May 26, 20224 min read

When Harry met Sally …. Oh My Gözleme!

Et yemiyorum – I don’t eat meat

Ben Veganım – I am Vegan

Can you stop calling them Turkish pancakes already, Jeez!

Like a lawyer would meticulously inspect a sale’s contract, I was scanning the menu of 21 (YirmiBir), a café I have a one-sided love affair with. Bored out of his skull – and indifferent to my vegan ethics – my hardcore carnivore kardeş[1] burst out: for heaven’s sake, just get the potato gözleme and Mercimek Çorbasi, they are V.E.G.A.N.

And the story begins right there folks. I bit into that gözleme and it was like “When Harry met Sally”.

On paper – ancient mobile screens – Gözleme doesn’t sound that sexy. I mean plain dough, rolled into supermodel thinness, filled with stuff, brushed with OO , and cooked on the grill. But do you know what else doesn't sound sexy until you're face to face? Keanu Reeves. Exactly.

Now before we jump into the Gözleme wagon (I was promised 10 TL for every time I say Gözleme) not all of ‘em are vegan, but some are. There is ispanaklı Gözleme (spinach) and my absolute addiction: patatesli Gözleme, as in potatoes.

The word Gözleme is derived from the Turkish word közleme, meaning "to grill/cook on the embers", as köz, means "ember".

Now Fillings for Gözleme are limitless and vary by region and personal preference. They can be anything from meat (minced beef, chopped lamb, fresh or smoked seafood, sujuk, pastrami), vegetables (spinach, zucchini, eggplant, leek, chard, various peppers, onion, scallion, shallot, garlic), mushrooms (porcini, chanterelle, truffle), tubers (potatoes, yams, radish), cheeses (feta, Turkish white cheese, lavaş, Beyaz peynir, çökelek, Kasseri, and Kashkaval), to eggs, seasonal herbs, and spices.

Travelers anywhere and everywhere must remember though that just as there is a good pizza (or schnitzel or Sazda or Haggis) and a bad one there is a passable – never a bad Göz - and a “get outta here” delish Gözleme. But it all depends on if you are pathetic enough to buy one from a supermarket, going for a food stall or trying your luck at a restaurant.

Now, if your “pancake” isn’t super STUFFED with stuff, and instead of lightly brushed with oil it was soaking, dripping, squishing then you need to flee the scene FAST. A good Göz should be hot – duh duh duh – crunchy AND fluffy (it’s complicated), shiny but not oily, and bursting with whatever the hell is in there (please don’t say you want Nutella in there). Last, let your nose be the judge, just like you can somewhat tell a good bakery from a mediocre one (you know those “bakeries” that DON’T smell like bread? you don’t? well I do), If the oh so comforting aroma of freshly baked bread doesn’t hit you right away you need to ask yourself: what are those folks actually grilling. Just keep moving, keep sniffing, your nose will eventually lead you somewhere (good I hope)

The good thing about buying Gözleme from food stalls or places where you can watch women rolling out dough is that you can see what goes in there. In any case vegan Gözleme is found everywhere and a great majority of non-vegan restaurants would mention the fact that it’s vegan. If not, better err on the side of caution and double check with the waiter if it contains cheese, butter or eggs. If that’s too much trouble almost all vegan restaurants serve Gözleme, so opt for those instead

Mantı Mania;

Turkish Ravioli? meh… Turkish dumplings? neh, Turkish Shishbarak? come the hell on. Guys comparing food as such not only kills the fun out of food – spoiler and all - but can be the worst deterrent EVAH. I don’t like shishbarak for example, I was – before vowing never to steal a baby animal’s food ever again- never a fan of things cooked in yogurt, esp Jameed[2] (I tell ya, this statement may disavow me as a Jordanian for Jameed runs in Awa blood)

So if someone was to tell me that Mantı is the Turkish answer to our Jameedy Shishbarak but with spinach – the horror of that thought - instead of meat I’d say “well good for them Turks” and turn my two cheeks. Also the best part of food travel or at least eating when you travel is the WOW or surprise factor and not to expect “Um Zuhdi’s” Shishbarak staring you in the face even in Istanbul.

Shishbarak

Let’s start with the most obvious non-statement of the century, Mantı isn’t vegan in any way or form. To make this dish what it is you need meat, yogurt and sometimes butter, and yogurt is kinda big deal. What am I fussing about then you say? Vegan Mantı exists folks, and it’s sooooooooooooo delicious– although show a Turkish person a spinach/ potato filled “dumpling” with no sauce and he’d think you brought your mama’s “healthy hippie” ravioli from home –.