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Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts
One hundred sculpted sugar lions, baklava the size of cartwheels a thousand layers thick, helva made in memory of the dead, rose jam in a hundred pots of Dresden china, violet sherbet for the sultan, and parrots addicted to sugar . . . the stories behind Turkey's huge variety of sweets and puddings, valued not only for their taste but as symbols of happiness, good fortune, and goodwill, are as fascinating as their flavor. This riveting exploration of their history and role in Turkish culture is a voyage of adventure, taking us from the sultan's palace to the homes of ordinary people in Turkey's villages and towns, and beyond to Central Asia, Persia, Arabia, and Egypt.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 17, 2012
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February 28, 2017
I was interested in reading this book primarily because of my baklava obsession - to find out the author's take on the origins of the delicious treat. I wasn't disappointed because Ms. Isin devotes a chapter to the issue, including an etymological analysis of the term baklava. According to Ms. Isin, baklava originated in Central Asia, that is, the strudel dough technique originated with the nomadic Central Asian Turkic peoples, rolling out very thin circular pieces of dough that could then be filled & fried or baked. The syrup drenching of the pastry we are all so familiar with, is the Arab component of the treat, as are later variations, such as using pistachios, or, in Central Europe, the same strudel dough adapted as the pastry for apple strudel. The Central Asian name of the original thinly rolled out strudel dough is yufka. This is all very interesting and the most carefully researched take on the controversial subject I've seen so far. It seems to make sense - given the timing of the first appearance of baklava in cookery books, traveler's accounts, and so forth, according to Ms. Isin.
This is a volume that is both interesting and dull, unfortunately. It is well-researched, but not written in a particularly exciting manner. Perhaps the author was aiming for a dispassionate recounting of the development of Turkish treats, since the dawn of the Ottoman era. I almost gave up mid-way because the book was putting me to sleep but I persevered and finished it - eventually got used to Ms. Isin's scholarly approach and occasional flashes of dry wit.
Ms. Isin evidently moved to Turkey after marrying into a Turkish family and became interested in Turkish cuisine, writing a number of scholarly books on the topic of Turkish cuisine over the years. Her scholarly approach to the subject is evident in the many pages of appended notes and lengthy bibliography - her research led her to unexpected discoveries in antique texts, and although it began to bore me, the reader may eventually get used to hearing about details of banquets held hundreds of years ago and so forth.
Obviously, as a Greek-American, although I'm liberal, hopefully "evolved" to the extent that I've dropped the automatic "knee-jerk" anti-Turkish prejudice that sometimes seems endemic to being Greek, I realized in reading the book, that the Turkish people did have an advanced and sophisticated cuisine because they conquered a vast empire and expected the best produce/products of the four corners of their empire to be transported to the capitol in Istanbul. Greece was just another area from which to extract the best the land had to offer. I think any ex-Ottoman Empire territory - be it in the Balkans, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Mesopotamia, Arabia, or even Iran when it was under Ottoman influence, must still feel residual resentment at the Ottoman Empire's "exploitation" of its subject territories, and perhaps some degree of "solidarity" considering that all these diverse peoples went through the colonial experience subject to the same Ottoman "masters." This resentment therefore would stretch from Hungary, Romania, Armenia, all the way to Morocco and encompass every/any religion (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish). But there's more than that: As a child, I was always told about the 400 years of Greek subjugation under Turkish (that is, Ottoman) rule. The prayer I was taught to recite every night before going to sleep was a prayer that said the following: "Little moon, so bright; shine so that I may walk at night; so that I may go to school; so that I can learn things; God's miracles." http://bringinggreekhome.blogspot.com... It was later that I found out that the sing-song prayer commemorated the time when Greek kids had to go to school under cover of night, because of Ottoman disapproval of education. There was also the seizing of male children by the Ottomans in subject lands, including of course Greece, to be raised for the Janissary corps. The territories were exploited in many ways - basically, the Ottoman Empire appeared to be a way to extract people, goods, and value from the subject territories into the metropolis, Istanbul.
My mom's family was Greek-Turkish, and so obviously were Turkish subjects, until they left Istanbul at the time of the catastrophe (WWI era Greek-Turkish conflict followed by population exchange). My mom was a small child at the time her family left Turkey, but remembered and knew some Turkish nonetheless - really, a few words, fragments of songs and so forth. She really had nothing bad to say about the Turks per se, and my impression was she looked back fondly on the years she had spent in Istanbul as a child. Probably the family continues to use some Turkish words at home after they left Turkey, and/or many Turkish terms had already been absorbed into Greek culture. So my reading the book was as much to find out exactly what were some of the foods she would refer to, and incidentally find out that many of the words she used, that we thought she might have "invented" were actually Turkish.
