A taste of Gaziantep's famous cuisine
Plus recipes to recreate the experience at home.
This is the second in a series of traveller’s letters from a recent trip to Gaziantep and Hatay. If you missed part one, you can read it here:
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We’d decided where to have lunch in advance, but after walking past in the morning we started second guessing our choice.
İmam Çağdaş is a large establishment, giving the vibe of a place set up for large tourist groups. The building itself is beautiful, but at the entrance, you’re met by a large table stacked to the hilt with empty take-away boxes, and the decor of the place itself is unassuming. It looks like somewhere I’d usually give a hard pass. But the recommendations from all the right places – and the sheer history of the place – simply couldn’t go ignored.
An incredible lunch
İmam Çağdaş (pronounced “imam chahdash”) opened in 1887, but is named after its second owner. He took over the eatery in 1898 and ran it for an unbelievable 66 years (cause of leaving: death), and it’s remained in the family since. As of 2018, it’s in the hands of the fifth generation Çağdaş.
I’m soon forced to reevaluate my first impression. Though there are few customers (we came on the early morning flight, so it’s still early for lunch), there’s a lot of activity. At the back, an open kitchen reveals itself in multiple parts. One for kebabs, another for salads, a third for flatbreads. It’s like watching a well-oiled machinery, everyone fully focused on executing the task at hand to perfection. The service, we’ll soon find out, is impeccable.
Their faith in tradition is evidenced by the menu, literally engraved in metal and hung up on the wall (though runaway inflation has made less permanent stickers necessary for pricing). We needn’t deliberate, though. The reputations of their ali nazik kebab and baklava precede our visit, and we want to try their lahmacun, too. Having just flown in over endless pistachio fields, pistachio kebab feels like another self-evident choice. For salads, gavurdağ, native to this region, requires no deliberation.
Kebabs, lahmacun and baklava have a few things in common. They’re all made with relatively few ingredients. The quality of the raw material and the execution is paramount to the final result. İmam Çağdaş prides itself on not compromising on quality, and as the food starts arriving, I’m reminded of a saying by the fourth Çağdaş, long before the invention of Instagram or the ridiculous antics of Salt Bae:
You can deceive a person's mind and eyes. Never their mouth.
A single bite is enough to see that this is more than a simple saying. The focus on quality and tradition is as much part and parcel of this place as its walls and wood-fired ovens. The salad and lahmacun are both delicious, but the best is yet to come.
The ali nazik kebab, a local specialty that’s basically mashed aubergine with yoghurt, garlic and lamb, looks different to the ones I’ve had in Antakya and elsewhere. In many ways, it’s the embodiment of Mr. Çağdaş’ focus on the mouth over the eyes. Presentation has never been the strong point of Turkish cuisine. But with flavours like these, there’s no need for Michelin star plating or gimmicks.
This ali nazik keeps each of its elements distinct. Smokey aubergine at the base, barely visible under a layer of runny garlic yoghurt, topped with grilled lamb (or meatballs, if you prefer) and chili butter. Oh my, I don’t think I’ll ever make ali nazik any other way again! I dare say this dish was worth the trek to Gaziantep alone.
But the ali nazik wasn’t the only revelation. Alas, I’m not a huge fan of baklava, finding it overly sweet and not particularly exciting in flavour. But was there anything to the famed Gaziantep baklava?
Of course there was.
It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but this baklava was light. Light! And crispy, with the perfect balance of plenty of roughly chopped – not finely ground, as is so common in Istanbul – pistachios. It was like a completely different dish from all the other baklava I’d had in my life. We’d be back the next morning to get gifts for our day journey to Hatay.
After a short tea rest in their beautiful enclosed back yard, it was time to explore another historical place. A hot drink at a near 400–year old coffee house.
Menengiç coffee at Tahmis Kahvesi
Turks are incredibly proud of Turkish coffee, the strong, unfiltered caffeine shots that was their most popular hot drink until it was eclipsed by Black Sea tea a century ago (an interesting story in itself – but that’s for another newsletter). Greeks call it Greek coffee, Lebanese and Palestinians add cardamom and call it Arabic coffee, but the origins are most likely Yemenite or Ethiopian. (Again, a story for another newsletter.)
The history of Tahmis Kahvesi in Gaziantep stretches almost as far back as the enjoyment of Turkish coffee itself. Originally established in 1635 to support a spiritual lodge (tekke in Turkish, perhaps serving tekke soup?), it catered to tradesmen on the Silk Road. It’s operated continuously ever since, now as a specialised coffee house.
I opted not for Turkish coffee on this occasion, but for menengiç coffee. A coffee only in name, it’s made from the roasted and ground seeds of terebinth, a tree related to pistachio, and hot milk. If you’re ever in Turkey, I recommend trying it. A truly satisfyingly hot milk drink with a delicate pistachio-ish flavour.
The flavour of the drink was, of course, heightened by the recently restored surroundings, with wood, stones and beautiful windows. Innumerable photos and relics covered the walls.
A museum intermezzo
After our coffee, as the blistering heat reached a peak of 46°C (112°F), we jumped into the car and drove to Zeugma, the world’s biggest mosaic museum.
The home of ancient civilisations, mosaics are routinely found when digging up ground in the area. Rich people of the past certainly had ways of decorating their homes tastefully! While most contemporary designs seem both dated and worn after a couple of decades, these ancient mozaics remain as grand and beautiful as ever.
After that, it was time for some much needed rest at the hotel before heading out for another food exploration at dinner time.
Next week: Traditional dinner in contemporary surroundings + my favourite Turkish dessert
The final and third traveller’s letter from Gaziantep is coming your way next week, with all about an interesting dinner, a walk around town at night and – not to forget – the most spectacular of Turkish desserts.
I’ve linked to relevant recipes throughout the text, but here they are again:
Gavurdağ salatası (Turkish tomato and walnut salad)
My favourite Turkish salad, making full use of local ingredients from Gaziantep.
Lahmacun
Authentic tasting recipe for this thin meaty flatbread somewhere between pizza and wrap bread
Ali nazik
The dish as I’ve enjoyed it in nearby Antakya over the years. See further down for a recipe more in line with the version served at İmam Çağdaş!
Baklava
I won’t pretend that you can recreate the magic of Gaziantep baklava at home, but this homemade version from shop bought filo pastry is quite good, if I may say so.
🔜 Coming Sunday for paying subscribers:
Ali nazik, İmam Çağdaş style
Upon returning to Istanbul, I had to try to recreate the ali nazik I enjoyed at İmam Çağdaş. To resounding success, if I may say so! This version is with meatballs rather than kebabs, which was an option at İmam Çağdaş, too.
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With all best wishes from Istanbul,
Vidar