Monday, September 20, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
doner G (Anaheim, CA) - Restaurant Review (No.2)
Turkish food... Do you know what's real Turkish foods?? I misunderstood it till I came here, "doner G" in Anaheim. We're often confused about "Mediterranean" foods. I thought of hummus, gyros, kabob, pita etc. as "Mediterranean" foods. It's sort of true, but not totally right. So let me clarify about it.
The Mediterranean can be divided into 3 culinary regions:
1. North African (especially Morocco)
2. Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sylya, and Turky)
3. South Mediterranean (Italy, France, and Spain)
FYI to clarify The Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyra, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
See... "Mediterranean" cuisine is pretty wide range. We just don't think of French or Italian cuisine as "Mediterranean" cuisine. Majority of people, included me, mostlikely think of "middle eastern" foods as "Mediterranean" foods. In the Eastern Mediterranean regions, they share similar cultures, cooking techniques, ingredients and spices etc... But each country has its own identity and foods as well. No cuisine is stand-alone. All the cuisines were influenced by the traders, settlers, rulers etc. That's what I want to emphasize with this blog - its own identity....
"Mediterranean" foods are getting popular here. It's light and healthy. We'll see gyros, kabobs, hummus everywhere - Greek, Persian, Moroccon restaurants etc.... I'm a big fan of "Mediterranean" cuisine. But even I, who is a hardcore foodie and eat all kinds of foods all over the world, misunderstood it until I came here, "doner G". The owner told me about the magic word - "Mediterranean" food - for a marketing purpose. We feel a bit more familiar or safe if we see the word "Mediterranean". Because we haven't understood the "Mediterranean" cuisine well yet. Even I misunderstood it - so don't worry.
From restaurant business standpoint, they are forced to use the word so that they can attract more customers instead of selling their own identity like "Turkish" or "Iranian" foods. It's not just a gyro nor kabob. It's more than that - but people know them pretty well. No wonder they sell more of those than other unfamiliar but unique foods. It's very unfortunate thing, but they have to do those things until they capture the customers.... It just takes time. That's why I'm here for. I do enjoy and respect the authentic foods and their uniqueness. I want to introduce you unfamiliar but good foods.
I wrote a bunch of reviews about this restaurant on Yelp with tons of pictures. So please check it out!! I don't want to make this blog too long for the food critique because I ate tons of items there ;) I just want to tell you about what I felt and learned at the establishment here.
Turkish cuisine consists of 3 key elements:
1) Nurturing environment. Turkey is known for an abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional differentiation. 2) Imperial Kitchen. Hundreds of cooks specializing in different types of dishes, all eager to please the royal palate. The Palace Kitchen, supported by a complex social organization, a vibrant urban life, specialization of labor, trade, and total control of the spice road, reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire. 3) the influence of the longevity of social organization. The Turkish State of Anatolia is a millennium old and so, naturally, is the Cuisine. The reign of the Ottoman Dynasty during 600 years, and a seamless cultural transition into the present day of modern Turkey, led to the evolution of a grand Cuisine through differentiation, refinement and perfection of dishes, as well as their sequence and combination of the meals.
It is quite rare that all the three conditions above are met, as they are in the French, the Chinese and the Turkish Cuisine. The Turkish Cuisine has the extra privilege of being at the cross-roads of the Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia (where they mingled with the Chinese) to Europe (where they exerted influence all the way to Vienna).
All these unique characteristics and history have bestowed on the cuisine - a rich and varied number of dishes, which can be prepared and combined with other dishes in meals of almost infinite variety, but always in a non-arbitrary way. This led to a cuisine that is open to improvisation through development of regional styles, while retaining its deep structure, as all great works of art do.
The foundation of the cuisine is based on grains (rice and wheat) and vegetables. Each category of dishes contains only one or two types of main ingredients. They are purists in their culinary taste; the dishes are supposed to bring out the flavour of the main ingredient rather than hiding it behind sauces or spices. It's like a Japanese cuisine ;) Most desserts and fruit dishes do not call for any spices. So their flavours are refined and subtle.
