Turkish Pizza

We're in Europe. What's the best way to get to know a culture you're visiting? Why, through it's food of course! Ever since we learned we would be moving here, I've been dreaming of waffles, frittes, pastries, chocolate, beer, wine... everything distinctly European to tantalize the palate.

The airline served us a breakfast of bananas, muffins, and juice before we landed on Monday. We had all kinds of goodies that we had taken with us on the plane left over to snack on. And, we were just so exhausted from flying and missing a night's sleep that we pretty much just slept through lunch. However, by late afternoon, we had taken a shower and begun rallying our bodies out of hibernation enough that our stomachs let us know they needed tending to as well. Thankfully, Ralph had already thought of this. He came and picked us up from the hotel and took us out to dinner.

Now, like I said, I've been dreaming about European food for several months now. I'm ready to try  anything! (Well, almost anything. I was a little too adventurous on a Caribbean cruise once. I ordered a seafood dish of some sort. In it was a whole critter, tentacles and all, about two inches long. I stabbed it with my fork, but it never made it to my lips. I just couldn't do it. Adam and my mom still give me crap about this little experience even today =) Now, Adam is not nearly as adventurous as me when it comes to eating new things, though I will give him credit for eating fish again a month ago for the first time in many years. Then there's Ralph. I told you he's a good guy--easy going, laid back and all. But, he's a picky eater. I have no problem with picky eaters for the most part, but goodness! I've come this far to chow down on whatever new and interesting and weird foods I can find, and here we are being taken out for dinner by a picky eater. Whatever... I'm starving. I can go on my culinary explorations later. For now, let's see where he takes us.

As we're driving along, he tells us we're heading to a place that serves Turkish pizza. What is that? I didn't even know the Turks knew how to make pizza. Wait, Turks? What are they doing here in Belgium? You all ready for a little history lesson? Apparently, back in the 60's and 70's, many Turks and Moroccans immigrated to Belgium to trade hard work on the land for work in mines and industry to fuel rapid economic expansion in Belgium at the time. You can read more about it on these websites:


http://dbg.citizendium.org/wiki/History_of_Belgium#Turkish_immigrants
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turks_in_Belgium
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2435.00090/abstract


Ok, the history lesson is over. Let's get back to the food...

We arrive at the restaurant, Tekin. There is one guy behind the counter. From what Ralph says, he is the guy. They interact as if Ralph has been there several times before. We sit down and look at the menu. Oy ve! Most people here can speak English. However, most everything that is written is in not-English. There are a few pictures, not a whole lot. We know we want pizza (it comes in one size). There is no pepperoni pizza, but salami is pretty close. We recognize prosciutto (thin-sliced, absolutely delicious Italian bacon-ish =). Completely unsure what we're doing, what we're reading, what's really available, we ask Ralph to order one of each of these two for us and some fries. (Mind you, they are fries or frittes, or whatever, but never French Fries! These started in Belgium!) I continue looking at the menu. I think I can understand some of the other ingredients: banaan (banana?), different kinds of meats, tomatensaus, kaas (cheese). What is ananas? Adam guesses pineapple (Google Translate says he's right =). I'm sitting in my chair thinking, "Man, next time I come here, I'm going to get something totally outrageous!"

The pizza is served. It is so good! They're about 10-12 inches in diameter. The crust is thin, kinda chewy, with a very different taste than you would find in America. There isn't much sauce, and a thin layer of cheese, very delicious cheese, topped by a few sparse pieces of salami on one pizza, prosciutto on the other. They're cut into four slices each. I give Rachael half of one slice, and I eat the other. It's the prosciutto, and it's delicious. So salty and yummy. The salami pizza is just as good, with a very herby taste to it. Yes, we'll definitely be back.

The fries come out a little later. Now, Belgian fries are supposed to be fried twice, in two pots with different levels of fattiness and termperature, to heat in a certain manner and create a crunchy outside with a tender inside. Well, our guy only fries his once. They're still really good, though very similar to fries in America. But, the mayonnaise they're served with is different than, say, Kraft Mayo. At my last Bunco party in Utah, my girlfriends made a bunch of my favorite foods or Belgian foods I could look forward to. Heather made pomme frittes and homemade mayo. Her mayo had some mustard in it. Well, the mayo served at Tekin was very similar, with this delicious stone ground mustard taste to it. It was yummy. However, I am still looking forward to real Belgian frittes, double fried, served in a newspaper cone on the street. That day will come.

So, that was our first experience at a European restaurant. It was completely different than I had ever thought it would be, but it was delicious nonetheless. After we've been fed a decent meal, we head to bed. In the morning is breakfast. The hotel serves a complimentary breakfast, a huge spread, and that is a whole different experience for a whole other post. Ta ta!

[Updated: Turkin also had a Doner Kebab that I didn't try on this visit. My friend, also Beth, said she loves these. So, I did some research. On Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab ) was an entry that included this excerpt:

"Belgium - Doner kebab restaurants and food stands can be found in almost all cities and smaller towns in Belgium. The variety served is similar to that of Germany and the Netherlands. However, it is not uncommon to see doner served with French fries in Belgium, often stuffed into the bread itself (similar to the German "Kebab mit Pommes"). This is probably done to suit local taste, as fries are still the most common Belgian fast food. Many different sauces are typically offered, including plain mayonnaise, aioli, cocktail sauce, sambal oelek or harissa paste, andalouse sauce, "américaine" sauce and tomato ketchup or curry ketchup. Belgians are renowned for mixing two sauces for maximizing taste effects (e.g., garlic and sambal). Another basic ingredient of the typical Belgian Kebab is two or three green, spicy, Turkish peppers."

I saw the guy make one of these breads stuffed with meat, frittes, and more; it looked delicious! He also gave us a few of these peppers, which weren't too bad, only a touch spicy. I kinda liked those, too. I will definitely be ordering this the next time! I'll let you know how I like it! =)]