When
I got the idea for this post, I pictured rivers of olive oil running throughout
Turkey with nymphs bathing in them. After all, not only everyone I knew in
Turkey used olive oil for cooking, but our men, the bravest among all men,
rubbed it all over themselves before practicing Turkey’s national sport: oil
wrestling.
After
some research, however, I discovered that there were neither nymphs nor mystical
rivers.
And
I guess I didn’t know that many people in Turkey.
All
that I was left with were the manly men drenched in olive oil.
According
to the Cambridge World History of Food, the domestic cultivation of olive trees
started 5,000 to 6,000 years ago on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean basin.
Olives quickly gained a reputation as the most productive source of oil and their
cultivation spread throughout the region during the Bronze Age. It is also
during this period that the island of Crete became the most important center of
olive oil production.
During
the Iron Age it was the Estruscans who imported olive oil production techniques
into Italy, and the Phoenicians transferred their know-how towards North Africa
and the Iberian Peninsula. Fast-forward to the Roman Empire, and you could find
olive oil in Gaul (France). And thanks to first the Portuguese in the 15th
century and then to the Spanish in the 16th, olive oil became a
global commodity, from India to South America.
What
did the Turks do during all this commotion? Zilch!
Now
I am going to bore you with some statistics but my economist brain cannot do
without them (and besides, they are pretty interesting). According to the
latest estimates from the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), with 5% of
world’s olive oil production, Turkey ranks fifth after Syria (Spaniards bring
home the trophy with 42% of world’s olive oil production). So Turkey produces
olive oil alright.
This
is the excruciating part. Turks consume about 3% of world’s olive oil. With
Turkey’s relatively large population in mind, this corresponds to a bare 1.2 kg
of olive oil per capita. Compare this to the world’s biggest olive
oil junkies, the Greeks, who, I don’t know how, “drink” almost 25 kg of the
liquid gold per year.
Lamentable!
Considering
that Turks are originally from the steppes of Central Asia and that they started
settling in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) only at the end of the 11th
century AD, this should not come as a huge surprise. As nomadic peoples, they
had to rely on butter and mutton fat for their cooking. This is also why,
according to Stephane Yerasimos, olive oil (along with fish) didn’t feature
much in the classical Ottoman cuisine.
Influenced
by the indigenous Greek and Roman populations, much of Turkey’s present day olive
oil tradition is concentrated in the Aegean and Marmara regions (86% of total production). The most renowned type of Turkish olive oil also comes from
this region, from the olive groves surrounding the village of Ayvalık. There is
some olive oil produced in the Mediterranean region as well, but competition for
land from other agricultural products such as citrus fruit and bananas is
fierce in this part of Turkey, and the poor olive tree is not given first priority
(IOOC report on Turkey).
In
western Turkey the group of dishes called zeytinyağlılar
constitutes an everyday staple. These are vegetables cooked in olive oil. As
they are served cold, they are very refreshing, especially in hot summer days.
Also they offer a great alternative to those who have had enough of eating
steamed greens. The onions and tomatoes that are at the base of most of these
dishes give the good old veggies a more palatable taste. Many vegetables and
legumes are cooked in this manner, from fava beans to eggplants. The Hungry
Turk aims to feature as many as these dishes as possible. To start off the
olive oil saga, here are two dishes that I cook often at home.
Zeytinyağlı fasulye (Green beans in
olive oil)
Serves
4 as a side (or if you’re my boyfriend serves one as a main dish)
500
gr green beans, extremities cut off (In Turkey mostly runner beans are use for this
dish, but they are harder to find abroad, especially in North America. If you
are using runner beans you should also take off the strings otherwise they will
get stuck in your throat).
1
medium size onion, diced
4
ripe tomatoes, diced (Those in North America, use Roma tomatoes. They are
meatier and ripen well off the vine.)
1
carrot (optional), diced
3
tablespoons olive oil
1
teaspoon salt
½
cup hot water
Italian
parsley, roughly chopped, to decorate
Heat
two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based medium pot. Add the diced onions
and cook them until they turn yellowish (do not brown them). Add the carrots,
if using, and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and green beans. Pour in the
hot water and add the salt. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, with the lid
closed, until the beans are tender (but not mushy). Turn off the heat and pour
your beans in a ceramic or glass serving dish. Wait until they cool off
completely and place the dish in the fridge, covered. Chill for an hour or so. Once
chilled, drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on the beans and decorate
with parsley.
Zeytinyağlı kabak (Zucchinis in olive
oil)
Serves
4 as a side (the above boyfriend note applies here too)
2
or 3 zucchinis, peeled zebra-like and cut into round slices (not too thin)
1
medium size onion, halved and sliced thinly lengthwise
2
cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into quarters
4
ripe tomatoes, diced (Those in North America, use Roma tomatoes. They are
meatier and ripen well off the vine.)
3
tablespoons olive oil
1
teaspoon salt
½
teaspoon sugar
½
cup hot water
Dill,
roughly chopped, to decorate
Heat
two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based medium pot. Add the garlic and
cook for a few minutes (pay attention not to brown them). Add the sliced onions
and cook them until they turn yellowish. Add tomatoes and zucchinis. Pour in
the hot water and add salt and sugar. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, with
the lid closed, until the zucchinis are tender (but not mushy). Turn off the
heat and pour your zucchinis in a ceramic or glass serving dish. Wait until
they cool off completely and place the dish in the fridge, covered. Chill for
an hour or so. Once chilled, drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on
the zucchinis and decorate with dill.
Enjoy!
