All About Turkey

One Country, Many Cultures

 

Turkish specialty: Lokum

The lokum was introduced to Europe in the 18th century by a British traveler to the Ottoman lands and became known in the West as the Turkish delight. It is made by cooking curdled melted sugar with cornstarch. Walnuts, nuts or pistachios are used as filling. It is currently produced in different colors and aromas. It is a Turkish specialty that is soft, not too sweet and is prepared and sold in the shape of small cubes.

Turkish Coffee

Türk kahvesi (Turkish coffee) has six levels of sweetness ranging from very sweet to strong. Since sugar is not added to the coffee after it is served, spoons are not needed. As the coffee begins to heat, it begins to foam. A rule of the Turkish coffee ceremony dictates that if the foam is absent from the face of the coffee, the host loses face.  Turkish coffee is served hot from a special coffee pot called "cezve".

Kebap

It  simply means "roasted," and usually refers to lamb roasted in some form, but may refer to chicken--or even (roasted) chestnuts--as well.

The most familiar Turkish kebap is shish kebap: Chunks of lamb roasted on a skewer. It sounds simple enough, but to make it best you need Turkish free-range lamb, a true charcoal grill, and the knack for getting the outside.  Some of our kebabs’ names are from our cities like Adana Kebabı, Urfa Kebabı.  They are all very delicious.

An ancient belief: Nazar boncuğu

Nazar boncuğu is the blue bead believed to ward off evil. It is used as a protection from the negative energy presumed to spread from the glance of certain people to what are deemed particularly vulnerable and precious groups: Children, domestic animals and at an earlier period household goods. It could be a best gift to give a person who has bought a new house.

Equestrian game: Cirit

It is a game that the Turks have enjoyed for many centuries. It was the public form of  athletic competition in nomadic Turkish society where the equestrian tradition was very strong: Turks were born and grew up on horseback, a great many fought as cavalry officers, their only drink was the horse milk called kımız and many perished on horseback. Cirit was accepted as a war game by the Ottomans in the 16th century. While its scope has shrank in the current day cirit is still played.

Kırkpınar

It is a traditional form of wrestling older than 600 centuries and characterized by rubbing oil into the skin to make it slippery and hard to hold. During Ottoman times the imperial wrestling games were complemented by games held on occasions such as weddings and the religious holiday of ramadan as well as for the benefit of pious foundations. This sports is  a special events in Edirne during the summer season.

Mystical ascent: Semâ

The "dance" of the Whirling Dervishes is called Semâ. Semâ is part of the inspiration of Mevlana (1207- 1273) as well as part of Turkish custom, history, beliefs and culture.
It represents a mystical journey propelled through the love of perfection and involving a spiritual ascent through the mind. Turning towards the truth, the person grows through love, deserts the ego, finds the truth and arrives at perfection and then returns from this spiritual journey as someone who reached maturity.  Semâ still takes place in Konya in Nowember.

Hamam

The hamam, or Turkish bath as it is alternatively known, stands for more than getting a leisurely bath. It is a rite of the body in which the elements are harnessed to cleansing and purification. It inverts the classical notion of the bondage of the body to the soul and suggests a different metaphysics.
Further, the hamam as a social institution played a key role both in the socialization and segregation of Ottoman men and women (in a manner comparable to the harem).

In ottoman time, motherinlow were choosing their daughterinlow from Hamam and were suggestting girls to their suns.

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