She would always bless infants with the Islamic phrase "Masallah" - it turns out this phrase means "May God protect" in either Arabic or Turkish (the book doesn't say which, but does give the translation of the phrase). For years, I had no idea what it meant, or whether it was just something she had just made up. She would say this and make the sign of the cross when coming across moms & babes in arms, especially young babies. It was pronounced "Mashallah" - exactly as given in the book. So now I know.
Something overly sweet was always said to be "serbeti" - of course, since that's the Turkish word for sweet (the book goes into the technical details of the evolution of using ice, sugar, fruit purees and so forth, which eventually led to the development of sherbet itself). She would always talk about pelte - well, pelte is a pudding (can be made many different ways, including with fruit juice) which I had no idea this is what it was until I read the book. Kaimak or in Greek-Turkish kaimaki is clotted cream, although she used to refer to the froth of Turkish coffee as kaimaki. I guess anything creamy/frothy could be termed kaimaki - it was always important/essential to divide up a briki (another Turkish word) or Oriental long-handled coffee pot - full of Turkish coffee fairly so that everyone got some kaimaki. The book explains the varieties of helva meaning, sweetmeats in general, including what we commonly term halva (made with crushed sesame seeds - tahini, another food she would wistfully talk about, back in the days when it was not easily or widely available). I am simplifying the book - which has chapter after chapter about the evolution or development of sweets in Turkey, including an historical outline of the global sugar industry and the origin of the cultivation of sugar cane, and alternate sources of sweeteners. Muhallabi was another food my mom would I suppose long for or recollect - it is a sort of rice pudding made with rice flour. Rice pudding itself was a favorite or her's - it was also a dish introduced to the West by Turkey. The book explains the origin of kataifi - a favorite form of baklava made with threads of dough rather than fine leaves of dough (filo) - as well as dondurma (another Turkish word my mom taught us) ice-cream. The invention of ice-cream or ices is complex - but she says Italy may have invented ice-cream, and introduced it to Turkey although the technology of cooling water with saltpeter may be traced back to the Mughals, or possibly even, Egypt.
For me, there was a "discovery" moment on many pages - since I'd heard so many of these terms growing up, and didn't exactly know what they were until much later in life. I came across so many terms that were common at home, but weren't actually Greek in origin, such as okka - unit of weight, kile also unit of weight. Vukiyya is another unit of measurement but would be used at home as "a mouthful." Of course sujouk = sausage, but it's also a sausage shaped sweet in Turkey. There were the loukoum (Turkish delight) and boreks (bourekakia) - savory cheese stuffed phyllo triangles aka tyropites. Booz means cold or frozen - the word was boozi at home, for freezing cold, a word I never heard anywhere else, probably because it was Turkish. Dolmas (stuffed grape or cabbage leaves) derives from the Turkish verb dolmak "to be filled" and tarhana I would hear about and occasionally would show up at home, now I know exactly what it is: "Dried soup mix made of flour or wheat berries with yogurt, from the Persian" also salep or in Greek-Turkish salepi - ("a drink made
with dried orchid root). By coincidence Bonomo's Turkish taffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish... was one of my favorite candy bars growing up. It wasn't invented in Turkey although the inventor was a Sephardic Jewish man from Izmir, Turkey, and the label referenced the actual Turkish technique of pulling sugar to make taffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish.... Of course, the name of the famous Turkish comic character Karagoz before we knew what or who Karagoz was, was synonymous with "clown" at home. The book contained photos of Ottoman era candy stores in Turkey, and street vendors, and I realized these were the sorts of scenes that my mom, and definitely her parents would have encountered in Istanbul or the little town of Myriofyto on the Bosphorus, where my mom's parents had come from before they settled in the capitol of Turkey. There were detailed descriptions in the book of the elaborate processions and celebrations for important holidays and observances, the level of extravagance is mind-boggling - perhaps the entertainments and multi-course meals did eventually lead to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.
Another interesting thing: The use of tripods by street vendors, and tripod stands for tables otherwise. Tripods are stable, by why not use four-legged tables? Interestingly, we had one or two tripod-tables with a circular tray-like surface made of mosaics, that my dad had made - perhaps a nod to Greek-Turkish culture, although nothing was said of this at the time.
