cappadocia

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Pekmez is a traditional Turkish food made by using different fruits, obtained after condensing juices.

It is most often made from grapes, but there are local forms of pekmez made from other materials including mulberries, plums, apples, pears, sugar beets, watermelon, sorghum and pomegranates. During recent years carob has also been used to make pekmez. In Southern Anatolia especially, the boiled ripe berries of a species of juniper known locally as andiz (Juniperus drupacea) yield sweet syrup known as andiz pekmezi. There is also another kind of Pekmez, made from carob, called keçiboynuzu pekmezi or harnup pekmezi in Turkish language. One of the most difficult to find is the tahini pekmez, made from sesame beans.



The highest quality of these is made in the regions of Zile, Kırşehir, Kastamonu, Sivrihisar, Balıkesir, Afyon, Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep and Hatay.



Fruits reserved for production are squeezed by mortar or presser to produce grape juice. The juice is cooked at 50-60° Celsius for 10-15 minutes. A special kind of soil, used to purify the juice from particles, should be added to the juice while it is being cooked. Soil is also useful for balancing the taste. The Ministry of Agriculture in Turkey advises producers to use 1-5 kilograms of soil for 100 kilograms of grape juice.



Grape juice is stored in containers for 4-5 hours to ensure that all particles in the juice sink to the bottom. The limpid part of the juice is collected from the container and transferred to boilers for further heating. This boiling process gives pekmez its dark color and high viscosity. Pekmez has a dark color because of the caramelized sugar in the boiled grape juice. The juice loses its fluidity due to water loss by evaporation. Additionally, pekmez produces a special smell when prepared in cooking.



Before sugar became available, Turkish sweets were sweetened with pekmez or honey. For this reason, pekmez has been of the most important sweet foodstuffs in our traditional diet and tastes for millennia. Pekmez, which the Turks developed in order to preserve grape juice, both converted grapes and must, which easily spoiled, into a long-lasting form, and helped meet the need for sugar and sweetener.



Pekmez is a healthful food due to its nutritional content and is used as a main source of energy based on its chemical composition. The carbohydrates in pekmez are generally in the form of natural sugars like glucose and fructose, which is nutritionally important for babies, children, sportsmen, and active workers.

Body Language in Turkey

Body Language in Turkey As any country Turkey has it's own body language. It can be kind of funny or even strange for some other culture to watch those gestures and try to understand what a person is trying to tell you. Understanding the body language is also understanding the culture of a country. So here are some main body languages that you will see in Turkey. Enjoy ! The handshake is not the most common greeting among friends. A man will greet another man by kissing each other on both cheeks. A man will greet a woman also on the same way. Note that if there are two religious people (these is valid between a woman and a man) they would not touch themselves with a handshake or kiss. It is very common in Turkey to see two man holding hands or arm in arm at walking on the street (Turks tend to touch much more than Westerners). This does not mean they are homosexual, they are just good friends :) Turks tend to stare at one another and foreigners more than Westerners are accustomed to. Westerners should not feel singled out or watched when such behavior occurs. If you see someone holding their hand with palm up and bringing fingers in toward thumb, this is a compliment and generally means something is "good." It can be done when they like a food, a cloth, or any object. It can also mean they find a woman or man nice and handsome. The "thumbs up" gesture is commonly used for hitchhiking Shaking your head sideways means, "I don't understand." Raising your chin, moving your eyebrows up and simultaneously clicking your tongue means "NO." (Try it. It is fun ! ). This one is one of the most different gestures of the Turkish body language and can be also found in Greece.Please check the picture at the right hand side showing this gesture. A sharp downward nod means yes. If a Turk waves their hand up and down at you, palm towards the ground, they are signaling for you to come. The gesture created by protruding your thumb between the first and second finger has an extremely offensive meaning. This gesture is called "the fig" and is considered obscene throughout much of the Mediterranean area. The idle habit of snapping your fingers with one hand and then slapping the top of a closed fist is considered obscene. This may be one of the rudest possible gestures.

Click here for Turkish courses and Dictionaries Body language that means "No"

Gesture that means a person is homosexual

The gesture created when a circle is formed by touching the forefinger to the thumb does not mean "ok." In Turkey this symbol means you are a homosexual. It is quite offensive. Please see picture at the left hand side. It is rude to point your finger or the sole of your shoe toward a person.

