Sometimes Sometimes a taste integrates with the place it originates from, and they are called as such.
İzmir Meatballs and İzmir Lokma are among the taste specific for İzmir.
The Kitchen of İzmir makes wide use of wild herbs. Herb Roast, Ivy Roast, and Asparagus Roast, are at the top of the herb dishes. We should not forget Okma, made of poison ivy.
Alongside the herbal dishes, the kitchen of İzmir is also proud of its special fish, Çipura and İzmir Meatballs, decorated with potatoes and tomatoes, a quite common dish at weddings and festivities, Keşkek, the last but by no means the least Zerde, made of starch, rice, and sugar, with a pinch of cinnamon.
Olive tree is one of Anatolia's oldest plants. Olive and olive oil are a must today for all meals at the Aegean table. Particularly at breakfast, the taste of toast, dipped into olive oil with thyme and paprika... The secret ingredient giving the unequalled aroma to the delicious vegetable dishes and salads, is the same olive oil.
İzmir Meatballs
Preparation: 20 min.
Cooking Time: 15 min.
4 servings
Ingredients:
½ kg minced meat
1 onion
1 egg
½ stale bread (crumbs)
2 potatoes
3 tomatoes
4-5 pepperonis
Liquid frying oil
salt,
pepper
Preparation:
Crumb the stale bread into a bowl. Peel and grate the onion. Add minced meat, egg, salt, and pepper. Knead the mixture throughly.
Take a small amount and roll in your hand. Prepare finger shaped meatballs.
Peel the potatoes, wash and dry using a paper towel. Cut like apple slices. Fry the potatoes in a pan. Line up the fried potato slices inside the perimeter of a flat pan. Fry the meatballs in the same oil, and place neatly in the middle area of the pan. Cut the pepperonis to 2 or 3 pieces, fry lightly and place on top of potatoes and meatballs.
Grate the tomatoes and add 1-2 spoonfuls of water. Pour the mixture over the meatballs gently. Cook in preheated oven for 15 minutes at 170°C. Serve hot.
Eating 'fish with milk' in İzmir is a privilege. At the restaurants in Kordon, at a properly arranged raki table, eating a dish of fish with milk adds taste to the conversation. If you want a different taste, you must ensure that you try roasted Lagos slices with basil sauce. Lightly roasted in oil, Lagos fillets leave a deep trace in the palate, aided by butter, tomato, pepperoni,
cream and basil. İzmir has many varieties of dishes on fish and other sea products… Salted Lagos, 'Fishballs', Steamed Sardines, vine leaves stuffed with red mullet, Panned Mussels, Stuffed Mussels, Skewered sole fillets, sardines in paper wraps, Kakavya made with grey mullet, Fried Papalina, are only a small example of the available choices.
The kitchen culture of İzmir has been deeply influenced by Bosniaks, Albanians, Levantines, and Jews. For example, in Thessalonica and İzmir, garlic is not used in artichokes dishes. Slicing all ingredients very thin, cooking with very little water and on low heat are some of other common methods. Many dishes are transported from Thessalonica to İzmir, such as
Sesame Kumru, a sweet called Estafno, Yeasted bread, Thessalonica dessert, Kanela and Somato, hot drink made of almonds...
There are many dishes originally coming from Priştine of Albania, having integrated with İzmir's kitchen, and accepted today as the specialities of İzmir. Elbasan pan, Albanian Style Liver, Priştine Pan, and Kirde Kebab are some examples. Of course, one should not forget Boyoz, a kind of local pastry of İzmir. Added to the local kitchen by Jews, this delicious
pastry is the crown of İzmir breakfasts...