The book also contains numerous sweets-related Karagoz prints from 1910 - some economic-political cartoons other simply mocking foibles, or mocking Karagoz. This too was cool for me since here was finally famous shadow theater puppet figure finally in a regular drawing or cartoon, as a recognizable character.
There were many interesting side-lights in the book on how distinctive food preparation parties were once held, as a means of socializing - but the practice has mostly disappeared with the advent of television (and no doubt prepared food, or partially prepared food). All sorts of sweets customs are falling out of favor - even many stores selling individual categories of sweets, pastries, puddings, and so forth, are disappearing. At least a book like Ms. Isin's recollects these folkways. No doubt there were once food-preparation parties in the US - but that all disappeared once the pace of life quickened, leisure time became devoted to entertainment and so forth.
Asure (a word which I had never heard of) is a pudding made of wheat grains is related to ancient rituals relating to rebirth and abundance. And variations of this dish are found worldwide, including kolyva - the Greek memorial dish made of barley which is distributed at churches when a memorial service is held, or as Ms. Isin says "eaten by Greeks and Romanians at Christmas, Lent, and funerals." Also: "Koliva, the boiled wheat dish of eastern European countries, is made by Orthodox Christians for funerals and the Day of all Souls." And: "...Muslim and Christian neighbors exchanged gits of food on their respective festivals, those sent by Orthodox Christians at Easter including koliva that had been blessed in the church." I remember koliva well since it was always distributed to the congregation at church after a memorial service, in little white paper or wax paper bags, to munch on while going home. I remember the silver colored dragees and almonds used to decorate the sugar-covered cooked wheat berries (I had no idea the treat consisted of cooked wheat berries at the time).
The book was especially interesting to me - in terms of imagining what life might have been like in Istanbul prior to WWI, when Greeks and Turks were getting along it seems. The "paradise" of life for Greeks in Istanbul abruptly ended after the catastrophe. But that's another story for another day.
The book is certainly well-researched and factual and really was a treasure-trove of interesting information and images. I suppose only someone with immense patience and an interest in the subject or in Greek-Turkish culture in general, could soldier on through the entire book. I can't give it more than two stars, since it really did put me to sleep at times - I had to force myself to read through it, although it did contain insights into words and terms I'd heard years before but never knew what they meant, and also offered a glimpse into the life of the great city of Istanbul, as well as the extravagances of the Ottoman rulers, palace life, and so forth.
This is a volume that is both interesting and dull, unfortunately. It is well-researched, but not written in a particularly exciting manner. Perhaps the author was aiming for a dispassionate recounting of the development of Turkish treats, since the dawn of the Ottoman era. I almost gave up mid-way because the book was putting me to sleep but I persevered and finished it - eventually got used to Ms. Isin's scholarly approach and occasional flashes of dry wit.
Ms. Isin evidently moved to Turkey after marrying into a Turkish family and became interested in Turkish cuisine, writing a number of scholarly books on the topic of Turkish cuisine over the years. Her scholarly approach to the subject is evident in the many pages of appended notes and lengthy bibliography - her research led her to unexpected discoveries in antique texts, and although it began to bore me, the reader may eventually get used to hearing about details of banquets held hundreds of years ago and so forth.
Obviously, as a Greek-American, although I'm liberal, hopefully "evolved" to the extent that I've dropped the automatic "knee-jerk" anti-Turkish prejudice that sometimes seems endemic to being Greek, I realized in reading the book, that the Turkish people did have an advanced and sophisticated cuisine because they conquered a vast empire and expected the best produce/products of the four corners of their empire to be transported to the capitol in Istanbul. Greece was just another area from which to extract the best the land had to offer. I think any ex-Ottoman Empire territory - be it in the Balkans, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Mesopotamia, Arabia, or even Iran when it was under Ottoman influence, must still feel residual resentment at the Ottoman Empire's "exploitation" of its subject territories, and perhaps some degree of "solidarity" considering that all these diverse peoples went through the colonial experience subject to the same Ottoman "masters." This resentment therefore would stretch from Hungary, Romania, Armenia, all the way to Morocco and encompass every/any religion (Muslim, Christian, and Jewish). But there's more than that: As a child, I was always told about the 400 years of Greek subjugation under Turkish (that is, Ottoman) rule. The prayer I was taught to recite every night before going to sleep was a prayer that said the following: "Little moon, so bright; shine so that I may walk at night; so that I may go to school; so that I can learn things; God's miracles." http://bringinggreekhome.blogspot.com... It was later that I found out that the sing-song prayer commemorated the time when Greek kids had to go to school under cover of night, because of Ottoman disapproval of education. There was also the seizing of male children by the Ottomans in subject lands, including of course Greece, to be raised for the Janissary corps. The territories were exploited in many ways - basically, the Ottoman Empire appeared to be a way to extract people, goods, and value from the subject territories into the metropolis, Istanbul.