Making Turkish black tea like the Turks

Making Turkish black tea like the Turks To make the Turkish black tea like the Turks do you will need two kettles of different sizes: a big and a small one. The big kettle must be made of metal and the small one can be made of metal or ceramic. First fill with water the big kettle and place it at the stove. Then put the small kettle above the big kettle. At the small kettle put black tea (the measure of black tea is a dessert spoon for each person). Light the stove. While the water is boiling in the big kettle the second small kettle will also be warmed. Please notice that the small kettle contains only black tea and it does not contain water. After the water boiled, you should put this water on the small kettle where there you have the black tea. (The measure of the water is relative to the number of persons who will drink the tea. For example, if just two people wants to drink tea you should add a little bit of water, if there are more people you must put more water). Now you must wait 15 minutes more or less, this is necessary so that the tea can cook. You will see that after 15 minutes the tea stays in the bottom of the kettle, this means that the tea can be served. In Turkey black tea is generally not drink in mugs but in special glass cups as a Turkish tradition. There are two types of tea to be served: the strong tea "Koyu cay " and the light tea "acik cay". When serving the strong black tea you must fill two thirds of the mug with tea of the second kettle and add the boiling water to fill the rest of the mug. As the tea is strong the colour of this tea is dark brown. When serving the light black tea you must fill one third of the mug with tea of the second kettle and add the boiling water to fill rest of the mug. As the tea is light the colour is light brown. Add sugar, as you like. In Turkey we would say: "Afiyet Olsun" that means "Good Appetite" or "Enjoy"! Date: September 23rd, 2001 Articles' Index

Delicious Turkish black tea

Turkish diet habits

Turkish diet habits

The Turkish cuisine is millenarian, as well as the Turkish alimentary habits. Turkish recepies passes from grandmother-mother-daughter since generations and they are very traditional in their diet habits. Turks doesn't like much to try different kinds of food.

Beginning with a very oriental breakfast.... bread, olives, tomatos, cucumberes, white cheese, honey and black turkish tea. At the weekend some families can add to the table: an omelet or boiled egg, borek (pie filled with vegetables, meat or cheese), sucuk or pastirma (Turkish salamis), butter or fresh cream, marmalades, etc...

The lunch is served between 12:00 and 13:00 in the normal work days . In big cities people do not go back home for lunch. There is usually restaurants in big companies. Meals are generally simple but Turkish cookery. At street restaurants you can see Turkish typical dishes that can be chosen at self-service restaurants without having to wait a long time to be served. We can separate the turkish dishes in 5 types: soups, cold dishes, hot dishes & meats (main dishes) and dessert.

Turks love soup, even in the summer some turks eat hot soup. Some soups: yogurt soup, red lentil soap, tomato soap, sheep soap with yogurt, etc... Turks eat lots of bread with soup and all
other dishes.

Usually the colds Turkish dishes are eaten in the summer. The colds dishes are delicious, usually it doesn't have meat but lots of fresh vegetables like: leek with carrots, green paprikas filled with rice, fresh green beans, yogurt salads (eggplant or carrot),chicken with walnut sauce, etc... During the summer Turks eat a dish called cacik, which is a cold soup made of yogurt, cucumber and herbs.

Buy spices from Turkey visit our virtual spice bazaar

The Turkish hot dishes (main dishes) usually have some meat on it and a lot of vegetables, however the Southwest population eats more meat. You can eat in Turkey fried eggplant with meat, spinach with yogurt, pepper filled with rice and milled meat covered with yogurt, etc... You will also be able to eat sis kebap in Turkey, that are small barbecues in wood stick (beef, sheep or chicken - due to religion you won't find pork in Turkish restaurants). The doner kebap (translated literally means beef that rotates - because beef is piled up and it rotates around itself when cooking) it is a good dish to ask for. You can eat it with french fries and salad, or you can eat the beef as sandwich.

In all Turkish meals you will find bread: in breakfast, lunch or dinner. The yogurt is also very used as a cream over certain dishes.

As dessert you can eat a turkish sweet: baklava (special sweet with all kinds of nuts), rice pudding, chocolate pudding or muse,asure, chicken pudding.... Turks also love seansons fruits and they eat plenty of it. During the summer they eat cherries, peaches, grapes, watermelon and
melon... and during the winter orange, apples and pears.

During the whole day Turks drink black traditional Turkish tea in small glasses. You can see in the whole country Turks drinking black tea. It is the most popular non alcoholic and traditional drink in Turkey, followed by the turkish coffee. The snack during the afternoon can be done with a tea
and a simit (small round bread with sesame over it) or piece of cake or cookie. Turks love all flour products. Some other tipical Turkish drinks:sahlep, boza and ayran.

