The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-12-24
FIGHTING TURK IS
NEAR-VEGETARIAN
BREAKFAST ON BOSPHORUS CON-
sISTs or SMALL CUP OF cor
FEE AND A ROLL.
MILK AND BREAD AT NOON
Principal Meal at Night; Rice Base
of National Food; Some
Dishes Delicious.

The fighting Turk is largely veg
etarian in spite of the superstition
about the omniverous character of
the true warrior, according to a
sketch recently prepared by the Ma
tional Geographic Society, which tells
of the staples of the Turkish table
and describes some of the favorite
dishes of folk upon the Bosphorus.
The sketch follows:
Turkish fare is distinguished by
its simplicity. The Turkish kitchen
might be put at one end of the
scale and the French kitchen at the
other. The complexities of Partisan
cookery demand a long and careful
education for a clear comprehension
of their values and for a proper ap-
probation, while the dishes of Con-
stantinople at least those which ap-
pear upon the tables of Turks in the
ordinary fortunes of life. are rudi-
mentary.
Vegetables, fruits and grains are
the staples of the Turkish kitchen.
Breakfast of the Bosphorus consists
of small cup of coffee and roll. At
noon there is a bowl of sour milk
and bread. Thick Turkish coffee is
taken again in the afternoon to key
up appetites for the principal meal,
which comes at night. This meal in
cludes probably. pilaff (meat and
rice), several kinds of vegetables,
pastry and thick coffee. The work
ingmans meal is still more simple
chunk of bread and an onion or a
bunch of grapes.
There are however, some dishes
upon the Turkish bill of fare which
the returned westerner never wholly
ceases to regret. Pilaff is one. 1t is
food as national with the Turks as
the potato with the Irish, as the cab
bage with the German. 1t takes a
multitude of forms. but its basic quail
ity is derived from rice being cooked
in such way as to preserve each
grain ferment and distinct.
1.-The rice is unpublished and, in the
cooking, takes on a gelatinous coat.
Sometimes it is boiled in mutton fat
"a rich, smooth, inviting dish. Some
times bits of roast mutton are ming
led with it, when it becomes a meat
pudding of delicious flavor. 1t is
cooked with small currants and pine
nuts, fragrant and spicy. 1t is serv-
ed with dates and favored with or
ange peel. But, whatever its form,
1t is one of the treasured memories
of visit to the Near East.
Eggplant is the foundation of an
other favored Turkish dish. 1t is
stuffed with chopped onions and rice
and cooked in oil. 1t is also stuffed
with meat marrows and rice, and
steamed until it becomes a culinary
inspiration.
"The Westerner, furthermore,
learns to enjoy many of the milk
foods prepared by the Turks. Yaourt,
cultured milk as thick as sour
cream, prepared from the rich milk
OF the buffalo COW, is satisfaction
to the most paupered diner. Chick
en- breast-milk, made from grated
chicken breasts; Selly-like rice milk,
starchy pudding, eaten with sugar
and rose-water; and yaourt, with
chopped nut meats, are other dishes.
"The Turks are fond of sweets.
They prepare kind Of bread. which
they soak in honey andseat with rich
cream. They also prepare pastry in
strings soaked in honey. Their fruits
are excellent. better in quality and Of
greater variety than the fruits of the
West. Meats alone, of raw food ma
terials, with the exception of NUT
ton, are poor in Turkey, but then, the
Turk is a good deal of a vegetarian.
The simple diet of the Turk has
taken nothing from his good physi-
que; rather. likely. 1t is one of the
main sources of his health, or hamal.
dimes on a chunk Of bread, costing
1 cent. together with a melon. or a
bunch of grapes, or an onion. or a
piece of cheese. to the cost Of another
cent. and considers his meal complete
Yet his daily toll consists in carrying
packing cases. pianos and other