Mena Jameel - Istanbul
Turkish cuisine is world-renowned beyond its origins, both in terms of the variety of grills, casseroles and pastries that have become a symbol, and tourists are looking for during their visit to Turkey.
But Turkish cuisine is still rich in exotic foods that highlight the eagerness of the Turks to search for their own cuisine, some of them have become very strange either because of the name or the ingredients or the idea itself, which some describe as "do not occur to the mind of humans." We take you on a tour of a group of the strangest produced Turkish cuisine.
1- Peggy Peggy Candy
The Turks also call it "frost candy," and say it is a "kind of popular ice cream" that is the first nucleus to make ice cream in its current form.
The southern city of Adana is famous for this kind of dessert, which is still served in the city during the summer when the temperature is high, despite the diversity of commercial ice cream products and different flavors.
This type of confectionery is based on ice molds, gelatin, fruits, rose water and sugar.
2- Stuffed okra
The origin of stuffed okra is also due to the city of Adana, and is known as one of the hardest and most exotic stuffed vegetables because it is difficult to fill the fine okra with minced meat and spices.
Because of the difficulty of preparing this kind of stuff and scarcity in restaurants, the stuffed okra has become one of the strangest Turkish cuisine.
Initially, the okra is decapitated with great care and precision so that the fruit structure is preserved properly, then unload the okra heart using a fine, manageable wooden tool.
Lemon is squeezed into the fruit during unloading of its content, then the filling is started with a teaspoon and toothpick.
Stuff this kind of stuffing like any other by putting it in a pot and provide it with spices, gravy and tomato juice.
3 - Eggplant jam
Eggplant is one of the most used vegetables in Turkish cuisine. It is called "meat of the poor". It was used as a substitute for meat in traditional dishes.
But not only that, Turkish cuisine turned eggplant into candy when it was made from jam.
The breeders were the first inhabitants of the city of Antalya in southwestern Turkey, followed by the inhabitants of Agadir (east) and Kagizman (northwest).
To prepare the eggplant jam, eggplant fruits are peeled and soaked in water, salt and sodium bicarbonate, washed several times and dried thoroughly and then stuffed with cloves.
Bring to the fire 2 kg of coarse sugar and a liter and a half liters of water and half a lemon, and immediately after boiling, drop the eggplant and then peel the lemon, and leave to simmer and the liquid becomes a sticky mixture.
4- Lavender biscuits
In the southwestern city of Isparta, where lavender fields spread over vast areas, Turks make everything from the flower to the minds of humans, from hair and skin oils to foods and beverages.
One of the most prominent of these exotic foods with a distinctive taste and smell of lavender biscuits.
In a hot bowl, turkey puts the flour to heat it and then add a mixture of eggs, margarine, sugar, vanilla and lavender flower sticks that have already been heated.
Leave the dough to rest for a while and then cut and inserted into the oven.
5 - spinach cakes
It seems to the beholder of this type of food is a cake mold made of ground pistachio, covered with cream, but once you taste it realizes the person.
The Turks were able to make a cake cake from the spinach plant for the many benefits this plant carries.
These cakes are made by cutting fresh spinach leaves and grinding them well with vegetable oil, then adding them to the cake mix, which usually consists of eggs, milk, flour, vanilla and baking powder.
Immediately after baking, cut the mold and decorate with whipping cream.
6 - Chicken breast candy
This dish derived its strangeness from its preparation of chicken breast meat, a kind of sweets similar to its "pudding", served in medieval Turkey, as it was served to the Ottoman sultans.
The strangest thing about this dish is that many of the people who eat it cannot notice the taste of chicken in it at all.
Turkey grinds chicken meat into dough and blends perfectly with other ingredients of starch, rice flour, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla.
This ancient recipe of Ottoman kitchens is a landmark in Turkish cuisine.