5 Responses to “Sultan’s Kitchen: A Turkish Cookbook”

1. AxeTopher on September 22nd, 2010 10:38 pm

   This is the BEST cookbook! I am NOT an experienced cook, but I was even able to make the BREAD (from scratch!) for the meat filled pastry (Katmer with Kiymali filling)! I had no trouble understanding the instructions or finding the ingredients (they were ALL available at my local grocery!)! Another great thing about it is the photographs! There are a LOT! (If it looks good, then you want to cook it, right?) I have cooked my way through half the recipes and loved them all! This book made me a much more confident cook! Oh, I almost forgot to say, everything tastes GREAT! I don’t even have to go to a Turkish restaurant anymore!
   Rating: 5 / 5

2. Jeannine Koknar on September 23rd, 2010 1:00 am

   I have lived in Turkey and enjoyed the food perhaps too much. Also my hobby is collecting Turkish cookbooks and cooking Turkish food. This book is at the top of my list. Every recipe I’ve tried has been perfection. Not due to my cooking skills but because of the quality of the recipe. Don’t hesitate to buy this book.
   Rating: 5 / 5

3. P. Clark on September 23rd, 2010 2:22 am

   I am keen on collecting cookbooks. As I am Turkish I have a special interest in Turkish cuisine. I have 9 books on this topic, 4 of them in English. Ozcan Ozan’s book is the best among them. Turkish food, definitely very tasty, but is not all that easy to prepare. Ozan explains each step very clearly and the measures he gives are very accurate. Apparently he genuinely put a lot of thought into it and wrote it in a way that everybody could apply.
   Rating: 5 / 5

4. Anonymous on September 23rd, 2010 3:26 am

   We’re Turks living in the States. We have been using his recipes for over a year now. We don’t feel homesick!!!!! We recommend this book whole heartedly.
   Rating: 5 / 5

5. S. Ilkay on September 23rd, 2010 3:51 am

   When I ordered The Sultan’s Kitchen on Amazon.com, at first I was skeptical because most cookbooks on Turkish cuisine published in English are not very authentic. But I was wrong; this book is full of authentic Turkish recipes adapted for use in North American kitchens. It is a beautifully produced cookbook, full of color and glossy photographs of finished dishes. No detail is overlooked in the production of this book. It is such a beautiful cookbook that one could easily display on one’s coffee table. However, the real strength of this book lies in the precision of its recipes. The author who is a celebrity chef in Boston, has gone in great length in producing a Turkish cookbook that will allow even a moderately skilled cook to produce sumptuous Turkish dishes at home. This book is all about flavor. This is a kind of book that not only home cooks but professional chefs alike will find very beneficial. The recipes in the book harmoniously blend together, so one could easily mix and match various dishes in creating menus when entertaining others. However, the author even compiled suggested menus for different seasons of the year to ease the task of the reader.

   Chef Ozcan Ozan’s book does a good job in presenting the reader with an insight into rustic classical cooking in Turkey, but does not address the new style Turkish cuisine one finds in big metropolitan cities such as Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Adana in modern day Turkey. I guess with ever changing life styles, Turkish cuisine is also evolving all the time just like French and Italian cuisines. Turkish cuisine undoubtedly is one of the greatest cuisines in the world together with French and Chinese cuisines. One could find its influence on other ethnic cuisines all over Balkan countries and the Middle East, due to long rule of Ottoman Empire in that region. In fact, the origin of so many Greek dishes that we come to know in America lies in Turkish cuisine. Unfortunately, unlike Europe, Turkish food remains a relative mystery in North America because of the small size of the Turkish American community. But as the globalization deepens, we can expect to hear more about this flavorful and healthy South-East European cuisine in future. Turkish cuisine is one of the last fronts that American culinary experts have yet to discover. It is a cuisine that is at par with French cuisine if not better in sophistication, texture, flavor and this book provides us with a glimpse of that rich culinary culture. So far this book is my favorite Turkish cookbook published by a Turkish American author. Just try few dishes from The Sultan’s Kitchen and you’ll see what I mean!

   Here is a list of what you’ll find in The Sultan’s Kitchen:

   Preface
   
   Introduction – Suggested menus
   
   Turkish ingredients
   
   Sauces and condiments
   
   Appetizers (called Mezes in Turkish)
   
   Breads and boreks (savory pastries)
   
   Soups
   
   Lamb, beef and chicken
   
   Seafood
   
   Pilafs (rice dishes)
   
   Salads
   
   Desserts, fruit compotes, and drinks
   
   Resources and acknowledgements
   
   Index

   As you can see the recipes in this concise book are varied and wonderful and when you purchase the book, you will be in for a truly Turkish flavor blast. Many of the treats will linger in your memory long after you finish dining. One savors the Mediterranean aromas of herbs and spices and others that are uniquely Turkish in the dishes of chef Ozcan Ozan.
   
   Rating: 5 / 5

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