A Love Letter to ISTANBUL AND BEYOND in a Cookbook

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Award-winning, widely-published and highly respected food writer, Robyn Eckhardt, with photographer-husband David Hagerman’s location photography, brings “her personal vision of regional Turkish cuisine” in the new cookbook-travelogue, ISTANBUL AND BEYOND.

Robyn’s s far-ranging exploration takes readers on the couple’s journeys through Turkey, she likens to “having as many geographic natures in the United States, only smooshed into a smaller area.” The book itself is a “smooshed” modern-day Time-Life series book, filled to the brim with history, ingredient information and recipes – many published in English for the first time. www.//istanbulandbeyondcookbook.com

Robyn wrote her very unique, original book in a scholarly manner, befitting a scholar of her stature. At the same time, it provides an intimate glimpse into the people and the places the couple happened upon or were directed to by way of their ever-widening network of Turkish friends and families, who helped them collect stories and recipes unavailable anywhere else.

The “beyond” refers to the rugged, lesser-known agricultural landscape of eastern Turkey, influenced much more by geography than politics. Turkey’s sophisticated, international cultural capital, Istanbul, where refined dishes reflect the city as a crossroads between east and west, seems distant, especially in the savory and sweet pastry dishes.

Stories, photographs and over 125 recipes reflect decades of car trips plus sixteen months of intensive research into Turkey’s distinct cuisines. ISTANBUL AND BEYOND draws the reader into an unchanged area of culinary history.

Robyn’s self-described “love letter to the country,” started early. She was already so passionate about the country she studied Turkish at Berkeley – what foresight! She beamed as she quoted the instructor telling her and another student who remained through to the end of the first semester that they “struck the lottery” because now it was like a private class.

Travels took the couple from the Mediterranean province of Hatay to the Black Sea, and from north-central Anatolia to provinces bordering Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Iraq. Robyn got almost as excited describing it, as the fisherman on the Black Sea during the anchovy season, the highlight of their year for what the Turks call, “the prince of fishes.”

A full academic account, as common in the book, fills in the history of why “the precious few months of the year, when frigid waters plump the anchovies with an extra layer of fat, Black Sea residents may eat them two, even three times a day in everything from cornbread to rice-filled Swiss Chard…”

Istanbul and Beyond are arranged by category rather than region: Breakfast and Brunch, Appetizers, soups, salads, Pasta & Grains, Fish, Chicken, and Lamb. Key is the now-familiar ingredients that make a dish so exceptional. For example, Pomegranate Molasses underpins The Green Olive Salad – which I found to be a novel addition to morning scrambled eggs. Robyn describes the harvest in the book.

The refreshing, substantial combination of eggplant and dill in the Corn Salad with Eggplant & Dill makes it distinctive. Robyn explained, however, that the corn in Turkey is “starchy” and not sweet.

Sumac is key in the Cabbage Rolls in Tomato & Sumac Sauce. This oil adds flavorful “heat” minus the spiky characteristic of most peppers. It is what makes the Corn Soup so spectacular at Upper West restaurant. //localfoodeater.com/mid-east-falafal-stars-in-all-american-corn-soup-at-upper-west/,

The technique also differentiates the dishes. Step-by-step instructions with photos unlock these secrets. The Fingerprint Flatbread or “pide,” for example, is thick and chewy because it is sort of quilted by hand.

Meatballs, as in the must-make Meatballs with Pumpkin & Spice Butter dish, are light and tender because of the hand-chopping, which Robyn demonstrates here – and admitted is “something I am unwilling to undertake on a regular basis.”

This combination has to be the most intriguing, appealing use of pumpkin, overshadowing the flooded commercial market of pumpkin-flavored everything during winter holidays and proving why historic classics reign.