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As a cook and writer, | 0:00:03 | 0:00:05 | |
I've long been intrigued by the flavours and fragrances | 0:00:05 | 0:00:09 | |
of Middle Eastern cooking - | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
one of the oldest and most influential cuisines in the world. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:16 | |
Now I want to find out more. | 0:00:16 | 0:00:18 | |
You know, there really is only one true way | 0:00:20 | 0:00:23 | |
to get to know a region's food, and that's to go there. | 0:00:23 | 0:00:26 | |
To eat the food amongst the people who cook it and eat it every day. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:31 | |
That way, it's seasoned with a sense of place - | 0:00:31 | 0:00:34 | |
the landscape, the culture and traditions. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:38 | |
That's incredible. So join me on my journey... | 0:00:38 | 0:00:42 | |
Can I have a look in your cupboard? | 0:00:42 | 0:00:44 | |
..to discover ingredients and recipes that defined three countries | 0:00:44 | 0:00:49 | |
with truly exciting food stories. | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
Cheese and roses, it shouldn't work! | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
Places considered to be the key pillars of Middle Eastern cuisine. | 0:00:54 | 0:00:57 | |
My adventure takes me across northern Iran | 0:00:59 | 0:01:02 | |
to taste Persian dishes with a rich heritage, | 0:01:02 | 0:01:06 | |
to Lebanon with its Arab-influenced flavours of the Levant, | 0:01:06 | 0:01:10 | |
and to Turkey, where the recipes born of a diverse landscape | 0:01:10 | 0:01:15 | |
have travelled the world. | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
I did a date pattern - I should have done a walnut pattern. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:20 | |
My appetite for new flavours | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
takes me through ancient and beguiling lands - | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
but, more importantly, into people's homes. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:28 | |
I absolutely loved it, and I can't thank you enough. | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
This is my chance to learn new techniques and recipes | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
that aren't in books | 0:01:35 | 0:01:36 | |
but have been handed down through generations... | 0:01:36 | 0:01:39 | |
-How long does it take you? -Five minutes. -Five minutes? | 0:01:39 | 0:01:42 | |
Well, I'd better get a move on, then. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:44 | |
..and I'll share the secrets I'll discover | 0:01:44 | 0:01:47 | |
by cooking recipes inspired by my journey. | 0:01:47 | 0:01:50 | |
This time, I visit a rapidly changing nation. | 0:01:50 | 0:01:54 | |
From the dishes of Ottoman palaces | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
to the rustic home cooking | 0:01:57 | 0:01:59 | |
at the heart of Turkey. | 0:01:59 | 0:02:00 | |
I start in Istanbul, home to 15 million people - | 0:02:06 | 0:02:11 | |
today, a rapidly-changing, thriving city | 0:02:11 | 0:02:14 | |
that straddles both Europe and Asia. | 0:02:14 | 0:02:17 | |
Formerly Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire. | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
From here, rich sultans ruled over swathes of Europe, | 0:02:32 | 0:02:36 | |
Asia and North Africa, | 0:02:36 | 0:02:39 | |
bringing far-away flavours back to their palace kitchens | 0:02:39 | 0:02:43 | |
to create the world's most flamboyant food of its time. | 0:02:43 | 0:02:47 | |
One of Istanbul's most prestigious hotels was once a sultan's palace. | 0:02:56 | 0:03:01 | |
The grandeur and opulence is clear to see, | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
echoed not just in its chandeliers and marble, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:07 | |
but also in the classic Ottoman dishes it creates. | 0:03:07 | 0:03:11 | |
At the height of the Empire, | 0:03:16 | 0:03:18 | |
the finest chefs were summoned from far and wide | 0:03:18 | 0:03:21 | |
to experiment with ingredients and techniques, | 0:03:21 | 0:03:24 | |
to engineer dishes fit for the sultan's table. | 0:03:24 | 0:03:28 | |
A whole fish baked in salt would have been a true spectacle. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:38 | |
At the time, salt was a highly prized commodity all over the world. | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
You... | 0:03:46 | 0:03:48 | |
This is the sultan showing off. | 0:03:48 | 0:03:52 | |
It's the idea of a silver salver being presented to your guests | 0:03:52 | 0:03:57 | |
with a huge, whole fish baked in glistening salt. | 0:03:57 | 0:04:00 | |
It's as much show as it is flavour. | 0:04:02 | 0:04:04 | |
It's delicious. It's delicious... | 0:04:12 | 0:04:14 | |
..but the point of this dish is about the location. | 0:04:14 | 0:04:17 | |
It's about how glamorous and how beautiful the room is. | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
It's about the exquisite china. | 0:04:20 | 0:04:22 | |
It's about the way the food is presented. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
This is fashionable food. | 0:04:26 | 0:04:27 | |
It's fun and it IS about theatre. | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
Baklava - the sticky, sweet pastry dessert loved the world over - | 0:04:36 | 0:04:41 | |
was another dish perfected for the sultan's pleasure. | 0:04:41 | 0:04:45 | |
40 paper-thin layers of filo pastry sandwiched with finely chopped nuts | 0:04:50 | 0:04:55 | |
and trickled with syrup made each mouthful a work of culinary art. | 0:04:55 | 0:05:00 | |
Even today, the apprentice bakers must work in the kitchen | 0:05:03 | 0:05:06 | |
for at least five years before touching the pastry... | 0:05:06 | 0:05:10 | |
Thank you. | 0:05:10 | 0:05:12 | |
..and there's also an art to eating it. | 0:05:12 | 0:05:15 | |
You check that it's golden. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:17 | |
You put your fork in and then cut right through with a knife. | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
If you tip it upside down, | 0:05:21 | 0:05:23 | |
there should not be a drip of syrup that falls off it. | 0:05:23 | 0:05:27 | |
You then dip into your thick clotted yoghurt - | 0:05:27 | 0:05:31 | |
that's the crust on the top of the yoghurt - | 0:05:31 | 0:05:33 | |
and then into the ground pistachios... | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
..and then you put it into your mouth upside down, | 0:05:36 | 0:05:39 | |
so that the bottom layer of pastry, which is the most buttery... | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
..just touches the roof of your mouth. | 0:05:43 | 0:05:45 | |
You need a bit of practice to eat it elegantly... | 0:05:50 | 0:05:53 | |
..but it is very, very good. | 0:05:54 | 0:05:56 | |
It's not sickly and sweet - | 0:05:56 | 0:05:58 | |
it's nutty and it's flaky and it's light. | 0:05:58 | 0:06:01 | |
This is lovely. | 0:06:01 | 0:06:02 | |
While the sultans were eating fine foods from around the world, | 0:06:06 | 0:06:10 | |