Click here for Books about Turkish cuisine

Dinner is usually made at home with the family. The housewives love to cook and they make it very well. Due to rush of the daily life, women who work prepares easy turkish dishes. The dinner menu would be a repetition of what can be eaten at lunch or for some families only a snack. During the weekends Turks eat in restaurants or use to visit some friends.Usually when they visit friends they would find a banquet, the housewife works hardly to satisfy her guests. You should try to eat everything otherwise the housewife will not be satisfied. Turks drink beer but the most popular alcoholic drink is Raki, made of anises. This drink is served in two long glasses. In one glass they put water with ice until the top, in the other the raki until the middle of the glass. The person who is drinking keep on mixing the water to the raki. Raki is transparent but when in contact with water gets a whitish color. The drink has high alcoholic content. For the curious people who would try the Turkish cuisine we suggest in our site some books. Have fun!

Brazilian Soccer Players and Brazilian Soccer Coaches in Turkey

Brazilian Soccer Players and Brazilian Soccer Coaches in Turkey 

Roberto Carlos plays for Fenerbahçe

Since some years Brazilian soccer players and Brazilian soccer coaches has been playing in Turkey. Some of the most famous Turkish Soccer Teams are Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Besiktas. But recently this number has raised a lot and the number of Brasilian players in Turkey is amazing. Who remember that Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira ( better know as Parreira) was in Turkey training Fenerbahçe Soccer Team between 1995 and 1996 and with his work Fenerbahçe won the National Champion in 1996? Does anybody remembers that goalkeeper Tafarel played in the Galatasaray team?

"Fenerbahçe Spor Kulubu" or "Fenerbahçe Sport Club" is a Turkish Club in Istanbul and was founded in 1907. As well as the other Turkish clubs, Fenerbahce promotes other sport modalities among others such as voleyball, tennis and basketball. Fenerbahçe is one of the most notables Turkish soccer clubs. Winner of the national championship for sixteen times, the club has a global reputation and respected. Today I can say it is one of the best Turkish team.

Alex plays for Fenerbahce

Zico coaches Fenerbahce

Brazilian coach Zico trains the team since 2006 and he works together with the Brazilian assistants: Eduardo Antunes Coimbra and Moraci Vasconcelos Santann. The physical coach Eurico of Campos is also Brazilian. Today they are 6 Brazilian soccer players that play in Fenerbahçe. Roberto Carlos is an idol for the Turks and it was contracted in 2007. Another very dear Brazilian Fenerbahçe player is Alex. Verdeson and Aurélio are also two other Brazilian players that obtained the Turkish citzenship and play for Fenerbahçe. To complete the long lists are Edu Dracena and Deivid of Souza. In a team of 11 players it is interesting to notice that 6 are Brazilian, and do not forget the coach and his assistants !

The Turks are great soccer fans ! In Istanbul each team owns a soccer stadium. Although the stadiums are not very big, the fans make any game a emotional one.

A second club to be mentioned of great importance is "Galatarasay Spor Kulubu". Galatasaray was in a high rank for sometimes, but today it stands behind Fenerbahçe. There is a very big competition among Turkish soccer teams, especially between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. Turkish fans are very fanatic! The Brazilian Cassio of Souza Soarez Lincoln is playing for Galatasaray since 2007.

Lincon plays for Galatasaray

Ricardinho plays for Besiktas

And I also have to add to this list "Besiktas Spor kulubu". This team is also a good Turkish soccer team and had already had great Brazilian players dressing its black and white shirt. Since 2006 Ricardinho and Bobo play at Besiktas. Its soccer stadium is one of the most beautiful stadiums of Istanbul, the fans can watch the game and also a beautiful view of the strait of Bosphorus.

Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray and Besiktas are districts in Istanbul and usually after a good game, fans commemorate their victory in their own neighborhood with a lot of joy. After taking the third place at the World Cup in 2006 Turkey had obtained international respect at the international soccer world. Turks do want to win the next World Cup like all the other teams !Good luck Turkey !

