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Tsatsiki
Tzatziki ( el, τζατζίκι), also known as tarator or cacık (), is a dip, soup, or sauce found in the cuisines of Southeast Europe and the Middle East. It is made of salted strained yogurt or diluted yogurt mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt, olive oil, sometimes with vinegar or lemon juice, and herbs such as dill, mint, parsley and thyme. It is served as a cold appetizer ('' mezze''), a side dish, and as a sauce for souvlaki and gyros sandwiches and other foods. History ''Tarator'' was the name of a dish made of ground walnuts and vinegar in the Ottoman Empire. Dishes of various preparations in the region, including dips, salads, and sauces, acquired the name. In the Levant, ''taratur'' is a sauce based on tahini, while in Turkey and the Balkans it came to mean a combination of yogurt and cucumbers, sometimes with walnuts. It has become a traditional part of meze. Etymology The word ''tzatziki'' appeared in English around the mid-20th century as a ...
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Appetizer
An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating, such as at a reception or cocktail party. Formerly, hors d'oeuvres were also served between courses.''Oxford English Dictionary'', First Edition, 189''s.v.''/ref> There are two types of hors d'oeuvre from service point of view: # General hors d'oeuvre # Classical hors d'oeuvre General hors d'oeuvres include cold preparations such as salad, cold meat, and fish. Classical hors d'oeuvres include fruit juice and soft drinks, grapefruit, shellfish cocktail, and so on. Typically smaller than a main dish, an hors d'oeuvre is often designed to be eaten by hand. Etymology in French literally means "outside the work"; that is, "not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal". In practice, i ...
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Sauce
In cooking, a sauce is a liquid, cream, or semi-solid food, served on or used in preparing other foods. Most sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to a dish. ''Sauce'' is a French word taken from the Latin ''salsa'', meaning ''salted''. Possibly the oldest recorded European sauce is garum, the fish sauce used by the Ancient Romans, while doubanjiang, the Chinese soy bean paste is mentioned in '' Rites of Zhou'' in the 3rd century BC. Sauces need a liquid component. Sauces are an essential element in cuisines all over the world. Sauces may be used for sweet or savory dishes. They may be prepared and served cold, like mayonnaise, prepared cold but served lukewarm like pesto, cooked and served warm like bechamel or cooked and served cold like apple sauce. They may be freshly prepared by the cook, especially in restaurants, but today many sauces are sold premade and packaged like Worcestershire sauce, HP Sauce, soy sauce ...
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Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whole of Bulgaria. The Balkan Peninsula is bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the southwest, the Aegean Sea in the south, the Turkish Straits in the east, and the Black Sea in the northeast. The northern border of the peninsula is variously defined. The highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala, , in the Rila mountain range, Bulgaria. The concept of the Balkan Peninsula was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, who mistakenly considered the Balkan Mountains the dominant mountain system of Southeast Europe spanning from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea. The term ''Balkan Peninsula'' was a synonym for Rumelia in the 19th century, the European provinces of the Ottoman Empire. It had a ge ...
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Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a East Thrace, small portion on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It shares borders with the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq to the southeast; Syria and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and Greece and Bulgaria to the northwest. Cyprus is located off the south coast. Turkish people, Turks form the vast majority of the nation's population and Kurds are the largest minority. Ankara is Turkey's capital, while Istanbul is its list of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city and financial centre. One of the world's earliest permanently Settler, settled regions, present-day Turkey was home to important Neol ...
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Tahini
Tahini () or tahina (, ) is a Middle Eastern condiment made from toasted ground hulled sesame. It is served by itself (as a dip) or as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, and halva. Tahini is used in the cuisines of the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean, the South Caucasus, as well as parts of North Africa. Sesame paste (though not called tahini) is also used in some East Asian cuisines. Etymology ''Tahini'' is of Arabic origin and comes from a colloquial Levantine Arabic pronunciation of (), or more accurately (), whence also English ''tahina'' and Hebrew ''t'china'' . It is derived from the root , which as a verb means "to grind", and also produces the word , "flour" in some dialects. The word ''tahini'' appeared in English by the late 1930s.Mariposa, ''Hollywood Glamour Cook Book'', 1940, p. 101. ''Tahini'' is a loanword from modern Greek ''tachíni'' () which was originally adopted from the Ottoman Turkish ''"tahin"'' . In Turkish and also in Italian, ...
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Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is equivalent to a stretch of land bordering the Mediterranean in South-western Asia,Gasiorowski, Mark (2016). ''The Government and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa''. }, ), meaning "the eastern place, where the Sun rises". In the 13th and 14th centuries, the term ''levante'' was used for Italian maritime commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean, including Greece, Anatolia, Syria-Palestine, and Egypt, that is, the lands east of Venice. Eventually the term was restricted to the Muslim countries of Syria-Palestine and Egypt. In 1581, England set up the Levant Company to monopolize commerce with the Ottoman Empire. The name ''Levant States'' was used to refer to the French mandate over Syria and Lebanon after World War I. This is probab ...
