The marvels of the Ottomans and our new Pastries of the Day
Adam Robinson
Just before Christmas, Michael, one of our bakers, came to me and said that he would like to do a pastry of day. In the same way that we do a well-established bread of the day. Many of you will have noticed that we have playing with different cakes, pastries and sweetmeats over the last six months, so a daily pastry special seemed to be a logical place holder for the fruits of our experiments.
While experimenting and playing with various ideas and recipes, we found ourselves veering more and more eastwards. We started with the more familiar world of French patisserie (you will see the craquelin au choux and the nougat). We tried a number of Jewish Ashkenazi recipes, which were often dry and, without fail, dull. From there we moved into the Jewish Sephardic tradition before we fell into the aromatic lap of Ottoman cuisine. The Ottomans ruled the most extensive and creative European empire for centuries. While the western Europeans were killing each other in their hundreds of thousands over whether the weekly cannibalism of their god was literal or metaphorical, the Ottomans created a space where all religions and traditions could live and/or worship side by side. Just pay your taxes and obeisance to the Vizier. Definitely a deal I would have agreed to rather being regularly pillaged and ransacked by various Christian extremists.
During this period and preceding it, the court in Istanbul specialised in huge and sumptuous banquets as evidenced by the centuries old porcelain ware on display in the Topkapi palace. Much from China and Japan. Not a chipped plate in sight. Very careful scullery workers indeed!
The more accessible cuisine of the Ottoman empire had commonalties and distinct regional differences. Greek food, Egyptian food and Lebanese food all have differences but are branches of Ottoman cuisine.
Among the pulses, meats, vegetable and spices, a large repertoire of pastries and deserts flourished. When you next visit Istanbul, forget the spice bazaar and spend time ogling the many and busy pastry shops. I insist that you have buffalo clotted cream and honey on toast for breakfast.
Two of the pastries below are directly taken from the eastern Mediterranean – Revani and Kunefe. Then the combination of almonds and honey is a classic Turkish combination and a deep fried biscuit stuffed with sweetened ricotta sounds far more Levantine than Western European to me.
Monday – Revani cake (Egyptian, lemon and semolina cake) R12
Tuesday - Honey and Almond Danish R25
Wednesday - Butterscotch Craquelin (crisp profiterole, filled with hazelnut and butterscotch cream) R18
Thursday - Apricot and hazelnut Danish R30
Friday – Kunefe (Turkish cheesecake) R40
Saturday – Cranberry and almond nougat R17
Sunday – Sicilian Cannoli (deep-fried biscuit tube, stuffed with ricotta, hazelnut and chocolate) R25