My mom's family was Greek-Turkish, and so obviously were Turkish subjects, until they left Istanbul at the time of the catastrophe (WWI era Greek-Turkish conflict followed by population exchange). My mom was a small child at the time her family left Turkey, but remembered and knew some Turkish nonetheless - really, a few words, fragments of songs and so forth. She really had nothing bad to say about the Turks per se, and my impression was she looked back fondly on the years she had spent in Istanbul as a child. Probably the family continues to use some Turkish words at home after they left Turkey, and/or many Turkish terms had already been absorbed into Greek culture. So my reading the book was as much to find out exactly what were some of the foods she would refer to, and incidentally find out that many of the words she used, that we thought she might have "invented" were actually Turkish.
She would always bless infants with the Islamic phrase "Masallah" - it turns out this phrase means "May God protect" in either Arabic or Turkish (the book doesn't say which, but does give the translation of the phrase). For years, I had no idea what it meant, or whether it was just something she had just made up. She would say this and make the sign of the cross when coming across moms & babes in arms, especially young babies. It was pronounced "Mashallah" - exactly as given in the book. So now I know.
Something overly sweet was always said to be "serbeti" - of course, since that's the Turkish word for sweet (the book goes into the technical details of the evolution of using ice, sugar, fruit purees and so forth, which eventually led to the development of sherbet itself). She would always talk about pelte - well, pelte is a pudding (can be made many different ways, including with fruit juice) which I had no idea this is what it was until I read the book. Kaimak or in Greek-Turkish kaimaki is clotted cream, although she used to refer to the froth of Turkish coffee as kaimaki. I guess anything creamy/frothy could be termed kaimaki - it was always important/essential to divide up a briki (another Turkish word) or Oriental long-handled coffee pot - full of Turkish coffee fairly so that everyone got some kaimaki. The book explains the varieties of helva meaning, sweetmeats in general, including what we commonly term halva (made with crushed sesame seeds - tahini, another food she would wistfully talk about, back in the days when it was not easily or widely available). I am simplifying the book - which has chapter after chapter about the evolution or development of sweets in Turkey, including an historical outline of the global sugar industry and the origin of the cultivation of sugar cane, and alternate sources of sweeteners. Muhallabi was another food my mom would I suppose long for or recollect - it is a sort of rice pudding made with rice flour. Rice pudding itself was a favorite or her's - it was also a dish introduced to the West by Turkey. The book explains the origin of kataifi - a favorite form of baklava made with threads of dough rather than fine leaves of dough (filo) - as well as dondurma (another Turkish word my mom taught us) ice-cream. The invention of ice-cream or ices is complex - but she says Italy may have invented ice-cream, and introduced it to Turkey although the technology of cooling water with saltpeter may be traced back to the Mughals, or possibly even, Egypt.
For me, there was a "discovery" moment on many pages - since I'd heard so many of these terms growing up, and didn't exactly know what they were until much later in life. I came across so many terms that were common at home, but weren't actually Greek in origin, such as okka - unit of weight, kile also unit of weight. Vukiyya is another unit of measurement but would be used at home as "a mouthful." Of course sujouk = sausage, but it's also a sausage shaped sweet in Turkey. There were the loukoum (Turkish delight) and boreks (bourekakia) - savory cheese stuffed phyllo triangles aka tyropites. Booz means cold or frozen - the word was boozi at home, for freezing cold, a word I never heard anywhere else, probably because it was Turkish. Dolmas (stuffed grape or cabbage leaves) derives from the Turkish verb dolmak "to be filled" and tarhana I would hear about and occasionally would show up at home, now I know exactly what it is: "Dried soup mix made of flour or wheat berries with yogurt, from the Persian" also salep or in Greek-Turkish salepi - ("a drink made
with dried orchid root). By coincidence Bonomo's Turkish taffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish... was one of my favorite candy bars growing up. It wasn't invented in Turkey although the inventor was a Sephardic Jewish man from Izmir, Turkey, and the label referenced the actual Turkish technique of pulling sugar to make taffy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish.... Of course, the name of the famous Turkish comic character Karagoz before we knew what or who Karagoz was, was synonymous with "clown" at home. The book contained photos of Ottoman era candy stores in Turkey, and street vendors, and I realized these were the sorts of scenes that my mom, and definitely her parents would have encountered in Istanbul or the little town of Myriofyto on the Bosphorus, where my mom's parents had come from before they settled in the capitol of Turkey. There were detailed descriptions in the book of the elaborate processions and celebrations for important holidays and observances, the level of extravagance is mind-boggling - perhaps the entertainments and multi-course meals did eventually lead to the downfall of the Ottoman Empire.