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Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) // CITED: p. 36 (PDF p. 38/338) also known as the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. It was founded at the end of the 13th century in northwestern Anatolia in the town of Söğüt (modern-day Bilecik Province) by the Turkoman tribal leader Osman I. After 1354, the Ottomans crossed into Europe and, with the conquest of the Balkans, the Ottoman beylik was transformed into a transcontinental empire. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453 by Mehmed the Conqueror. Under the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Ottoman Empire marked the peak of its power and prosperity, as well a ...
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Gyros
Gyros—in some regions, chiefly North America, anglicized as a gyro (; el, γύρος, yíros/gyros, turn, )—is meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, then sliced and served wrapped or stuffed in pita bread, along with ingredients such as tomato, onion, fried potatoes, and tzatziki. In Greece, it is normally made with pork or sometimes with chicken, whilst beef and lamb are also used in other countries. History Grilling a vertical spit of stacked meat and slicing it off as it cooks was developed in BursaKenneth F. Kiple, Kriemhild Coneè Ornelas, eds., ''Cambridge World History of Food'', Cambridge, 2000. . Vol. 2, p. 1147 in the 19th century in the Ottoman Empire, and called doner kebab ( tr, döner kebap). Following World War II, doner kebab made with lamb was present in Athens, introduced by immigrants from Anatolia and the Middle East, possibly with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey. The Greek version is normally made with pork and served with tzatzik ...
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Souvlaki
Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with or inside of a rolled pita, typically with lemon, sauces, vegetables such as sliced tomato and onion, and fried potatoes as a side. The meat usually used in Greece and Cyprus is pork, although chicken, beef, and lamb may also be used in some regions as well as worldwide. Etymology The word ''souvlaki'' is a diminutive of the Medieval Greek ( meaning "skewer") itself borrowed from Latin . "Souvlaki" is the common term in Macedonia (Greece) and other regions of northern Greece, while in southern Greece and around Athens it is commonly known as ''kalamaki'' ( meaning "small reed"). History In Greek culture, the practice of cooking food on spits or skewers dates to the Bronze Age.. Excavations in Santorini, Greece, unearthed sets of stone ...
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Mezze
Meze or mezza (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in the Levantine cuisine, Levant, Turkish cuisine, Turkey, Greek cuisine, Greece, the Balkan cuisine, Balkans, the Caucasian cuisine, Caucasus and Iranian cuisine, Iran. It is similar to Spanish cuisine, Spanish tapas and Italian cuisine, Italian Antipasto, antipasti. A mezze may be served as a part of a multi-course meal or form a meal in itself. Mezze are often served with alcoholic beverages such as Arak (drink), arak. Etymology The word is found in all the Ottoman cuisine, cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire, and originated from the Turkish language, Turkish word meaning a snack or appetiser. This, in turn, originated from the Persian language, Persian word "mazzeh" or "mazzah" () 'taste' or 'relish'. Common dishes In Turkey, meze often consist of ''beyaz peynir'' (literally "white cheese"), ''kavun'' (sliced ripe melon), ''acılı ezme'' (hot pepper paste often with walnuts), ''haydari'' (thick strai ...
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Appetizer
An hors d'oeuvre ( ; french: hors-d'œuvre ), appetiser or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or they may be served before seating, such as at a reception or cocktail party. Formerly, hors d'oeuvres were also served between courses.''Oxford English Dictionary'', First Edition, 189''s.v.''/ref> There are two types of hors d'oeuvre from service point of view: # General hors d'oeuvre # Classical hors d'oeuvre General hors d'oeuvres include cold preparations such as salad, cold meat, and fish. Classical hors d'oeuvres include fruit juice and soft drinks, grapefruit, shellfish cocktail, and so on. Typically smaller than a main dish, an hors d'oeuvre is often designed to be eaten by hand. Etymology in French literally means "outside the work"; that is, "not part of the ordinary set of courses in a meal". In practice, i ...
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Vinegar
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ethanol using yeast, and ethanol to acetic acid by acetic acid bacteria. Many types of vinegar are available, depending on source materials. It is now mainly used in the culinary arts as a flavorful, acidic cooking ingredient, or in pickling. Various types are used as condiments or garnishes, including balsamic vinegar and malt vinegar. As the most easily manufactured mild acid, it has a wide variety of industrial and domestic uses, including use as a household cleaner. Etymology The word "vinegar" arrived in Middle English from Old French (''vyn egre''; sour wine), which in turn derives from Latin: ''vinum'' (wine) + ''acer'' (sour). Chemistry The conversion of ethanol (CH3CH2OH) and oxygen (O2) to acetic acid (CH3COOH) takes plac ...
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