Besiktas Soccer Stadium with a beaultiful view of the Bosphorus

More information about Turkish soccer:

How to prepare Turkish coffee and how to read the coffee grounds

How to prepare Turkish coffee and how to read the coffee grounds

How to prepare Turkish coffee You will need a special pot (that is called "cevze" in Turkish) to prepare Turkish coffee, a very fine grinded coffee (ask at the shop to grind the coffee as fine as possible !) some coffee cups and sugar. Let's prepare 4 coffee cups of Turkish coffee. Add in the Turkish pot (“cevze”) two small coffee spoons for each cup of coffee, so for our 4 cups of coffee you will need to add 8 spoons of coffee. Fill one coffee cup with cold water and add it to the pot (for our 4 cups you will need to add 4 cups of cold water). So generally for each coffee cup you will need a cup of water. If you ask for Turkish coffee in Turkey, the waiter will ask you if you want your coffee "sade" (without sugar) "az sekerli" (with a little bit of sugar) or "sekerli" (with more sugar). So according to your taste you will add sugar to the coffee as you prepare it. The normal amount would be 2 small coffee spoons of sugar for each cup of coffee. So you added : water, coffee and sugar to your Turkish pot “cevze”. Cook the coffee until it boils. Remove the pot from the fire, mix it and return it again so it boils a second time. Watch out because the coffee can pour over your stove ! The good Turkish coffee is the one that gives foam ! Add the coffee into the coffee cups and serve. As the Turkish coffee contains grounds of coffee, you should drink it very slowly, appreciating the flavor as the coffee ground settle down at the bottom of the cup. A frequent question is: “When should I stop drinking the coffee ?” You should drink the coffee until you fell the coffee ground on your mouth. As the coffee ground is heavier then the liquid it will settle down at the bottom of the cup. As soon as you finish drinking the coffee you can begin the “ceremony” of reading the Coffee grounds !

original brass pot to prepare Turkish coffee original

How to read the coffee grounds !

I will explain in a few lines how to read the coffee grounds. There are "experts" in reading coffee grounds and there are also books about it ! My explanation is a very basic one for beginners ! The Chinese were the first to read the future on the tea grounds, after it the Arabs started reading the future it a the coffee grounds. Today it is very common to read the coffee grounds in the Middle East.

The person that drank (Figure 1) the coffee should make the following procedure:(Note that this procedure can not be done by another person!) she should remove the saucer and put it up side down over the coffee cup as it is shown on the animation (figure 2). Then she should make some (2 or 3) small circular movements with the coffee cup and the saucer over it (Figure 3). After doing it, she should turn the saucer and cup all together up side down ( Figure 4). Some people believe that adding a coin on the top of the coffee cup would bring money to the person, so add one ! The coin will absorb the heat of the coffee cup.

Now you should wait until that the cup of coffee cool down. If you look at the coffee cup before it cools down, the coffee grounds will slip away and you will not be able to read the coffee grounds properly. So be patient and wait !

The person who read the coffee ground should "open" the coffee cup (Figure 5). Turks says “open” as they take the coffee cup and start reading the coffee grounds. If the coffee cup stays a little bit tight together with the saucer that means good luck and fortune! Nice start ! The bottom of the coffee cup means your heart or your house. So if the coffee grounds stays at the bottom of the coffee cup, that means you have problems at home or your heart is broken... If the bottom is clean that means the opposite !Everything is white and clean !

You will see around the coffee cup a lot of different images were formed. Here you will need a bit of imagination to see those images ! There are also some persons who has the power of clairvoyance and can see more than others...

Porcelain cup
for Turkish Coffee

Each image has a meaning, if you see: fish (big luck - happiness or money), dog (fidelity), snake (betrayal), cat (selfishness) and so on! The most usual figure is the fish that is represented by the coffee grounds in a similar form of a fish ( round image as an oval form). So several symbols can be interpreted as: rings (marriage), children (births), bird (good news), etc... Notice that the drawing does not need to be very defined! It would look like a modern art work !

You will also notice that you might find long lines, each one of these lines symbolizes a person. If you have 4 lines, it means that 4 people are getting together. You will have to look and imagine... so you will read the coffee grounds.

After you read the coffee cup, you should get the saucer and pour the coffee grounds over the coffee cup(Figure 6). In the saucer you will also see some images that can be read. Turkish coffee is very common in Turkey, and it is also very common to see people reading each others friends' cup of coffee, this is a part of the Turkish culture! I hope you have enjoyed this article! If you have interest in buying Turkish coffee, Turkish cevze (coffee pot to prepare Turkish coffee) or Turkish coffee cups, click at the list bellow. Date: September 2008 Articles' Index