I ate so much, I was like the guy in The Meaning Of Life restaurant scene... almost.
September 30, 2011 6:28 PM Subscribe
Once upon a time, I ate at a Turkish restaurant in Sydney. It was the best meal of my life. Can you help me recreate the various meat-in-sauce dishes we were served?
What I really want is recipes for the red meat (beef? lamb?) casserole or stew dishes - big chunks of the most tender meat I've ever tasted, swimming in sauces. I think we scooped them up with pita bread or something similar instead of using cutlery.
I've googled and found recipes for different styles of Turkish meat and vegetable dishes and desserts which I'm keen to try (carrot turkish delight!), but I'd like to try to make those meat-in-sauce dishes.
I know nothing about traditional Turkish spices or flavours. I'm guessing very long, very slow cooking was the key to the unbelievably tender meat.
Cookbook, ebook or website recommendations welcome, as well as general hints on what makes Turkish food so goddamned delicious.
(The restaurant was a tiny hole-in-the-wall in central Sydney. Mum and dad were the hosts and wait-staff, the sons were the barmen, and the daughter was the resident belly-dancer. I strongly doubt I could exactly recreate what we were served, but I'd like to try experimenting. I also think my kids would love the food.)
What I really want is recipes for the red meat (beef? lamb?) casserole or stew dishes - big chunks of the most tender meat I've ever tasted, swimming in sauces. I think we scooped them up with pita bread or something similar instead of using cutlery.
I've googled and found recipes for different styles of Turkish meat and vegetable dishes and desserts which I'm keen to try (carrot turkish delight!), but I'd like to try to make those meat-in-sauce dishes.
I know nothing about traditional Turkish spices or flavours. I'm guessing very long, very slow cooking was the key to the unbelievably tender meat.
Cookbook, ebook or website recommendations welcome, as well as general hints on what makes Turkish food so goddamned delicious.
(The restaurant was a tiny hole-in-the-wall in central Sydney. Mum and dad were the hosts and wait-staff, the sons were the barmen, and the daughter was the resident belly-dancer. I strongly doubt I could exactly recreate what we were served, but I'd like to try experimenting. I also think my kids would love the food.)
Can you remember the name or location of the restaurant? Sydneysiders may be able to help you narrow down the name of the dish.
posted by embrangled at 6:55 PM on September 30, 2011
posted by embrangled at 6:55 PM on September 30, 2011
Response by poster: It was within walking distance (10, maybe 15 minutes?) of a friend-of-a-friend's home in Surry Hills. It wasn't the central CBD of Sydney, I know that part of town fairly well. It was a quieter street with a few small restaurants, but mostly closed shops (at night). That's all I remember.
Unfortunately I'd met my friend at Central station at lunchtime and we did a pub crawl walking to her friend's home, so my memory of the location is, er, less than perfect. The food was unforgettable, though.
We ordered a banquet, so were served three or four different meat-in-sauce dishes along with various vegie dishes. I'd like to learn to cook that style of cuisine, not just a single dish.
Iskender kebab is not quite what I'm after, but I'll try that too, it sounds pretty good.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 7:11 PM on September 30, 2011
Unfortunately I'd met my friend at Central station at lunchtime and we did a pub crawl walking to her friend's home, so my memory of the location is, er, less than perfect. The food was unforgettable, though.
We ordered a banquet, so were served three or four different meat-in-sauce dishes along with various vegie dishes. I'd like to learn to cook that style of cuisine, not just a single dish.
Iskender kebab is not quite what I'm after, but I'll try that too, it sounds pretty good.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 7:11 PM on September 30, 2011
Best answer: You might enjoy The Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden. I have the earlier version and the descriptions make my mouth water.
posted by pointystick at 7:21 PM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by pointystick at 7:21 PM on September 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The restaurant was almost certainly Erciyes in Surry Hills, and I've had the dish you describe there, which, looking at their menu, is called Tava.
posted by cogat at 8:30 PM on September 30, 2011
posted by cogat at 8:30 PM on September 30, 2011
Almost certainly = unlikely, on a second read: Cleveland Street isn't that quiet, and I don't think Tava is part of the banquet there, and the place is large, not hole-in-the-wall.
posted by cogat at 8:36 PM on September 30, 2011
posted by cogat at 8:36 PM on September 30, 2011
Best answer: I don't know anything about the food you ate, but the location has got me interested.
Are you positive it was a turkish restaurant? There are heaps of Lebanese places along Cleveland, not far from Central Station.
A place called Habibi has a belly dancer and looks like a small place, though I've never been. Erciyes was my original guess, but it is a big place and quite crowded. Best pide bread in town, however.
posted by qwip at 12:51 AM on October 1, 2011
Are you positive it was a turkish restaurant? There are heaps of Lebanese places along Cleveland, not far from Central Station.
A place called Habibi has a belly dancer and looks like a small place, though I've never been. Erciyes was my original guess, but it is a big place and quite crowded. Best pide bread in town, however.
posted by qwip at 12:51 AM on October 1, 2011
Response by poster: Well, the thot plickens like Rosie's rabbit stew.
I'm not 100% sure it was a Turkish restaurant, but after many beers the friend-of-a-friend said that she'd take us to a Turkish restaurant.
We walked in the front door, into a small foyer-type area. Perhaps 3m wide x 5m deep, the bar was along the left-hang side, staffed by the sons. The entrance to the restaurant proper was on the right-hand side of this foyer. There were 2 or 3 long tables (seating perhaps 15 each side), and smaller tables dotted around the walls.
Mum and dad greeted us and served us. I have a feeling that there may have been murals on the walls? The front wall was glass, so I could people-watch while I ate.
Although I still want recipes for the food, I would be thrilled to find out which restaurant it was/is.
And cogat's link gave me a flashback to pide... oh god, that was divine (before I found out that gluten and I don't get along). I just can't be sure that Erciyes was the place. The menu is vaguely familiar, but it wasn't big or crowded.
(Just off the phone from the friend whose friend took us there - she's none the wiser and can't get in touch with the friend-of-a-friend.)
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:07 AM on October 1, 2011
I'm not 100% sure it was a Turkish restaurant, but after many beers the friend-of-a-friend said that she'd take us to a Turkish restaurant.
We walked in the front door, into a small foyer-type area. Perhaps 3m wide x 5m deep, the bar was along the left-hang side, staffed by the sons. The entrance to the restaurant proper was on the right-hand side of this foyer. There were 2 or 3 long tables (seating perhaps 15 each side), and smaller tables dotted around the walls.
Mum and dad greeted us and served us. I have a feeling that there may have been murals on the walls? The front wall was glass, so I could people-watch while I ate.
Although I still want recipes for the food, I would be thrilled to find out which restaurant it was/is.
And cogat's link gave me a flashback to pide... oh god, that was divine (before I found out that gluten and I don't get along). I just can't be sure that Erciyes was the place. The menu is vaguely familiar, but it wasn't big or crowded.
(Just off the phone from the friend whose friend took us there - she's none the wiser and can't get in touch with the friend-of-a-friend.)
posted by malibustacey9999 at 4:07 AM on October 1, 2011
Response by poster: Your answers taught me that I was using the wrong search terms: I was trying 'Turkish recipes' with little joy, when 'Middle Eastern recipes' gives me a tonne of stuff to check out.
And will definitely get Claudia Roden's book, thanks for that suggestion, pointystick.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 5:15 PM on October 2, 2011
And will definitely get Claudia Roden's book, thanks for that suggestion, pointystick.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 5:15 PM on October 2, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
You know what this adds up to?
Iskender Kebab
posted by jason's_planet at 6:50 PM on September 30, 2011