is a little bland).
GÜLLAÇ
Güllaç is such a delicious Turkish dessert usually made during Ramadan. It consists of a large, thin leaves of dough with milk, rose water, pomegranate seeds and walnuts or hazelnuts (I recommend hazelnuts).
There are two versions of güllaç. First, with pomegrenate, is prepared when Ramadan falls in the winter. Second, without a pomegranate, but with pistachio nuts, is a typical dish prepared during the summer. Recipe for güllaç is sooooo old. It was discovered in the fourteenth-century book, "Yinshan Zhenyao".
This very sweet dessert you can buy in any store, but during this year's Ramadan, we prepared it ourselves. We bought a cake, milk, sugar, nuts and rose water (very cheap - 1.25 TL per 500 ml), and in accordance with the recipe arose homemade güllaç. Unfortunately, it is impossible to eat a large portion of the dessert, because it is so sweet.
After all, it was a very fun adventure with Turkish cuisine. :)
Enjoy!!!
PS Thank you for all your valuable comments!
