One of the healthiest of foods, yoghurt has always been essential to the Turkish table, as Angie Mitchell explains
There are many things the Turks are particularly proud of, but yoghurt is so ubiquitous and such a wholesome part of everyday life that it has a place in folk songs. “Oh Silifke yogurt, who gave birth to you? The mother who gave life to you will also be my mother-in-law”.
In Britain, yoghurt has been around only in recent times, but in Turkey it goes back centuries. Ancient pastoral nomadic tribes wandered the plains of Central Asia from East to West with their herds of horses, sheep and goats. Nature miraculously intervened. By using animal hides to store milk from their herds, the milk, fermented by live bacteria still apparent in the animal skin and activated by the heat of the day, produced one of the most nutritious health foods of all time. From this tradition, the Sultans and their famous palace chefs embraced it and furthered its movement throughout the Ottoman Empire.
The word “yoghurt” originates from the Turkish language – yoğurt, derived from the verb yoğurtmak, which means to blend, referring to how yoghurt is made.
This luscious white substance that runs through the veins of Turkish history continues to flow through everyday life, making an appearance with almost every meal. Turks are said to be the greatest consumers of yoghurt worldwide. Doubtless, they are the global gastronomes of yoghurt and masters of ingenious and tantalising yoghurt laced dishes by the score. Yet like yoghurt itself, the dishes it enhances are simple, wholesome and naturally good.
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