Another interesting thing: The use of tripods by street vendors, and tripod stands for tables otherwise. Tripods are stable, by why not use four-legged tables? Interestingly, we had one or two tripod-tables with a circular tray-like surface made of mosaics, that my dad had made - perhaps a nod to Greek-Turkish culture, although nothing was said of this at the time.
The book also contains numerous sweets-related Karagoz prints from 1910 - some economic-political cartoons other simply mocking foibles, or mocking Karagoz. This too was cool for me since here was finally famous shadow theater puppet figure finally in a regular drawing or cartoon, as a recognizable character.
There were many interesting side-lights in the book on how distinctive food preparation parties were once held, as a means of socializing - but the practice has mostly disappeared with the advent of television (and no doubt prepared food, or partially prepared food). All sorts of sweets customs are falling out of favor - even many stores selling individual categories of sweets, pastries, puddings, and so forth, are disappearing. At least a book like Ms. Isin's recollects these folkways. No doubt there were once food-preparation parties in the US - but that all disappeared once the pace of life quickened, leisure time became devoted to entertainment and so forth.
Asure (a word which I had never heard of) is a pudding made of wheat grains is related to ancient rituals relating to rebirth and abundance. And variations of this dish are found worldwide, including kolyva - the Greek memorial dish made of barley which is distributed at churches when a memorial service is held, or as Ms. Isin says "eaten by Greeks and Romanians at Christmas, Lent, and funerals." Also: "Koliva, the boiled wheat dish of eastern European countries, is made by Orthodox Christians for funerals and the Day of all Souls." And: "...Muslim and Christian neighbors exchanged gits of food on their respective festivals, those sent by Orthodox Christians at Easter including koliva that had been blessed in the church." I remember koliva well since it was always distributed to the congregation at church after a memorial service, in little white paper or wax paper bags, to munch on while going home. I remember the silver colored dragees and almonds used to decorate the sugar-covered cooked wheat berries (I had no idea the treat consisted of cooked wheat berries at the time).
The book was especially interesting to me - in terms of imagining what life might have been like in Istanbul prior to WWI, when Greeks and Turks were getting along it seems. The "paradise" of life for Greeks in Istanbul abruptly ended after the catastrophe. But that's another story for another day.
The book is certainly well-researched and factual and really was a treasure-trove of interesting information and images. I suppose only someone with immense patience and an interest in the subject or in Greek-Turkish culture in general, could soldier on through the entire book. I can't give it more than two stars, since it really did put me to sleep at times - I had to force myself to read through it, although it did contain insights into words and terms I'd heard years before but never knew what they meant, and also offered a glimpse into the life of the great city of Istanbul, as well as the extravagances of the Ottoman rulers, palace life, and so forth.
December 14, 2012
Unless you are Turkish or have spent a lot of time in that country, you might be forgiven for not really knowing much about Turkish sweets and deserts, and perhaps assume that "Turkish Delight" is a prime example of a Turkish delicacy. This book will jump to your aid.
This is a fairly thick mixture of recipe book and reference book, presenting to the reader the complete history of Turkish sweets and desserts. The book's publicity information claims that it is the first-ever study of Turkish confectionery and examines the role that food plays within the country's social, political and religious life. Oh, and you get over 70 authentic recipes as well.
Certainly the comprehensiveness of this book cannot be in doubt. It feels that everything has been thought of (perhaps, with the exclusion of lots of full-colour photographs). From a glossary and a guide to pronouncing certain Turkish characters to a VERY comprehensive series of notes and a detailed bibliography, readers of all levels are likely to be accommodated here. And at a great price too. Clearly for many the recipes, rather than the history and social significances might be key. For others they might only ever focus on book learning and never try one recipe. Maybe some will do both?
