Hungry planet; Turkey

 I had a presentation of a chapter of Turkish Family in Hungry Planet in English class.

First of all, I will show some Turkish food culture.

General cuisine culture;

Food in Turkey is embedded deep in the fabric of  society.

Mealtime in Turkey is a social occasion relished by everyone involved.

Today, most families eat three meals a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The breakfasts are delicious but quick and basic during the weekdays.

On weekends, however, breakfast is an occasion for the whole family to come together and enjoy many different foods.

As a result, weekend breakfasts generally last longer than weekday ones.

Lunches are heavier than breakfasts but less elaborate than dinners.

Finally, there is “yatsilik”.

This unofficial meal is taken around 10 pm and consists of nuts like almonds, roasted pumpkin seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts, roasted chickpeas, and pistachios.

There are also fresh and dried fruits, including figs, dried plums, and dried figs.

These are served with black Turkish tea.

This time, I focused on one Turkish family.

Family members;

• Mehmet; husband, factory worker
• Melahat; wife, clean other people’s home
• Habibe; Melahat’s mother
• Aykut; 8-year-old son
• Metin; 16-year-old son
• Semra; 15-year-old daughter

Melahat prepared sigara boregi, a favorite family dish, crispy Turkish cheese rolls.

It took about two hours to prepare this dish and she always cook these same foods after she had a long day at work.

When Melaht is away, her sister Done or Habibe prepare the dish.

The list of menu;

• Homemade lentil or tomato soup
• Rice soup
• Dolma (chopped spiced meat wrapped in grape leaves)
• Spinach
• Eggplant
• Zucchini
• Rice
• Black cabbage
• Occasionally a fish or meat dish like yahni (lamb with onions and potato)

Sigara boregi

Dolma

Yahni

And their one week’s food in January;

• Grains & other starchy foods (bread, potatoes, rice and etc.)
• Dairy (yogurt, feta cheese, milk and etc.)
• Meat, fish & eggs 
• Fruits, vegetables & nuts
• Condiments (sunflower, jam, honey and etc.)
• Snacks & desserts
• Prepared food
• Homemade food
• Beverages
• Miscellaneous (cigarettes and bird food)