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Turkey was created in 1923 from the Turkish remnants
of the Ottoman Empire. Soon thereafter the country instituted secular
laws to replace traditional religious fiats. In 1945 Turkey joined
the UN and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. Turkey occupied the
northern portion of Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of
the island; relations between the two countries remain strained but
have begun to improve over the past three years. In 1984, the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), a Marxist-Leninist, separatist group, initiated
an insurgency in Southeast Turkey, often using terrorist tactics to
try to attain its goal of an independent Kurdistan. The group - whose
leader, Abdullah OCALAN, was captured in Kenya in February 1999 and
sentenced to death by a Turkish court - has observed a unilateral
cease-fire since September 1999, although there have been occasional
clashes between Turkish military units and some of the 4,000-5,000
armed PKK militants, most of whom currently are encamped in northern
Iraq. The PKK changed its name to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy
Congress (KADEK) in April 2002.
Turkey is slightly larger than Texas. The
climate is temperate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters.
The climate is harsher in the interior.
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| Vartabit Bread
- Bread
Ingredients
1 to 2 loaves French bread, cut into 1" cubes
1 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1 clove garlic, crushed
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (15 oz.) great Northern beans
2 Tablespoons sumac
black pepper
cayenne
cumin
1 stick butter
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or paprika
Directions
Place bread cubes in a 9"x13" baking pan (preferably
glass). Broil bread until golden brown. Mix the tahini with
crushed garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Add enough water to
this paste to bring the
consistency of pancake batter. Drain the beans, wash well.
Stir the beans into the tahini mixture. Spread the beans mixture
over the toasted bread cubes. Sprinkle with the spices starting
with
black pepper and ending with sumac. Melt butter until golden
brown. Stir in either cayenne or paprika according to taste.
Drizzle over the prepared dish. Serve immediately.
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Turkish
Delight - Dessert
Ingredients
rind of 1 medium lemon
rind of 1 medium orange
1/4 cup (2 fl oz) orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cups caster sugar (superfine)
1/2 cup (4 oz) water
2 tablespoons gelatin
1 cup (8 fl oz) water, extra
2/3 cup corn flour (cornstarch)
3-4 drops orange or rose flower water
red food coloring
1/2 cup icing (confectioners) sugar
Directions
Line base and sides of a deep 17 cm (6 3/4 inch) square cake tin
with aluminum foil, leaving edges overhanging. Brush foil with oil
or melted butter. Remove white pith from rinds.
Combine rinds, juices, sugar and water in large heavy-based pan.
Stir over medium heat without boiling until sugar has completely
dissolved. Brush sugar crystals from side of pan with a wet pastry
brush. Bring to boil, reduce heat slightly and boil without stirring
for 5 minutes or boil until a teaspoon of mixture dropped into cold
water forms long threads, or if using a sugar thermometer it must
reach 105 C (221 F). Combine gelatine with 1/2 cup (4 fl oz) extra
water in bowl. Stir over hot water until dissolved. In separate
bowl combine corn flour with remaining water, mix until smooth.
Add gelatin and corn flour mixtures to sugar syrup. Stir over medium
heat until mixture boils and clears. Stir in flower water and a
few drops red food colouring.
Strain mixture into tin;refrigerate over night. When set peel off
foil and cut into squares. Roll in icing sugar.
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