Food is really important in Turkey. It is one of the most significant things that makes the country unique. For Turkish people, it is not easy to eat every meal. As a Turkish I can say that I don’t eat every meal; I choose the ones that I love. That’s why Turkish food have unique, and amazing tastes. The food takes an important place in our history; from the beginning of The Ottoman Empire until now. Even through so many changes in empires, and communities in Turkey, the food was one of the only things that protected its significance.
There are a couple of different kinds of foods in Turkey. They are: homemade foods, meats, breakfasts, summer cuisine, and other key ingredients for the food. The key ingredients include eggplants, tomatoes, green beans, lamb, beef, chicken, fish, and garlic. They give the taste to most of the famous food like kebab. Different kinds of herbs, and spices also help the meal to have a great taste. One of the most common spices are black pepper, paprika, and mint. The breakfasts are famous, too. The most famous kind of breakfast is the Van Breakfast. It is endemic to a city called Van that is located on the east side of Turkey. Meats are usually the most significant food type in Turkish Cuisine. Some important food that mostly contain meat are beans with ground meat, spinach with ground meat, and rice with meat.
Of all these great food, one of the most famous food is called Imam Bayildi. It literally means The Imam Fainted (Imam is an Islamic leadership position.). It is a homemade food, and its main ingredients are eggplant, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and olive oil. This meal is really unique due to its origin of the name. There are two tales about this food that haven’t been proved as correct.
One of them is about an Imam who had a wife. One day his wife cooked this meal to him, and he liked it so much, that he fainted. In Turkish liking something a lot is the same word as fainting, so that’s why they called it The Imam Fainted.
The other story is also about an Imam who is married to a daughter of an olive oil merchant. The dowry of his wife consisted a lot of jars of the finest olive oil. His wife cooked him The Imam Bayildi every day. On the thirteenth day, the Imam couldn’t find eggplant on the dinner table, and understood that they ran out of olive oil. When he learnt this he was so sad that he fainted because of his sadness.
The Imam Bayildi has a strong flavor of eggplant, since it mostly contains eggplant. Its smell is mixed with the smell of onions, garlic, and eggplant. It has tomatoes in it, so it makes it more delicious. Usually tomatoes are located on the top of the food, and usually they are not sliced. Adding pepper in it makes it better. It makes the meal a little bit spicy.
I really like this meal because it has a unique taste. People usually eat it while it’s still hot, but adding yoghurt, and eating it while it’s cold can be a good idea, too. While eating it cold, it tastes like an eggplant salad; it is another meal which is also famous in Turkey.
I really like the one that my mom cooks for us. My mom does not add meat in it, so we just only eat eggplant, and other ingredients in it. It makes the meal lighter because Imam Bayildi is a filling meal. It is because of its ingredients. It has rich ingredients, and olive oil which makes it filling. The first time I tasted Imam Bayildi, I didn’t like it that much. Perhaps it was because the first time I’ve ever seen it, or tasted it, but at second time I loved it.
Of all the great Turkish Food, the Imam Bayildi is famous not only with its taste, but its history. Not all the foods in the world have different kinds of stories, but Imam Bayildi’s story makes it more interesting, and noteworthy.
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