most of the country was enjoying simple home-cooked dishes | 0:06:10 | 0:06:13 | |
inspired by the produce of its diverse landscape. | 0:06:13 | 0:06:16 | |
I'm going to a lokanta - | 0:06:18 | 0:06:20 | |
it's a canteen-style cafe popular all over Turkey | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
that serves homely lunches to the urban workforce. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:28 | |
It's also where I'll meet my guide and translator for my journey, | 0:06:28 | 0:06:33 | |
Sibel Samli. | 0:06:33 | 0:06:35 | |
Hey, Nigel. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:37 | |
I'm liking this place. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:39 | |
-Welcome. -Wow. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
Historically, Turkey didn't have much of a restaurant culture... | 0:06:43 | 0:06:48 | |
..but just over a century ago the lokanta, | 0:06:48 | 0:06:50 | |
with its domestic recipes and warm-welcome atmosphere, | 0:06:50 | 0:06:54 | |
emerged as an exception... | 0:06:54 | 0:06:56 | |
..and are now one of its most enduring food institutions. | 0:06:57 | 0:07:02 | |
So, tell me, what's going on? | 0:07:02 | 0:07:04 | |
OK, so this is a classic weekday lunch | 0:07:04 | 0:07:08 | |
for anyone who works and lives in Istanbul. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:12 | |
And do I choose one thing or a couple of things? | 0:07:12 | 0:07:16 | |
-How does it work? -Well, Turks usually don't consider a meal a meal | 0:07:16 | 0:07:20 | |
if it doesn't have meat in it. | 0:07:20 | 0:07:22 | |
I mean, there's a lot of veg, for sure - | 0:07:22 | 0:07:25 | |
green beans, you'll have a lot of potato and meat mixed. | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
Chickpeas, courgettes, beans. | 0:07:28 | 0:07:31 | |
But then you also have lamb, beef. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:33 | |
This is what I call comfort food. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:37 | |
You know, lots of juices, lots of flavours and juices. | 0:07:37 | 0:07:41 | |
This is slow-cooked food, | 0:07:42 | 0:07:45 | |
served quickly and without fuss to hungry regulars | 0:07:45 | 0:07:49 | |
at simple communal tables. | 0:07:49 | 0:07:51 | |
It is very basic, but it's a massive luxury to be able to walk in, | 0:07:53 | 0:07:59 | |
eat fresh, warm food within 30 minutes | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
and go back to work. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:05 | |
And reasonably priced, I'm thinking. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:07 | |
-Yes, very. -Shall we sit down? | 0:08:07 | 0:08:09 | |
The culture of going out at lunchtime for a sandwich - | 0:08:12 | 0:08:15 | |
-is that here? -Mm-mm. | 0:08:15 | 0:08:17 | |
I think everyone would be outraged if anyone ever suggested | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
that they had to have sandwiches for lunch! | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
80, 90% of the workforce will break for lunch | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
and come to a restaurant like this. | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
You find variations of it in the poshest neighbourhood | 0:08:30 | 0:08:34 | |
and the poorest neighbourhood. They're all... | 0:08:34 | 0:08:37 | |
Cos they'll all cook the same foods. | 0:08:37 | 0:08:40 | |
It's kind of an extension of home, in a way. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
Yeah, yeah. | 0:08:43 | 0:08:45 | |
This is utterly delicious. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:47 | |
And no sandwiches! | 0:08:47 | 0:08:48 | |
Food like this every day. | 0:08:48 | 0:08:50 | |
Absolutely, it's utterly delicious. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:53 | |
This food is right up my street - | 0:08:53 | 0:08:55 | |
quality ingredients that don't need to shout or show off, | 0:08:55 | 0:08:59 | |
but just sit well together. | 0:08:59 | 0:09:01 | |
Simple home cooking with subtle, warm flavours. | 0:09:01 | 0:09:05 | |
The kind of dish I like to make at home. | 0:09:05 | 0:09:08 | |
Roughly chop an onion | 0:09:12 | 0:09:14 | |
along with an assortment of red and yellow peppers. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
Add to a large roasting tin. | 0:09:17 | 0:09:19 | |
Choose a selection of tomatoes | 0:09:20 | 0:09:23 | |
and add a few sprigs of thyme. | 0:09:23 | 0:09:26 | |
Trickle the mixture with olive oil and then bake. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:29 | |
After 50 minutes, add butter beans, a good pinch of allspice, | 0:09:31 | 0:09:35 | |
and return to the oven for ten minutes. | 0:09:35 | 0:09:37 | |
Briefly boil green beans in salted water and then plunge into cold - | 0:09:40 | 0:09:45 | |
this keeps their vibrancy. | 0:09:45 | 0:09:46 | |
Fold in the beans at the last minute, so they just warm through, | 0:09:47 | 0:09:51 | |
and then serve. | 0:09:51 | 0:09:53 | |
Simple stews like this are, for me, the true taste of Turkey... | 0:09:54 | 0:09:58 | |
..born from the fertile soil of its agricultural heartland | 0:10:00 | 0:10:04 | |
in central Anatolia. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:06 | |
This vast area lies east of Istanbul - Asian Turkey... | 0:10:06 | 0:10:10 | |
..and it's where my journey continues. | 0:10:11 | 0:10:14 | |
Some believe this is where crop cultivation first began. | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
Many foods, not just Turkish, can be traced back to Anatolia, | 0:10:20 | 0:10:24 | |
and the country is one of the few nations in the world | 0:10:24 | 0:10:27 | |
with the diversity and volume of produce to be self-sufficient. | 0:10:27 | 0:10:32 | |
Many of its people still live close to the land, | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
as they have done for centuries. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:39 | |
It is dawn in the central Anatolian district of Develi, | 0:10:55 | 0:10:59 | |
and the timeless morning routine begins once again. | 0:10:59 | 0:11:02 | |
Songul has left the village just once in her whole life. | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
THEY SPEAK LOCAL LANGUAGE | 0:11:13 | 0:11:17 | |
-Nigel, Songul. -I'm Nigel. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:21 | |
She says there's more in the back room, as well. | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
They finish this in the summer and then make it again. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:39 | |
This and next door will last for about six months. | 0:11:39 | 0:11:42 | |
This is the store-cupboard version of a thin, unleavened flatbread, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:47 | |
yufka, popular throughout Turkey. | 0:11:47 | 0:11:51 | |
Irresistible. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:53 | |
Once baked, it contains very little water... | 0:11:53 | 0:11:55 | |
..which means that it can be stored for months | 0:11:57 | 0:12:00 | |
and then rehydrated when needed. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:02 | |
Wheat was first cultivated in Turkey around 10,000 years ago, | 0:12:04 | 0:12:09 | |
and the first breads probably looked a lot like this. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:13 | |