To be fair, this is not your usual cookbook. It is more academically-minded and the recipes are presented perhaps as an afterthought or more as an example to back up the rest of the information, rather than being first and foremost a cookbook with a bit of supporting information thrown in for good measure. It would be wrong to suggest that the book is misleading or attempting to deceive, but the prospective reader should be aware that this is more reference work than cookbook. It might have been nice if the book could have been more modularly designed so separate the recipes from the deep reference material, making it even more appealing and accessible to both audiences, without compromising things. It is a shame if prospective readers may sideline this book due to it being a bit too "text heavy".
As it is, you might need to be a bit more of a dedicated Turkophile to get the most out of this book. It is not a book you would just pick up to add another country to your recipe book collection. It is important not to get the wrong impression from this review. This is a very comprehensive, great, informative book but you need to manage your expectations to avoid disappointment. If this book is what you are expecting then you will not be disappointed. The only real disappointment is if you buy this foremost as a recipe book and a means to just get cooking Turkish recipes, perhaps inspired by a holiday or a restaurant visit. This would not be a beginner's book for you in that case.
Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts, written by Mary Isin and published by I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781848858985, 322 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
This is a fairly thick mixture of recipe book and reference book, presenting to the reader the complete history of Turkish sweets and desserts. The book's publicity information claims that it is the first-ever study of Turkish confectionery and examines the role that food plays within the country's social, political and religious life. Oh, and you get over 70 authentic recipes as well.
Certainly the comprehensiveness of this book cannot be in doubt. It feels that everything has been thought of (perhaps, with the exclusion of lots of full-colour photographs). From a glossary and a guide to pronouncing certain Turkish characters to a VERY comprehensive series of notes and a detailed bibliography, readers of all levels are likely to be accommodated here. And at a great price too. Clearly for many the recipes, rather than the history and social significances might be key. For others they might only ever focus on book learning and never try one recipe. Maybe some will do both?
To be fair, this is not your usual cookbook. It is more academically-minded and the recipes are presented perhaps as an afterthought or more as an example to back up the rest of the information, rather than being first and foremost a cookbook with a bit of supporting information thrown in for good measure. It would be wrong to suggest that the book is misleading or attempting to deceive, but the prospective reader should be aware that this is more reference work than cookbook. It might have been nice if the book could have been more modularly designed so separate the recipes from the deep reference material, making it even more appealing and accessible to both audiences, without compromising things. It is a shame if prospective readers may sideline this book due to it being a bit too "text heavy".
As it is, you might need to be a bit more of a dedicated Turkophile to get the most out of this book. It is not a book you would just pick up to add another country to your recipe book collection. It is important not to get the wrong impression from this review. This is a very comprehensive, great, informative book but you need to manage your expectations to avoid disappointment. If this book is what you are expecting then you will not be disappointed. The only real disappointment is if you buy this foremost as a recipe book and a means to just get cooking Turkish recipes, perhaps inspired by a holiday or a restaurant visit. This would not be a beginner's book for you in that case.
Sherbet and Spice: The Complete Story of Turkish Sweets and Desserts, written by Mary Isin and published by I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781848858985, 322 pages. Typical price: GBP20. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
February 6, 2013
What a delicious book! Incredible research, well written, inspiring... But to be honest, I didn´t finish it, like a plate of sweet halva, in one time. This book has to savioured piecemeal, one tasty bit at a time... It will find a place of honour on the small bookshelf in my kitchen, next to Robert Lebling´s Natural Remedies of Arabia and The Coffee House by Markman Ellis. To take and read, while the soup slowly simmers...
November 24, 2023
Love this book, so well researched and the detail is delightful.
It is not a cookbook but a history and a discussion of the subject. Although many historical recipes are also included.
A familiarity with at least some Turkish desserts and cuisine is useful as I think if you aren’t keen on the subject to begin with you may get a bit lost.
It is not a cookbook but a history and a discussion of the subject. Although many historical recipes are also included.
A familiarity with at least some Turkish desserts and cuisine is useful as I think if you aren’t keen on the subject to begin with you may get a bit lost.
January 26, 2021
What a scrumptiously sweet and delicious book! If you love baklava, and other Turkish desserts, this book is a keeper!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews