Istanbul's Traditional Dishes Are VEGAN?! Turkish Street Food + Türkiye's National Dish

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:43 Çiğ Köfte
05:51 Kuru Fasulye
07:31 Kabak Tatlısı
11:02 Zeytinyağlılar
12:44 İmam Bayıldı
14:56 Soğan Dolması
17:20 Aşure
20:02 End

ISTANBUL FOOD TOUR

My first stop is at Çiğköfte Dükkanı, where Ömer Usta ( / cigkoftedukkanim ) shows me how to make traditional Çiğ Köfte. These are "meatballs" that used to be made with raw meat, but nowadays the use of raw meat for this popular street food is banned by the government due to health & safety concerns, meaning that many vendors now make it with a mix of bulgur and walnuts instead. Ömer showed me a few different versions like the Çiğ Köfte on crunchy lettuce leaves, a whole tray filled with variations that put the paste to good use and finally a dürüm filled with the Çiğ Köfte - the ultimate street food that is usually enjoyed with a punchy glass of Şalgam (turnip pickling juice).

I then visited Kuru Fasülyecı Alı Baba ( / kurufasulyecialibaba ) to try Türkiye's national dish: Kuru Fasulye, a stew of beans that are slow-cooked in a spicy tomato and pepper paste broth. The owner Gökhan Güzel also showed me how to make Kabak Tatlısı, a dessert made with pumpkin that is cooked in sugar and its own juices, before it is topped with tahini, walnuts and some of the cooking syrup. Absolutely delicious!

And finally, I met up with the incredible Sinem Özler ( / sinemozler , head chef at Seraf Vadi, who showed me two traditional Zeytinyağlılar - an entire category of vegetable dishes that are cooked with olive oil instead of animal fats and are therefore usually completely vegan. Sinem started with smoky İmam Bayıldı (stuffed aubergines) and then showed me Soğan Dolması (stuffed onions). She also prepared a traditional dessert that is usually only made once a year for the month of Muharram (the first month of the Islamic calendar). It's Aşure, a dish that is sometimes called the oldest dessert in the world, because it was supposedly made by Noah and his family with the leftover food on the ark. Thanks for watching!

VEGAN CULTURES - THE MISSION

Vegan food is not a modern invention. It’s a modern label. Humans have been following restricted diets for over 3,000 years, be it for religious reasons, out of poverty or simply because of what was available naturally. This show is about discovering these kinds of dishes - dishes from around the world that just happen to be vegan - so that we can embrace them for a more sustainable plant-based diet.

Let me know in the comments which country I should visit next and what dishes I might find!
#travel #food