It's like a work of art! | 0:12:13 | 0:12:14 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:12:14 | 0:12:16 | |
It's just, it's beautiful. | 0:12:16 | 0:12:17 | |
Songul has offered to show me how they make one of their staple meals, | 0:12:19 | 0:12:23 | |
manti. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:25 | |
Manti starts with a simple dough | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
made from flour, water, salt and eggs. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
While Songul kneads and rolls the dough, her daughter-in-law | 0:12:32 | 0:12:37 | |
makes the filling from minced beef, onions, herbs and ground cumin. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:42 | |
It's clear to see that this dish has been made many times. | 0:12:44 | 0:12:47 | |
These ladies are a dab hand. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:49 | |
Ah, OK, into strips. | 0:12:49 | 0:12:51 | |
So, she's saying, basically, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:55 | |
her older sister lives in Ankara, the capital, | 0:12:55 | 0:12:58 | |
and she's saying that her older sister says that there is a machine | 0:12:58 | 0:13:01 | |
that does the cutting now, so they should buy that, | 0:13:01 | 0:13:03 | |
and she's saying we're not city slackers, | 0:13:03 | 0:13:06 | |
we're villagers, and we're used to doing it. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:09 | |
And then a little pinch of meat. | 0:13:09 | 0:13:11 | |
How much? In the centre. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
The influence of manti on more modern foods like ravioli | 0:13:18 | 0:13:22 | |
is plain to see. | 0:13:22 | 0:13:23 | |
And then like that? | 0:13:23 | 0:13:25 | |
Can you imagine how long you'd have to wait for dinner | 0:13:27 | 0:13:30 | |
if it was up to me? | 0:13:30 | 0:13:31 | |
It's not long before the topic of conversation veers away | 0:13:38 | 0:13:41 | |
from the cooking. | 0:13:41 | 0:13:43 | |
So she says she was in love with Songul's son, | 0:13:45 | 0:13:49 | |
but because they thought her father wouldn't allow her to get married | 0:13:49 | 0:13:52 | |
to him, they ran away to Ankara, to the aunt's house, | 0:13:52 | 0:13:58 | |
and then they stayed there for three days | 0:13:58 | 0:14:00 | |
until the families agreed on the marriage. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:04 | |
It's pretty common in this village, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
because if they're in love, but the family have other plans, | 0:14:08 | 0:14:13 | |
then the girls just run away. | 0:14:13 | 0:14:14 | |
Preparing the food with Songul is a joy. | 0:14:21 | 0:14:23 | |
Manti is boiled and its sauce is prepared by grating garlic | 0:14:24 | 0:14:29 | |
into home-made yoghurt... | 0:14:29 | 0:14:31 | |
..and a moment for me to find out how Songul feels | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
about life here on the Anatolian plateau. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:39 | |
This seems quite a hard way of life. | 0:14:40 | 0:14:45 | |
I'm just wondering, would you prefer to work... | 0:14:45 | 0:14:49 | |
..an easier job in the city? | 0:14:50 | 0:14:51 | |
Yeah, it's home. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:01 | |
So, do you think that your children, and particularly your grandson, | 0:15:02 | 0:15:06 | |
do you think that they will take on this way of life afterwards? | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
The sad thing about that is that maybe this farm wouldn't be here | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
if it's not passed on to another generation. | 0:15:32 | 0:15:35 | |
It's all very well for me | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
to talk about preserving a traditional way of life - | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
making your own yoghurt and your own cheese | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
and having a cow in the yard... | 0:15:46 | 0:15:48 | |
..but this is hard! | 0:15:48 | 0:15:50 | |
This is survival. | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
This is absolutely essential, it's crucial to their lives. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:55 | |
The hot dumplings are topped with a dollop of the garlicky yoghurt | 0:16:04 | 0:16:08 | |
and finished with smoked, sweet, crushed red chillies | 0:16:08 | 0:16:13 | |
warmed in olive oil. | 0:16:13 | 0:16:15 | |
This is amazing. | 0:16:15 | 0:16:17 | |
You know, there is nothing that means more to me... | 0:16:22 | 0:16:25 | |
..than sharing food - | 0:16:26 | 0:16:28 | |
and the fact that somebody shares their food with me... | 0:16:28 | 0:16:31 | |
..is everything... | 0:16:32 | 0:16:34 | |
..but also, to share their craft, | 0:16:34 | 0:16:38 | |
their expertise, their knowledge - | 0:16:38 | 0:16:40 | |
they've also shared their way of life. | 0:16:40 | 0:16:42 | |
It just makes me... | 0:16:42 | 0:16:44 | |
..just so, so grateful. | 0:16:44 | 0:16:46 | |
My exploration of Anatolian cuisine continues | 0:17:02 | 0:17:05 | |
50 miles west of Develi in the evocative landscape of Cappadocia... | 0:17:05 | 0:17:10 | |
..peppered with rock-carved homes, | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
fascinating rock formations and ancient vineyards. | 0:17:16 | 0:17:20 | |
Once a secret natural wonder, | 0:17:21 | 0:17:24 | |
this is now a World Heritage site | 0:17:24 | 0:17:26 | |
and one of Turkey's most popular tourist attractions. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:30 | |
I'm here to find out more about the classic storeroom staple pekmez, | 0:17:38 | 0:17:43 | |
a grape-based molasses used widely in both sweet and savoury dishes. | 0:17:43 | 0:17:48 | |
So I've come to meet Faruk on his family vineyard. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:54 | |
So, how long have grapes grown on this land? | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
Thousands of years, these type of grapes are here - | 0:18:01 | 0:18:05 | |
but this garden, from my grandfather. | 0:18:05 | 0:18:07 | |
This is the most... | 0:18:07 | 0:18:08 | |
..sweetest one. | 0:18:10 | 0:18:11 | |
These have all been growing... | 0:18:11 | 0:18:13 | |
..without giving any water. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:16 | |
Times are changing, and these days Faruk is one of the few locals | 0:18:25 | 0:18:30 | |
still making his own pekmez. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:32 | |
So, you must have seen quite a lot of change around here. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:38 | |
Yes, for sure. | 0:18:38 | 0:18:40 | |
When I was a kid, we had more trees and more greens. | 0:18:41 | 0:18:47 | |
Just like this. Everywhere was like this. | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
Nobody is looking after. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:53 | |
Why is nobody looking after it? | 0:18:54 | 0:18:56 | |
They're running hotels or different kind of tourisms. | 0:18:56 | 0:19:01 | |
More easier for them to make the life like that. | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
And the tourism damaging all the land - | 0:19:06 | 0:19:09 | |
