It’s been a while since I’ve posted on Turkish cuisine and I have had Turkey on the brain lately, so here you go: zeytinyağlı enginar, braised artichokes served with a generous amount of olive oil. In Turkey, dishes that are cooked with olive oil are called zeytinyağlılar and are served cold or at room temperature as a meze at the beginning of a meal. I am a huge fan of carciofi alla romana (braised artichokes seasoned with herbs), which are served in Rome as a contorno at the end of a meal so it is only natural that I gravitated towardszeytinyağlı enginar during my time in Istanbul last month. The two dishes taste nothing alike, though; the artichokes are not the same species and the oils taste different thanks to the influence of terroir (its not just for wine anymore!).
How do you like your artichokes?
Categories: Istanbul, Turkish Cuisine
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Pingback from Daily Food Photo: Artichokes in Kadıköy
June 18th, 2010 at 8:26 pm[...] It is no secret that I am obsessed with artichokes. They are a common enough topic here on Parla Food. As great as the Roman variety is, I don’t discriminate. I love those from Puglia, Sardegna, Sicily, and elsewhere equally. I particularly like the artichokes sold in Istanbul’s markets. They have wide, flat hearts and purple chokes. They are soaked in water with lemon juice to keep them from turning brown until they are bought and braised to create the famous spring dish zeytinyağlı enginar. [...]
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I like my artichokes in my mouth….
April 20th, 2009 at 3:35 amThis looks so fabulous that I’m having a physical response to this photo.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:41 pm@DDelatorre plenty more where that came from! I’m packing some in my luggage for MIA!
April 20th, 2009 at 8:42 pmone of my favorite turkish dishes. how about on my next trip to your side of the world I stop in Rome where we grab some carciofi alla romana then head on over to my 2nd hood for some enginar? Sounds like a plan to me.
April 20th, 2009 at 8:43 pm@sarah sounds good to me! i hope you intend to make it out here THIS artichoke season and not the next.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:52 pmHaha….DMae I agree! I’ll pretty much eat artichokes any way I can get them.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:27 amI too like them any way I can get them, but my favorite way is stuffed. Breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, parmigiano reggiano, olive oil, salt and pepper; steam in an inch of water for about an hour. Brings back memories of all-day holiday feasts crammed into our apartment’s kitchen in NJ with 20 relatives around the table. My mother would cook for a week!
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:51 pm@Tom I love them like that! The sauce that is created when the stuffing, water and artichoke cook together is a divine, scarpetta worthy treat.
April 22nd, 2009 at 8:04 pmThis looks SO good! You must love your job! Artichokes are one of my absolute favorite things in the world!
April 25th, 2009 at 5:27 pmI like artichokes with lemon, peas and carrots in olive oil. You can also wrap rice and spice filled artichoke hearts into vine leaves and cook it in olive oil. These are all Ottoman style cold dishes.
July 6th, 2010 at 11:38 pm