土耳其食物在多倫多

在 Toronto Star 上面讀到關於土耳其食物在多倫多的狀況，集中的區域在希臘區 Danforth，找機會再去試試看。

報導中說土耳其人喜歡的食物(我想辦法去查了資料) 有石榴汁

，糖蜜，土耳其式咖啡，酸梅果醬，無花果乾，罐裝的Okra(一種長的像辣椒一樣的蔬菜)

，香料，還有土耳其甜點。這裡面我只吃過無花果乾。

文章也提到兩種特別的食物，Pide ，Kumpir ，這我就沒吃過了，說Pide是一種八吋長的麵包船，裡面可以加上各種Topping，Kumpir 也一樣可以加上Topping，只不過用烤馬鈴薯代替麵包。

(註：我們去嘗試了，這裡有照片，第一張是Pede ，看起來有點恐怖，可是味道很好。Kumpir 就很好，看起來與實際品嘗都很可口）

看了這個報導真是很心動，看看週末可不可以找得到。住在多倫多的好處之一：可以到處吃各國的食物，而且移民開的餐廳又比較便宜。

 

 

Turkish Toronto

Jan. 18, 2006 . 06:36 AM

JENNIFER BAIN

FOOD EDITOR

There's a Turkish triangle in the east end and it tastes like this: fresh lamb from Tahsin Market, kumpir (crazily topped baked potatoes) from Champion Kokorech, and sucuk (sausage) and egg pide from Pizza Pide.

The first two businesses are on the Danforth between Pape and Donlands. The third is at the corner of Pape and Gerrard.

Each is less than three years old, welcome proof that Toronto 's Turkish food offerings are finally coming of age.

There are 30,000 people from Turkey living here, according to the 2001 census. But community officials say there are 60,000 if you count all the Turks from various countries.

Things that Turks love from home — pomegranate juice and molasses, coffee (though tea's more popular now), sour cherry jam, dried figs, canned and dried okra, spices (like sumac, red pepper and black pepper), and, of course, Turkish delight.

Pide (pronounced pee-day) is a flatbread that's baked into an 8-inch-long boat shape. The menu lists 21 topping combos, revolving around ground beef, beef pieces, feta, lamb chunks, chicken strips and sausage. Most intriguing are the one with Turkish sausage and baked, sunny side up eggs

"A different taste" would accurately describe the kumpir at Champion Kokorech — the third tip of the Turkish triangle. Kumpir (baked potatoes topped with olives, pickles, corn, peas, ketchup, mayo and more) are so deliciously odd they get their own story. ("Hot potato, Turkish-style," D5.)

One aside: When you finish eating kumpir at Champion Kokorech (the sole spot in town that makes them) the owner will spray your hands with lemon cologne as you're leaving. It's a Turkish tradition.

Anyway, kumpir and pide (and home-cooked Turkish meals) go down well with ayran, a salted, fermented yogurt drink. But it's Turkish coffee, not ayran, that Hasan Yilmaz and I drink during an interview at Balkan Bistro (a nine-month-old Turkish restaurant near the AGO).

When Turks go out here, Yilmaz explains, it's to a handful of fast-food spots that specialize in kebabs and doners (a.k.a. shawarma/gyros, usually minced lamb or chicken moulded around a rotating vertical spit, slowly roasted and shaved off).

"Traditional Turkish food is not easy to make — it takes half a day to prepare," Yilmaz notes.

Only two Turkish-American cookbooks — The Sultan's Kitchen and Classical Turkish Cooking — are readily available in English and they're full of enticing but time-consuming dishes.

And yet, after enjoying Hünkar Begendi (stewed beef on smoky creamed eggplant) at Balkan Bistro, I'm grateful to find recipes for it (but with lamb instead of beef) in both these books. I haven't been to Turkey yet, but by the time I get there I'll have eaten and cooked most of its key dishes right here at home.