by the ballooning, by the quad bikes, by the hiking. | 0:19:09 | 0:19:14 | |
What do you see as the future, | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
if you look forward 20 years, 50 years? | 0:19:16 | 0:19:19 | |
I feel very, very sad. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:21 | |
I hitch a lift with Faruk to his home in the village to watch | 0:19:31 | 0:19:35 | |
the harvested grapes be transformed into pekmez. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:39 | |
This is a special soil we use. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:55 | |
This feels... This feels like flour. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:59 | |
Yes, it is like a flour. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:01 | |
Very, very fine. | 0:20:01 | 0:20:03 | |
This volcanic soil, known as marl, is sprinkled on the grapes. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:10 | |
HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE | 0:20:10 | 0:20:13 | |
Now, they're ready to press. | 0:20:15 | 0:20:16 | |
No other ingredients are added. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:22 | |
Marl is purely a natural agent used to remove acidity | 0:20:23 | 0:20:27 | |
and clarify the juice. | 0:20:27 | 0:20:29 | |
You have a lot of fun doing this, don't you? | 0:20:30 | 0:20:32 | |
He's the mayor of the town. | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
-The mayor? -He's the mayor of this village, can you believe? | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
I wouldn't get my mayor to do this! | 0:20:39 | 0:20:41 | |
Over the centuries, | 0:20:44 | 0:20:45 | |
the methods for its domestic production have barely changed. | 0:20:45 | 0:20:49 | |
So this liquid, it looks milky at the moment because of the stones... | 0:20:49 | 0:20:53 | |
Because of the stones, yes. | 0:20:53 | 0:20:55 | |
-..but that will sink to the bottom... -Yes, in a few hours. | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
..and then we'll get the clear juice. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:00 | |
Pekmez has a honey-like consistency | 0:21:10 | 0:21:13 | |
and is made by boiling the juice and reducing it to a thick syrup... | 0:21:13 | 0:21:18 | |
..a process that takes around seven hours. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:23 | |
You know, it's the sounds that make this place as much as anything. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:30 | |
Sounds that probably haven't changed for hundreds of years. | 0:21:31 | 0:21:36 | |
The pot of molasses bubbling... | 0:21:38 | 0:21:40 | |
..the crackling of the fire... | 0:21:42 | 0:21:43 | |
COW MOOS | 0:21:46 | 0:21:47 | |
..the cow, chickens. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:49 | |
Today, the pekmez will be the crowning glory | 0:21:51 | 0:21:55 | |
of an age-old Anatolian lunch. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
We are having gozleme, | 0:21:59 | 0:22:01 | |
a savoury filling encased in the yufka... | 0:22:01 | 0:22:03 | |
..the simple flatbread made from just flour and water. | 0:22:05 | 0:22:08 | |
There will be two varieties of gozleme... | 0:22:11 | 0:22:13 | |
..one filled with spinach and white cheese, | 0:22:15 | 0:22:18 | |
the other with potato and dill. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
The yufka wraps are wafer-thin, so only need a short blast of heat. | 0:22:30 | 0:22:35 | |
Pekmez has been called the healing syrup of Anatolia, | 0:22:39 | 0:22:43 | |
widely believed to cure everything from colds to anaemia, | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
because of its high iron and vitamin content. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:50 | |
That's incredible! | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
-Incredible. -Did you ever have something this flavour? | 0:22:56 | 0:23:00 | |
-No, never. -This is the way... | 0:23:00 | 0:23:03 | |
The way of living in Anatolia. | 0:23:03 | 0:23:05 | |
It kind of bothers me that it may not continue. | 0:23:05 | 0:23:08 | |
It will continue in the factories, massive, | 0:23:08 | 0:23:12 | |
which is not the same thing. | 0:23:12 | 0:23:14 | |
Faruk's Anatolia is changing fast. | 0:23:20 | 0:23:22 | |
The regional capital Kayseri is home to thriving industries | 0:23:24 | 0:23:28 | |
set up to feed Turkey's booming economy. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:31 | |
130 factories opened here in a single day, | 0:23:33 | 0:23:36 | |
and since the '90s, its population has doubled to almost a million... | 0:23:36 | 0:23:41 | |
..many of them leaving their rural homes in favour of urban life. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:47 | |
It's just one of many examples of the growth of new cities | 0:23:48 | 0:23:52 | |
right the way across Anatolia... | 0:23:52 | 0:23:54 | |
..and this is the dilemma that Turkey faces - | 0:23:54 | 0:23:57 | |
modernity... | 0:23:57 | 0:23:59 | |
..without losing their traditions, | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
without losing the flavour of the land. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
Turkey is an enormously diverse country. | 0:24:13 | 0:24:16 | |
There are seven distinct regions, | 0:24:16 | 0:24:18 | |
with every climate imaginable, | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
from the torrid conditions of the Anatolian plateau | 0:24:21 | 0:24:24 | |
to the misty green mountains of the eastern Black Sea. | 0:24:24 | 0:24:28 | |
The benefit of such a diverse climate | 0:24:29 | 0:24:31 | |
is the wealth of regional variation in the food. | 0:24:31 | 0:24:35 | |
I've come to the Trabzon region of the Black Sea, | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
to the town of the same name, | 0:24:40 | 0:24:42 | |
to taste a bread-based dish that is eaten all over Turkey, | 0:24:42 | 0:24:46 | |
but here is made with a very special local flourish. | 0:24:46 | 0:24:50 | |
Hello. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:54 | |
SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE | 0:24:54 | 0:24:55 | |
Pide, please. | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
Pide is normally made as a boat-shaped leavened bread | 0:25:01 | 0:25:04 | |
with a variety of toppings... | 0:25:04 | 0:25:06 | |
..from dried beef or minced lamb to spinach - | 0:25:09 | 0:25:13 | |
but in this case... | 0:25:13 | 0:25:15 | |
..it's cheese. There's no olives grown around here - or not many. | 0:25:15 | 0:25:19 | |
This is a dairy culture. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
While sheep and goat's cheese is very popular in Turkey, | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
in the Black Sea region, only their local cows' kolof will do. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:30 | |
Just in case that's not enough dairy... | 0:25:30 | 0:25:32 | |
It's going to be good. | 0:25:32 | 0:25:33 | |
..a generous scoop | 0:25:33 | 0:25:34 | |
of the region's iconic, deep yellow highland butter is also added. | 0:25:34 | 0:25:39 | |
The locals say that without butter, there is no taste - | 0:25:39 | 0:25:43 | |
and they are certainly not taking any chances here. | 0:25:43 | 0:25:46 | |
Ah! | 0:25:50 | 0:25:51 | |
I've never seen anything like this in my life. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:56 | |
It's almost like a fondue. | 0:25:56 | 0:25:58 | |
It's like cheese soup held within a crust... | 0:25:58 | 0:26:01 | |
..and it squeaks. | 0:26:02 | 0:26:03 | |
There's a special local way to cut this - | 0:26:06 | 0:26:09 | |
carefully remove the top of the crust. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:12 | |
Break it into pieces | 0:26:15 | 0:26:17 | |
and then dip it into the molten cheese. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:20 | |
Mm! It's kind of like the pizza you always want but never quite get. | 0:26:25 | 0:26:30 | |
This is the food that the word "gorgeous" was invented for. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
It's the only way to describe it... | 0:26:33 | 0:26:35 | |
..and I will gorge. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:38 | |
Pide fillings can be as varied as you like, | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
and the dough is really simple to make. | 0:26:43 | 0:26:45 | |
Mix 450g of flour with seven grams of dried yeast. | 0:26:50 | 0:26:56 | |
A pinch of salt, and 350ml of water. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:59 | |
Knead, and leave to rise for an hour. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:05 | |
Roll out and shape the dough. | 0:27:05 | 0:27:07 | |
For my filling, I'm grating a handful of Turkish cheese, | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
thinly slicing tomatoes, | 0:27:13 | 0:27:16 | |
and sujuk, a Turkish sausage. | 0:27:16 | 0:27:18 | |
Trickle with olive oil... | 0:27:21 | 0:27:22 | |
..then bake for 20 minutes. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:26 | |
The final dish is truly comforting. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:31 | |
The landscape around Trabzon is well suited to dairy farming, | 0:27:40 | 0:27:44 | |
and much of it is carried out in the traditional way of moving the herds | 0:27:44 | 0:27:49 | |
between the highlands and lowlands with the seasons. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
With winter fast approaching, | 0:27:55 | 0:27:57 | |
I'm keen to see the mountain pastures | 0:27:57 | 0:27:59 | |
before the roads become impassable. | 0:27:59 | 0:28:01 | |
The view is fast disappearing. | 0:28:04 | 0:28:06 | |
One minute it's snow-capped mountains, | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
and the next minute it is thick and very eerie mist. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:12 | |
This is one of the many summer villages | 0:28:20 | 0:28:23 | |
which serve as seasonal dwellings for the local herders. | 0:28:23 | 0:28:27 | |
So, we are over 2,000 metres high, | 0:28:29 | 0:28:32 | |
and the village is deserted. | 0:28:32 | 0:28:34 | |
The winter crocuses are starting to come out, | 0:28:36 | 0:28:38 | |
which is a sign for the herdsmen to take their cattle down | 0:28:38 | 0:28:42 | |
from the lush mountain pasture down into the valley. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:45 | |
The snows are well and truly on their way. | 0:28:47 | 0:28:49 | |
Whilst dairy is what this area is traditionally associated with, | 0:28:58 | 0:29:02 | |
the last 100 years has seen a new industry flourish | 0:29:02 | 0:29:05 | |
in the rainy fertile foothills of the mountains. | 0:29:05 | 0:29:08 | |
Tea in Turkey is big business, | 0:29:14 | 0:29:17 | |
and locally, in the Rize province an hour's drive east of Trabzon, | 0:29:17 | 0:29:21 | |
it's so important even the local football team is named after it. | 0:29:21 | 0:29:25 | |
The misty foothills of the Black Sea mountains | 0:29:27 | 0:29:30 | |
are home to over 200,000 independent tea gardens, | 0:29:30 | 0:29:34 | |
who supplied Turkey's insatiable thirst for a good brew. | 0:29:34 | 0:29:39 | |
The further I head into the mountains, | 0:29:39 | 0:29:41 | |
the more I can see how absolutely crucial tea growing is to this area. | 0:29:41 | 0:29:47 | |
You can almost smell it. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:49 | |
Any tiny little space on the slopes of the hillside, | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
there's a row of tea bushes. | 0:29:52 | 0:29:53 | |
I've been invited to take part in a tea harvest. | 0:29:58 | 0:30:02 | |
It's an early start, | 0:30:02 | 0:30:03 | |
so bed and breakfast are part of the deal. | 0:30:03 | 0:30:06 | |
Sibel introduces me to brother and sister Lale and Gokhan. | 0:30:09 | 0:30:14 | |
They are Hemshin, a minority group of Armenian descent. | 0:30:14 | 0:30:19 | |
They still live in their family home, | 0:30:19 | 0:30:21 | |
which I'm told has a bit of a story all of its own. | 0:30:21 | 0:30:25 | |
How long have you lived here? | 0:30:26 | 0:30:28 | |
Do you know how old the house is? | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
OK. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:39 | |
Deliciously creaky. | 0:30:40 | 0:30:42 | |
And that's their mother. | 0:30:46 | 0:30:47 | |
So, it was their grandfather that made this house from scratch - | 0:30:59 | 0:31:05 | |
but he never got to live in it | 0:31:05 | 0:31:06 | |
because he died very young in Poland. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:09 | |
He was shot during the First World War. | 0:31:09 | 0:31:11 | |
The hand prints are from when they sacrificed an animal | 0:31:15 | 0:31:20 | |
to bless the house when the last foundations were put in place. | 0:31:20 | 0:31:25 | |
Gosh, sacrificing an animal. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:26 | |
All I did was open a bottle of wine when I moved in. | 0:31:26 | 0:31:30 | |
Gosh. | 0:31:30 | 0:31:31 | |
After a sound night's sleep, it's time to pick some tea. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:57 | |
The morning drizzle is not enough to stop my lesson in tea harvesting. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:15 | |
-So, sides first and then on top. -OK. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
-Yeah? Is that OK? -OK. | 0:32:23 | 0:32:25 | |
I'm doing this very slowly but how long does it take you to pick a row? | 0:32:27 | 0:32:33 | |
Five minutes? | 0:32:35 | 0:32:36 | |
Well, I'd better get a move on, then! | 0:32:37 | 0:32:40 | |
It's just the top young leaves, | 0:32:40 | 0:32:42 | |
when the leaves are small and they are very pale green. | 0:32:42 | 0:32:45 | |
That's the ones you want. That's what I'm trying to get. | 0:32:48 | 0:32:50 | |
Historically, Turkey has always been a coffee-drinking nation. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:58 | |
It's only with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, | 0:32:58 | 0:33:00 | |
the First World War and the closing of their traditional trading roots | 0:33:00 | 0:33:04 | |
that the prices went up and they had to find an alternative... | 0:33:04 | 0:33:08 | |
..and that alternative was tea. | 0:33:09 | 0:33:11 | |
They've been drinking it and growing it ever since, | 0:33:11 | 0:33:14 | |
to the point where they are now | 0:33:14 | 0:33:15 | |
probably the world's greatest consumer per capita. | 0:33:15 | 0:33:19 | |
That's good news for the locals here. | 0:33:20 | 0:33:22 | |
The leaves are left to dry | 0:33:25 | 0:33:26 | |
and will be sold to the government-owned tea company Caykur, | 0:33:26 | 0:33:30 | |
whose fixed rates provide this family with a stable income. | 0:33:30 | 0:33:34 | |
I'm looking forward to a cuppa... | 0:33:37 | 0:33:39 | |
..but, even more, to my breakfast. | 0:33:42 | 0:33:45 | |
Cheese is an essential part of the Turkish breakfast table... | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
..but here in the Black Sea, it's the centrepiece. | 0:33:52 | 0:33:56 | |
Lale is making muhlama. | 0:33:59 | 0:34:01 | |
This is a fondue-like creation made using local aged Trabzon cheese, | 0:34:03 | 0:34:08 | |
as well as melted highland butter and flour. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:12 | |
This is a Hemshin dish and stems from their ancestral roots | 0:34:15 | 0:34:19 | |
as cattle herders. | 0:34:19 | 0:34:21 | |
In their family, they were the last generation | 0:34:22 | 0:34:25 | |
to have a traditional upbringing high on the mountain pastures... | 0:34:25 | 0:34:28 | |
..but by the looks of it, their taste for dairy remains strong. | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
Did somebody mention a bit of breakfast? | 0:34:36 | 0:34:39 | |
They didn't mention a feast. | 0:34:40 | 0:34:41 | |
Ah, thank you. | 0:34:50 | 0:34:51 | |
Throughout Turkey, | 0:34:53 | 0:34:54 | |
breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day - | 0:34:54 | 0:34:57 | |
but this is something else. | 0:34:57 | 0:34:59 | |
Everything on this table has been home-made | 0:35:01 | 0:35:03 | |
or picked from their garden. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
For someone like me, who adores dairy produce... | 0:35:07 | 0:35:11 | |
..this is like all my birthdays have come on one day. | 0:35:14 | 0:35:16 | |
No! | 0:35:30 | 0:35:31 | |
Can I come and live here? | 0:35:34 | 0:35:37 | |
I wasn't expecting | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
almost all of the cheese I would eat in one year... | 0:35:44 | 0:35:46 | |
..at one meal. | 0:35:48 | 0:35:49 | |
This is splendid. | 0:35:50 | 0:35:52 | |
Just a generation ago, there weren't many roads in these mountains... | 0:36:00 | 0:36:04 | |
..and because they were so isolated, | 0:36:06 | 0:36:09 | |
local communities had to be especially resourceful. | 0:36:09 | 0:36:12 | |
I'm travelling nearly 100 miles further east | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
to the tiny village of Macahel, | 0:36:20 | 0:36:22 | |
close to the Georgian border. | 0:36:22 | 0:36:24 | |
I've come to meet a Georgian family | 0:36:32 | 0:36:35 | |
and to taste a favourite Turkish dessert, helva, | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
with a unique local twist. | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE | 0:36:49 | 0:36:51 | |
This is 70-year-old Nasim, | 0:36:56 | 0:36:59 | |
his son Kenan, | 0:36:59 | 0:37:01 | |
and granddaughters, Irem and Irmak - | 0:37:01 | 0:37:05 | |
three generations of honey-hunters. | 0:37:05 | 0:37:07 | |
OK. | 0:37:09 | 0:37:10 | |
For a food, for a product that is so difficult to harvest... | 0:37:12 | 0:37:17 | |
..I guess it's got to be very, very special indeed. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:20 | |
The hives have to be really high up the tree | 0:37:24 | 0:37:28 | |
to protect the honey from the bears. | 0:37:28 | 0:37:30 | |
Ohh! | 0:37:53 | 0:37:54 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:37:54 | 0:37:55 | |
Wow! Look at this! | 0:37:55 | 0:37:57 | |
What defines the character of a honey... | 0:38:05 | 0:38:08 | |
..are the flowers that... the bees feast on, | 0:38:08 | 0:38:11 | |
where they get their nectar. | 0:38:11 | 0:38:14 | |
It's everything that is in this landscape, | 0:38:14 | 0:38:16 | |
that is on this mountainside. | 0:38:16 | 0:38:18 | |
That is what I want on my toast. | 0:38:21 | 0:38:23 | |
Every morning. | 0:38:24 | 0:38:25 | |
I'm going to cook with Kenan's wife, Reyhan. | 0:38:36 | 0:38:40 | |
Her version of helva has been made here for generations | 0:38:40 | 0:38:43 | |
from locally-sourced ingredients - | 0:38:43 | 0:38:46 | |
and most importantly, honey. | 0:38:46 | 0:38:49 | |
That's why it's got a toasty flavour to it. OK. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:09 | |
Thank you. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:11 | |
So that's really quite coarse and nutty. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:32 | |
This is your own recipe, or is it...? Is it a local one? | 0:39:38 | 0:39:42 | |
It is the most homely smell. It's the most welcoming smell. | 0:39:51 | 0:39:55 | |
SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE | 0:39:56 | 0:39:57 | |
So, make a little well in the middle. | 0:39:59 | 0:40:02 | |
And then... Oh, no measurements. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
Look at that! | 0:40:06 | 0:40:08 | |
So, this is melted butter and water. | 0:40:14 | 0:40:18 | |
Everything here, from the flour | 0:40:18 | 0:40:21 | |
right the way through to the walnuts and the local honey | 0:40:21 | 0:40:23 | |
and the butter from their cows, it is all from this landscape, | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
every single bit of it. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:27 | |
Historically, the local honey | 0:40:29 | 0:40:31 | |
was used by this small mountain community | 0:40:31 | 0:40:33 | |
at a time when sugar was not readily available. | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
You couldn't get across the mountains to Georgia, | 0:40:38 | 0:40:40 | |
you couldn't get into Turkey. | 0:40:40 | 0:40:41 | |
You were trapped here, so you had to make the best of what was here. | 0:40:41 | 0:40:45 | |
Maybe with some dishes like this helva, only honey will do. | 0:40:45 | 0:40:50 | |
So, this recipe is made the way it is | 0:40:52 | 0:40:53 | |
because historically there was no sugar here. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
And you use honey in all your pastries? | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
As darkness falls, | 0:41:38 | 0:41:40 | |
I feel moved to have shared the day's events with the family. | 0:41:40 | 0:41:43 | |
Three generations gathering honey | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
and a dish injected with this delicious locality | 0:41:47 | 0:41:51 | |
makes my stay here all the more memorable. | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
That honey! | 0:41:56 | 0:41:57 | |
It's just so soft and so buttery... | 0:41:58 | 0:42:01 | |
..and your secret is this toasting and roasting, | 0:42:01 | 0:42:05 | |
over and over and over again... | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
..to get this depth of flavour. | 0:42:08 | 0:42:09 | |
When snow comes, these mountain villages | 0:42:17 | 0:42:20 | |
can be cut off for five months. | 0:42:20 | 0:42:22 | |
So before I head back down to sea level, I'm visiting Cevizli, | 0:42:22 | 0:42:27 | |
literally the village of walnuts. | 0:42:27 | 0:42:29 | |
Here, the local women are busy with their winter preparations. | 0:42:36 | 0:42:40 | |
Ayse and her neighbours are batch cooking, | 0:42:44 | 0:42:46 | |
