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<\/a>\nManti, considerably larger in most cuisines, are diminutive in Turkey \u2013 mini dumplings filled with ground lamb and topped with garlic sauce.<\/p>\n
These next two are a bit of a mystery to me \u2013 not on the menu. One of our group approached the steam table area and chose them, so I didn\u2019t catch the names. The check read \u201caz yemek\u201d for each of them; az means small, yemek means meal or dish, so I\u2019ll go with a loose translation of \u201csmall plates\u201d. Sounds Spanish, but this Paterson, NJ restaurant is Turkish. Read on…. Continue reading <\/a>
\nWe ordered the Large Meze appetizer consisting of (menu\u2019s spellings) lebni (yogurt, dill, walnuts); hummus; patlican soslu (eggplant and red peppers in tomato sauce); patlican salatasi (charcoal grilled eggplant salad); babaganus; and acili ezme (spicy vegetable salad). EVERYTHING was deeply redolent of garlic, of course.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nBread, obvs.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nArnavut Cigeri, tender, juicy (yes!) chunks of beef liver, floured and fried with delectable seasonings.<\/p>\n
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\nThis is some kind of chicken and pasta thing…<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n…and this is some kind of greens and cheese thing. Your guess is as good as mine. (Probably better if you\u2019re Turkish. \ud83d\ude09)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nIzmir Kofte \u2013 minced beef and lamb blended with onions, garlic, herbs and spices, grilled, sauced, and potatoed.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nThese were (past tense by design) Sigara Boregi: sigara (cigar or cigarette shaped) boregi (think burek, etc.) referring to baked pastries made from phyllo dough, filled, in this case, with tangy feta cheese. (Yes, we started with more \ud83d\ude09.)
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