There are major classes of meatless dishes. When meat is used, it is used sparingly. Even with the meat kebabs, the "pita" or the flat bread occupies the largest part of the portion along with vegetables or yogurt. Oh, don't forget the religious influences. Muslims don't eat pork. That's why you see many lamb and chicken dishes. Turkish cuisine also boasts a variety of authentic contributions in the desserts and beverage categories.
I really enjoyed the straightforward tastes of the ingredients and bold seasonings of some kabobs and gyros. It's not just gyro and kabob - Turkish foods are deep... Please check out Yelp for the restaurant review and go there to try good "Turkish" food at "doner G"!! It's a wonderful discovery of Turkish cuisine ;)
The Mediterranean can be divided into 3 culinary regions:
1. North African (especially Morocco)
2. Eastern Mediterranean (Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Sylya, and Turky)
3. South Mediterranean (Italy, France, and Spain)
FYI to clarify The Middle East: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyra, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
See... "Mediterranean" cuisine is pretty wide range. We just don't think of French or Italian cuisine as "Mediterranean" cuisine. Majority of people, included me, mostlikely think of "middle eastern" foods as "Mediterranean" foods. In the Eastern Mediterranean regions, they share similar cultures, cooking techniques, ingredients and spices etc... But each country has its own identity and foods as well. No cuisine is stand-alone. All the cuisines were influenced by the traders, settlers, rulers etc. That's what I want to emphasize with this blog - its own identity....
From restaurant business standpoint, they are forced to use the word so that they can attract more customers instead of selling their own identity like "Turkish" or "Iranian" foods. It's not just a gyro nor kabob. It's more than that - but people know them pretty well. No wonder they sell more of those than other unfamiliar but unique foods. It's very unfortunate thing, but they have to do those things until they capture the customers.... It just takes time. That's why I'm here for. I do enjoy and respect the authentic foods and their uniqueness. I want to introduce you unfamiliar but good foods.
I wrote a bunch of reviews about this restaurant on Yelp with tons of pictures. So please check it out!! I don't want to make this blog too long for the food critique because I ate tons of items there ;) I just want to tell you about what I felt and learned at the establishment here.
Turkish cuisine consists of 3 key elements:
1) Nurturing environment. Turkey is known for an abundance and diversity of foodstuff due to its rich flora, fauna and regional differentiation. 2) Imperial Kitchen. Hundreds of cooks specializing in different types of dishes, all eager to please the royal palate. The Palace Kitchen, supported by a complex social organization, a vibrant urban life, specialization of labor, trade, and total control of the spice road, reflected the culmination of wealth and the flourishing of culture in the capital of a mighty Empire. 3) the influence of the longevity of social organization. The Turkish State of Anatolia is a millennium old and so, naturally, is the Cuisine. The reign of the Ottoman Dynasty during 600 years, and a seamless cultural transition into the present day of modern Turkey, led to the evolution of a grand Cuisine through differentiation, refinement and perfection of dishes, as well as their sequence and combination of the meals.
It is quite rare that all the three conditions above are met, as they are in the French, the Chinese and the Turkish Cuisine. The Turkish Cuisine has the extra privilege of being at the cross-roads of the Far-East and the Mediterranean, which mirrors a long and complex history of Turkish migration from the steppes of Central Asia (where they mingled with the Chinese) to Europe (where they exerted influence all the way to Vienna).
All these unique characteristics and history have bestowed on the cuisine - a rich and varied number of dishes, which can be prepared and combined with other dishes in meals of almost infinite variety, but always in a non-arbitrary way. This led to a cuisine that is open to improvisation through development of regional styles, while retaining its deep structure, as all great works of art do.
There are major classes of meatless dishes. When meat is used, it is used sparingly. Even with the meat kebabs, the "pita" or the flat bread occupies the largest part of the portion along with vegetables or yogurt. Oh, don't forget the religious influences. Muslims don't eat pork. That's why you see many lamb and chicken dishes. Turkish cuisine also boasts a variety of authentic contributions in the desserts and beverage categories.
I really enjoyed the straightforward tastes of the ingredients and bold seasonings of some kabobs and gyros. It's not just gyro and kabob - Turkish foods are deep... Please check out Yelp for the restaurant review and go there to try good "Turkish" food at "doner G"!! It's a wonderful discovery of Turkish cuisine ;)
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