and I'm getting a chance to taste another Turkish favourite. | 0:42:46 | 0:42:50 | |
Borek - a thin, flaky pastry with sweet or savoury fillings. | 0:42:51 | 0:42:56 | |
The local speciality filled with the crop of the valley, walnuts. | 0:43:00 | 0:43:05 | |
So you don't really roll it, you actually stretch it. | 0:43:05 | 0:43:08 | |
This is much easier to do it as a group | 0:43:08 | 0:43:11 | |
because you can each take a corner and pull. | 0:43:11 | 0:43:14 | |
If I was cooking this on my own, | 0:43:14 | 0:43:16 | |
I'd be going round and round the table trying to pull it. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:18 | |
Finely-chopped walnuts are soaked in butter before being expertly rolled. | 0:43:22 | 0:43:27 | |
A mixture of teamwork and experience. | 0:43:27 | 0:43:31 | |
It so easy when you've got people on one side and on the other | 0:43:31 | 0:43:34 | |
that you can roll from both edges. | 0:43:34 | 0:43:36 | |
I can see why everybody gets together. | 0:43:36 | 0:43:38 | |
Well, I'm hungry, because I'm in this wonderful position | 0:43:46 | 0:43:49 | |
of being teased every few minutes. | 0:43:49 | 0:43:51 | |
I get this pastry taken out of the oven | 0:43:51 | 0:43:54 | |
and, "Not quite ready, we'll turn it..." | 0:43:54 | 0:43:56 | |
..and on cue, how lovely. | 0:43:56 | 0:43:57 | |
Look at that. Smell those walnuts! | 0:43:57 | 0:44:00 | |
So, this feels like a sort of village Bake Off. | 0:44:05 | 0:44:08 | |
Is this as much a social occasion as it is to cook? | 0:44:08 | 0:44:11 | |
OK. I like that idea. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:20 | |
So, Ayse, tell me, is this a traditional recipe? | 0:44:20 | 0:44:22 | |
And does everybody make it exactly the same? | 0:44:37 | 0:44:40 | |
Are these this year's walnuts? | 0:44:51 | 0:44:53 | |
If there are no walnuts this year, | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
will you buy walnuts in to make this or will you just simply not make it? | 0:45:05 | 0:45:09 | |
Yes! | 0:45:17 | 0:45:18 | |
Oh, look, it's still warm. | 0:45:21 | 0:45:23 | |
It's straight out of the oven. | 0:45:23 | 0:45:24 | |
Mmm! | 0:45:28 | 0:45:29 | |
This is absolutely and utterly beautiful. | 0:45:33 | 0:45:37 | |
I don't know why... Why is it so buttery? | 0:45:37 | 0:45:39 | |
You didn't put much on. That's amazing. | 0:45:39 | 0:45:41 | |
While I'm tucking in to the delicious borek, | 0:45:43 | 0:45:46 | |
all around me are foods being prepared for winter... | 0:45:46 | 0:45:48 | |
..for when the weather changes, and isolation descends. | 0:45:50 | 0:45:55 | |
Over here, | 0:45:55 | 0:45:56 | |
these little pieces of dough, | 0:45:56 | 0:45:59 | |
being rolled out with such dexterity. | 0:45:59 | 0:46:02 | |
It starts out like the traditional flatbread, yufka - | 0:46:02 | 0:46:05 | |
flour, water and salt rolled until paper-thin and baked... | 0:46:05 | 0:46:09 | |
..but here, instead of storing it whole, | 0:46:11 | 0:46:13 | |
it is carefully rolled up and trimmed. | 0:46:13 | 0:46:17 | |
The real magic happens when it comes out of the store cupboard. | 0:46:17 | 0:46:21 | |
It's gently cooked in a little bit of stock | 0:46:21 | 0:46:24 | |
and then it has a little bit of melted butter put with it. | 0:46:24 | 0:46:27 | |
Slowly brought back to life, | 0:46:27 | 0:46:29 | |
and then, on top, yoghurt. | 0:46:29 | 0:46:31 | |
I just think it's such a lovely way to cook - | 0:46:34 | 0:46:38 | |
with your friends, making things for today - a treat - | 0:46:38 | 0:46:41 | |
making things for tomorrow, | 0:46:41 | 0:46:43 | |
and having, you know, a good time, as well. | 0:46:43 | 0:46:47 | |
Out on the veranda, they are preserving fruit. | 0:46:48 | 0:46:51 | |
Little trays of plums drying out in the open air. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:58 | |
It's fruit-leather drying and it will be peeled off... | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
..and then kept for the winter. | 0:47:05 | 0:47:08 | |
Sometimes apricot, sometimes apples, sometimes plum. | 0:47:08 | 0:47:11 | |
I think this is apple. | 0:47:11 | 0:47:12 | |
For this, fruits are boiled to a thick syrup, | 0:47:16 | 0:47:19 | |
a bit like pekmez, | 0:47:19 | 0:47:21 | |
and are spread thinly on fabric to dry. | 0:47:21 | 0:47:23 | |
Nothing is wasted here. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:27 | |
This is good food born out of necessity... | 0:47:27 | 0:47:29 | |
..and all this is about making a squirrel-store for winter. | 0:47:34 | 0:47:37 | |
It's not just about having a good time, | 0:47:37 | 0:47:39 | |
having your friends round for a chat, | 0:47:39 | 0:47:42 | |
a cup of tea and some cooking. | 0:47:42 | 0:47:43 | |
There is a serious point to this. | 0:47:43 | 0:47:45 | |
It's food that is... | 0:47:45 | 0:47:47 | |
..picked when it's abundant. | 0:47:48 | 0:47:49 | |
It's prepared, it stored and it's kept for those dark, cold days | 0:47:51 | 0:47:55 | |
when there is actually nothing about. | 0:47:55 | 0:47:58 | |
Another of Turkey's essential dried staples is rice... | 0:48:01 | 0:48:05 | |
..and pilaf is a favourite national dish. | 0:48:07 | 0:48:09 | |
First, wash the rice three times to remove any excess starch. | 0:48:14 | 0:48:18 | |
Sizzle butter in a pan. | 0:48:21 | 0:48:23 | |
Add four tablespoons of orzo... | 0:48:25 | 0:48:27 | |
..and 250g of baldo Turkish rice. | 0:48:29 | 0:48:33 | |
Add chicken stock. | 0:48:33 | 0:48:34 | |
Bring to the boil, and then simmer for ten minutes. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:39 | |
My pilaf uses half a kilo of fresh mussels. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
Cover the pan and steam for five minutes. | 0:48:44 | 0:48:47 | |
Chop a handful of dill and then add it to the pan. | 0:48:51 | 0:48:54 | |
Fork the rice and serve in a bowl. | 0:48:57 | 0:49:01 | |
The rice base can be home to many fillings, | 0:49:07 | 0:49:10 | |
but my next trip is to try one that is new to me. | 0:49:10 | 0:49:13 | |
So, before I head home, there is one last stop I want to make | 0:49:20 | 0:49:25 | |
on the shores of the Black Sea. | 0:49:25 | 0:49:27 | |
I've come to Hopa, which is a few kilometres from the Georgian border, | 0:49:31 | 0:49:35 | |
because this is the beginning of a very special season. | 0:49:35 | 0:49:38 | |
It's the short season for hamsi, | 0:49:38 | 0:49:40 | |
the tiny little fish that are very, very valued - | 0:49:40 | 0:49:43 | |
and tonight we'll be cooking them and celebrating the season. | 0:49:43 | 0:49:47 | |
The hamsi is a Black Sea anchovy | 0:49:50 | 0:49:53 | |
and is celebrated in Turkey as the prince of fish. | 0:49:53 | 0:49:56 | |
For the Laz community who live here, | 0:49:58 | 0:50:00 | |
a strong culture has grown out of this short but abundant season. | 0:50:00 | 0:50:05 | |
It is said that they never run out of ways to cook hamsi, | 0:50:07 | 0:50:11 | |
even including it in a dessert... | 0:50:11 | 0:50:13 | |
..but, in recent years, commercial fishing trawlers have muscled in, | 0:50:15 | 0:50:20 | |
threatening the livelihoods of these local fishermen. | 0:50:20 | 0:50:23 | |
A fishing boat leaves the harbour in search of its daily catch. | 0:50:26 | 0:50:30 | |
I'm helping Tuna in the kitchen to make hamsi pilaf... | 0:50:51 | 0:50:55 | |
