The longer I live here, and the more I eat (something I do pretty much all day) the more I realize that being Vegan in Istanbul is an absolute blast. N/A to those suffering a FOMO disease disorder, always whining/ pining over meat and cheese. But If you are someone who ain’t distracted by all the “carnivory” – I know, I know, RIP English language – and cannot even stand the smell/ sight of meat (ya know no cruelty and stuff) brace yourself, it’s La Vida Vegan from here. Hence, if you haven’t read part 1, part 2, part 3 already, you must as you don’t want to miss out on all the mouth-watering food. If you did read, well thank you and continue on ….
Whether I cook at home (the abundance of fresh, pickled, preserved, canned, oil packed …etc fruits and veggies not to mention whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes is just amaHzing), eat at a friend’s house, a restaurant or try a new vegan place, I am enjoying the most amazing food evaH.
First things first though, knowledge is power and you gotta know what to look for if you want to find something/anything. This is why I advise vegans (and health conscious humans) to expand their horizons and experience all those plant based traditional delicious Turkish dishes that can be found in both vegan and non-vegan restaurants. As for today’s menu, let’s dig right in:
Sebzeli Lahana Sarması
Don’t hate yo, I happen to be one of those lucky weirdoes who just LOVE the cruciferous veg family, like honestly I can eat broccoli till I explode. And where most people hate the sight of cauliflower I pretty much add it to everything. I am also a huge fan of cabbage; sautéed, boiled or stuffed, cabbage makes everything taste super …tasty. This is why - not sure if it’s me or what- but I never met a Sebzeli Lahana Sarması (aka meatless stuffed cabbage rolls) that I didn’t like. Seriously, this dish never fails to fill your stomach and satisfy your taste buds. So whenever you find it order it (the vegan one), try a generous squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of EVOO, or like me do both + a pinch of hot pepper and let your taste buds sing hallelujah.
Some info y’all: Lahana Sarması (Sebzeli means vegetable) is one of the most famous dishes in Turkish cuisine, not to mention Mediterranean and European. I cannot imagine though how someone, sometime, somewhere looked at that color-weird (what color is cabbage anyway) –so obviously un-stuffable – “head” of cabbage and thought I wanna stuff that “head” with rice or meat, I thank him wholeheartedly nonetheless.
In general, it is known as winter food; however, autumn arrives and you start to see cabbage at all local markets. There are various dishes made with cabbage in Turkish cuisine such as cabbage stew, cabbage soup, and cabbage börek. And trust ma humble word, they are ALL super delish.
Imam bayıldı
A prominent member of the zeytinyağlı family and perhaps the most delicious thing you can do with the mighty eggplant (Greek Musakka aka Yunan Usulü Musakka being the first runner up)
I know what you are saying, stuffed Patlıcan[1], big deal! that’s like sarma or dolma or “sorma” but no, each dish is unique and believe it or not DIFFERENT. Like Şakşuka, patlıcan salatası, Ekşili Patlıcan[2] all kinda look similar (some people may claim identical) but actually taste dissimilar, Imam bayıldı has little to do with the sun-dried, dehydrated then stuffed with rice and maybe lamb or meat one. Folklore has it that those stuffed eggplants are so delicious the imam who first ate them fainted out of pure delight, hence the name “the imam fainted”. Well I almost fainted when I bit into my first Gözleme, so I do understand. Now other versions – there are a few- of the story suggest that it wasn’t the taste that caused the imam to faint but the cost of the copious amount of expensive olive oil that went into the making of the dish.
One of the things that make this dish extra special I am guessing is the eggplant. In one of my previous 6 lives looking for a good eggplant was like looking for a needle in a hay stack … in the dark. It was too bitter and goes from raw to piece of coal with no in- between so I gave up on ever making the perfect Musakka. Turkish aubergine – I can be posh if I want to – though is sweet and cooks well. But that’s only the beginning, there is no rice or meat in here, but tomatoes and lotsa saute’d the hell out of onions. There is also little spice bringing out the beautiful flavors of all the vegs. Now this dish sings the praises of EVOO and folks it’s a nice nice song.
Look for it, order it, EAT IT.
To be continued ......