Pickles (Turşu) 🥒
image source wikipediea
The origins of pickling in the city go back to Byzantine times. The citizens would preserve vegetables that did not grow in winter in brine. Called halmaia by locals, the brine used for pickling was only available at phouskaria, that is the Byzantine meyhane.
Although it started as a functional practice allowing people to enjoy fruits and vegetables out of season, pickling soon took a palatal turn. The crunchy texture and the salty, garlicky taste were so appealing that preservation took a backseat as people started to enjoy pickled versions of fruits and vegetables even when they were in season.
Although the majority of Ottoman Istanbulites pickled in their own homes – and, we should add meyhane owners in the cellars of their establishments – there were 87 registered pickle shops in the city at the beginning of the 19th century. And, picklers offered a sight to behold when they loaded their handcarts with jars, roaming the streets and exhibiting their artwork to urbanites watching the procession from their windows, coffeehouses, or shops.
Truck gardens (bostans)
Had it not been for the truck gardens (bostans) spread out across the city and its surroundings, pickling would not have become such a passion for Istanbulites. These gardens that had been provisioning Constantinople with fresh vegetables, greens, and fruits from the 5th century onwards became even more fertile after the Ottoman conquest. The Ottoman rulers rightly considered the truck gardens as the means to secure the livelihood of the ever-increasing population.
The Yedikule Bostans in the 1900s. (Source: Ousterhout, R., ve Başgelen, N., 1995. Tarihi Kartlarda Yaşayan İstanbul, Osmanlı Öncesi Anıtları, Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, İstanbul)
Yet, it wasn’t just the amount but also the deliciousness of the products grown in these gardens – as attested to by every European traveler visiting the city before the second half of the 20th century – that came into play here. Because, when it comes to pickling the math is simple: your pickles will only taste as good as your ingredients.
Istanbulites took pickling so seriously that many knew which truck garden’s produce was the best to pickle: cucumbers (hıyar) from Langa (located in the old quarter), smaller cucumbers from Çengelköy (on the Asian shore of the Bosporus), aubergines (patlıcan) from Beykoz (lies at the northern end of the Bosporus on the Anatolian side), and okra (bamya) from Vidos (Güngören, west of the city walls).
Although many of the truck gardens in and around the city disappeared during the second half of the 20th century, pickling culture didn’t. Today, when the season arrives (early fall) Istanbulites swarm the turşuluk (for pickling) stands in neighborhood markets, picking their vegetables one by one, bickering with the vendor over price, and wistfully reminiscing about the olden days when produce tasted good.
Three ingredients, other than that which is being pickled, of course, are of vital importance: dill, rock salt, and garlic. Dill has to be of emerald green color and garden variety and is often procured at either neighborhood markets or greengrocers. The best rock salt is rumored to be from Çankırı (just north of Ankara) and vendors strategically open their stands right next to the turşuluk sellers in the markets. Garlic is a more complicated story. Preferably it should be grown in Taşköprü (in the Black Sea city of Kastamonu) as those are widely regarded to be amongst the healthiest, tastiest, and most aromatic kinds of garlic today. However, as the Taşköprü variety could cost an arm and a leg when purchased at the markets and greengrocers, Istanbulites patiently wait for the pickup trucks that magically appear on the streets of Istanbul right at the beginning of the pickling season, offering budget-friendly prices through a crackling speaker on the roof: “Taşköprü garlic is here. Affordable and tasty. We have what your pickles need. Taşköprü garlic…”
One point of contention that has endured among the picklers is which acidic substance creates better results: lemon juice or vinegar. So deep-rooted is this debate for picklers that it even served as the background story of a Turkish movie titled Happy Days (Neşeli Günler, 1983) in which a middle-aged couple, both picklers, with six children separate because they cannot agree on whether vinegar or lemon juice is the right choice. The pickle shop where some of the scenes were shot, is called Asri Turşucu (Modern Pickler) and is located in Beyoğlu. Established in 1938, it is currently Istanbul’s oldest-standing pickle shop.
Although many Istanbulites continue pickling at home because modern houses are often too small and lack a cellar, their stash often merely lasts a month or two. Also, some pickles are extremely labor-intensive such as aubergines (requiring hours of fine-chopping the ingredients used in filling the aubergines) and some vegetables simply do not taste as good when pickled at home (especially green peppers and runner beans). And that is why the pickle shop continues to be one of the most cherished urban fixtures to date.
Almost every borough in Istanbul has its traditional pickle shop (or shops, depending on the size of the borough). These are often tiny, sparsely decorated (if not entirely unfurnished) stores with shelves full of pickle jars lining up the walls and a brine dispenser located next to the cashier in one corner.
The façade is entirely made of glass to showcase canisters full of pickles, offering the passers-by a kaleidoscopic view that is as mesmerizing as it is mouth-watering.
As most clients of traditional pickle shops in Istanbul are regulars, they develop a personal relationship with the pickler who, knowing what his clients like and want, makes suggestions, offers advice, and even warns the most loyal habitués off patches that might not have turned out as good as usual.
Pickles are among the favorite mezes of meyhane regulars because the salty and sour taste counterbalances the strong licorice flavor and subtle sweetness of aniseed.
Pickles featured so prominently on meyhane tables in Constantinople that the 17th-century Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi called it “the food of sinners.”
Different countries pickle different vegetables and fruits. Yet, as many a foreign visitor to Istanbul has noted, Turks seem to pickle everything: cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, runner beans, green peppers, garlic, okra, unripe melon, Armenian cucumbers (acur), aubergines, red bell peppers, sour red plums, carrots, red cabbage, beets, sour cherries, apricots, green almonds…
Source: Bora Isyar’s article on istanbulelsewhere.com, Jan 26, 2024,