..the centrepiece of their celebrations for centuries. | 0:50:57 | 0:51:00 | |
The fish used in this dish have been brought from the commercial catch | 0:51:02 | 0:51:06 | |
sold at the local market. | 0:51:06 | 0:51:08 | |
A clear indication of just how much | 0:51:10 | 0:51:12 | |
the local fishing economy has changed. | 0:51:12 | 0:51:15 | |
Covering the whole base of the baking tin | 0:51:17 | 0:51:20 | |
with the little filleted anchovies, and... | 0:51:20 | 0:51:24 | |
Which is quite tricky because they're very slippy. | 0:51:24 | 0:51:27 | |
Other people's kitchens, they are a delight to cook in | 0:51:27 | 0:51:30 | |
but they're also ever so slightly scary. | 0:51:30 | 0:51:32 | |
Especially when you're cooking recipes | 0:51:32 | 0:51:34 | |
that they've done all their life, and you're doing for the first time. | 0:51:34 | 0:51:37 | |
The rice is added to the softened onions and coated in oil... | 0:51:43 | 0:51:47 | |
..and now welcomes the other ingredients - | 0:51:50 | 0:51:52 | |
tomato paste, chilli powder, | 0:51:52 | 0:51:55 | |
dried mint and flour from locally-milled corn. | 0:51:55 | 0:51:58 | |
While we prepare the salad to go with it, | 0:52:07 | 0:52:10 | |
Tuna recalls childhood days before the trawlers came. | 0:52:10 | 0:52:14 | |
SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE | 0:52:14 | 0:52:16 | |
When we were kids... | 0:52:17 | 0:52:18 | |
..we used to be able to come down to the shore and collect them | 0:52:20 | 0:52:23 | |
in our T-shirts, you know... | 0:52:23 | 0:52:25 | |
-Really? That many? -Yeah, catching them in my hand, there were so many, | 0:52:25 | 0:52:28 | |
-but not any more. -So, where have they gone? | 0:52:28 | 0:52:31 | |
Basically it's because these big ships are now using radar systems | 0:52:37 | 0:52:41 | |
to find where the fish are, so they collect all of them in one go. | 0:52:41 | 0:52:45 | |
It's not that there aren't any fish, | 0:52:45 | 0:52:47 | |
but for us little boats, there's not much left, | 0:52:47 | 0:52:50 | |
so then we get very little left over, you know. | 0:52:50 | 0:52:52 | |
It's luck. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:53 | |
The dish is assembled and ready for the oven. | 0:52:57 | 0:53:00 | |
That smells good. It smells fantastic. | 0:53:02 | 0:53:05 | |
Just smell that dried mint and that little bit of chilli | 0:53:05 | 0:53:09 | |
that is in the rice. | 0:53:09 | 0:53:11 | |
Like that? | 0:53:17 | 0:53:18 | |
And now, just some all-important finishing touches. | 0:53:21 | 0:53:26 | |
Beautiful! | 0:53:26 | 0:53:27 | |
Gorgeous. | 0:53:29 | 0:53:30 | |
No, thank you. | 0:53:32 | 0:53:33 | |
It's evening, and the boat arrives back... | 0:53:44 | 0:53:46 | |
..empty-handed... | 0:53:48 | 0:53:49 | |
..but this small detail isn't going to stop the party. | 0:53:53 | 0:53:56 | |
We need two people downstairs. | 0:53:56 | 0:53:58 | |
There's more than a little chaos here. | 0:54:02 | 0:54:05 | |
We decided we need an extra table, so it couldn't go down the stairs, | 0:54:05 | 0:54:09 | |
so it came through the window - | 0:54:09 | 0:54:11 | |
but then, for some reason, everything else - | 0:54:11 | 0:54:14 | |
glasses, plates, tablecloth, chairs, | 0:54:14 | 0:54:17 | |
and most of the food - has come out of the window | 0:54:17 | 0:54:19 | |
with us all stretching up and grabbing it best we can. | 0:54:19 | 0:54:23 | |
I'm not quite sure why we didn't just use the stairs. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:25 | |
The feast is laid out, | 0:54:28 | 0:54:30 | |
with its magnificent centrepiece, the hamsi pilaf. | 0:54:30 | 0:54:33 | |
The party has started. | 0:54:37 | 0:54:39 | |
-Cheers. -Cheers. -Cheers. | 0:54:43 | 0:54:45 | |
More rice. | 0:54:52 | 0:54:54 | |
-This is the dish. -I would love some, thank you. | 0:54:54 | 0:54:57 | |
-THE dish. -THE dish. | 0:54:57 | 0:54:59 | |
Mmm! | 0:55:02 | 0:55:03 | |
So, this is how the Laz party. | 0:55:15 | 0:55:17 | |
What I really love is the way that as someone else comes to the table, | 0:55:18 | 0:55:22 | |
you just all shove along and shove along - | 0:55:22 | 0:55:25 | |
and you started with six, | 0:55:25 | 0:55:26 | |
and at some point you're going to be sat on each other's laps. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:28 | |
-You never say no to a guest. -Exactly! | 0:55:28 | 0:55:31 | |
The hamsi were always key to survival in winter months, | 0:55:44 | 0:55:48 | |
and the fishermen try to hasten their arrival | 0:55:48 | 0:55:51 | |
through a special dance called the horon, | 0:55:51 | 0:55:54 | |
said to be inspired by the wriggling fish in the nets. | 0:55:54 | 0:55:57 | |
These traditions, this dance, this language, | 0:56:13 | 0:56:17 | |
is specific to this tiny community - | 0:56:17 | 0:56:21 | |
and I was asking Sibel, who has accompanied me throughout this trip, | 0:56:21 | 0:56:23 | |
why she didn't know the words, and she said, | 0:56:23 | 0:56:26 | |
because this is a language that even she didn't speak. | 0:56:26 | 0:56:29 | |
It's of a tiny little community. | 0:56:29 | 0:56:31 | |
A community that is staying together | 0:56:33 | 0:56:36 | |
and singing together and eating together. | 0:56:36 | 0:56:38 | |
They fish, that's what they do, their lives are about fish. | 0:56:38 | 0:56:42 | |
They are about the coast. This is where they've been for years | 0:56:42 | 0:56:46 | |
and this is where they belong... | 0:56:46 | 0:56:47 | |
..and they are going to preserve this | 0:56:49 | 0:56:51 | |
for as long as they possibly can. | 0:56:51 | 0:56:52 | |
The apparent depletion of the hamsi stock | 0:56:56 | 0:56:58 | |
lends a bittersweet edge to these celebrations... | 0:56:58 | 0:57:01 | |
..but the spirit of the people | 0:57:03 | 0:57:05 | |
and the pride in their culture is contagious. | 0:57:05 | 0:57:08 | |
Turkey is immense. | 0:57:10 | 0:57:12 | |
I thought I knew it. | 0:57:12 | 0:57:14 | |
I thought I knew the country and its food. | 0:57:14 | 0:57:17 | |
I couldn't have been more wrong. | 0:57:19 | 0:57:20 | |
This is a mosaic of unique territories, | 0:57:23 | 0:57:26 | |
each with their own heritage. | 0:57:26 | 0:57:28 | |
I started this journey tasting the food of the sultans | 0:57:30 | 0:57:33 | |
with its opulence and its extravagance. | 0:57:33 | 0:57:35 | |
That was a little bit of a red herring, | 0:57:35 | 0:57:38 | |
because the real soul of the food here | 0:57:38 | 0:57:40 | |
is to be found in rural areas. | 0:57:40 | 0:57:42 | |
It's different communities living quite closely | 0:57:44 | 0:57:48 | |
but very, very different. | 0:57:48 | 0:57:50 | |
It's about preserving their traditions, their way of life. | 0:57:50 | 0:57:53 | |
Even their languages. | 0:57:53 | 0:57:55 | |
It's also about preserving your food, | 0:57:56 | 0:57:58 | |
whether it's fish, whether it's dairy produce, | 0:57:58 | 0:58:02 | |
whether it's fruit and vegetables - | 0:58:02 | 0:58:04 | |
but enjoying them when they are here, | 0:58:04 | 0:58:07 | |
and, then, clever ways of keeping them for the winter, | 0:58:07 | 0:58:10 | |
for the dark days when there's very little else. | 0:58:10 | 0:58:13 | |
This is a truly different Turkey from the one I thought I'd see | 0:58:13 | 0:58:16 | |
when I got off that plane. | 0:58:16 | 0:58:18 |