The best way to record Turkish history is not through writing but through the palate, as the lush tasting menu at Enstitü in March will prove to foodies interested in learning how the Turkish kitchen started, evolved, and became what it is today.

Prepared by culinary researcher and instructorNevin Halıcı, the tasting menu is categorized into the four distinct periods of Turkish history corresponding with a 4-week long event, held on Thursdays at Enstitü (Istanbul Culinary Institute)’s restaurant. The historical segments and dates included are: the Central Anatolian Era on March 8, the Seljuq Period on March 15, the Ottoman Period on March 22, and last but not least the Republican Era on March 29. All stages of this comprehensive yet individualistically significant menu have been designed to offer an authentic experience of the cuisine enjoyed during that particular segment in Turkish history as well as an overall understanding of the multitudinous nature of the Turkish kitchen.

Details are as follows:

Central Anatolian Era (Before 1040) on March 8:

Turkish people of the Central Anatolian region were nomadic in nature, with limited information about their culture being available. However, early yet limited writing does present that foods appropriate to their lifestyle in the form of sheep and horse meat as well as pastries made from wheat were consumed.

Menu:Koumiss or ayran (yogurt drink); mantı (Turkish ravioli) with yogurt sauce; braised meat browned in its own fat; yogurt; honey halvah.

Seljuq Period (1040-1299) on March 15:

With the availability of more written evidence during this period, the details of some recipes as well as accounts of ziyafets (feasts) gave more light into the types of meals enjoyed during this era. The use of the oven for meat preparation also began during this time as well as the mixture and presentation of sweet sherbets.

Menu:Traditional sherbet called Sirkencübin; tutmaç çorbası (yogurt soup with meat and dough); keşkek (wheat and chicken stew with lettuce); rice with chickpeas served with zerde (saffron and rice dessert); kayısı hoşafı (stewed apricot compote); coffee.

Ottoman period (1299-1923) on March 22:

With a noticeable growth in prosperity, the Ottoman period in Turkish history is one of the richest in terms of culinary tradition. With the availability of the freshest ingredients and the time and resources necessary for experimentation and growth, recipes in this era rose to the utmost heights.

Menu:Rose or tamarind sherbet; düğün çorbası (yogurt soup with lamb); hünkar beğendi (lamb stew with pureed eggplant); kayısı yahni (apricot stew) served with iç pilav (rice with onions, nuts, diced liver, and currant), leek cooked in olive oil; tel kadayıf (shredded dough baked in syrup); coffee.

Republican Era (1923 on) on March 29:

After the opening of Pera Palace and other European-inspired locales, influences from the West took a step forward in the history of Turkish cuisine. Mayonaise and bechamel sauce appeared as well as the promulgation of seafood dishes, along with desserts like chocolate pudding (which used to be referred to as sup anglez).

Menu:Lemon sherbet with cardamom; yogurt soup; prenses börek (phyllo with cheese); kremalı kebap (creamy lamb stew) served with lettuce, carrot, and radish salad; örgülü pilav (rice with chicken and green peas covered with phyllo); celery cooked in olive oil; sup anglez (chocolate pudding); coffee.

Enstitü, Meşrutiyet Caddesi No. 59, Tepebaşı; P: (0212) 251 22 14-15

Istanbul’s one and only upscale tradesmen’s restaurant Hünkar introduced a tasting menu in their Nişantaşı branch a few weeks ago for those who want to get introduced to Turkish cuisine. The menu is made up of must-try dishes for tourists who want to familiarize themselves with what Turkish cuisine is about. And with this tasting menu they will learn, if they haven’t done so yet, that Turkish cuisine has a lot more to offer than just meat and kebab.

The Tasting Menu:

Soup

Mix Meze Platter (lentil balls, spinach root, spicy salad, smoked eggplant salad, fava beans, octopus carpaccio)

Pastry Plate (puff pastry, mini Turkish ravioli)

Grilled Meatballs (with rice and grilled tomato and pepper)

Stewed Watercress

Hünkar Beğendi (smoked eggplant puree topped with lamb or beef)

Dessert (semolina helvah, bread dessert, milk pudding with mastic)

Tea & Coffee

The tasting menu starts off with a bowl of soup - yayla çorbası (yogurt-based soup with rice and mint) or mercimek çorbası (lentil soup). On our visit, we had the yayla çorbası, which came with a dollop of yogurt on top and spurts of chickpeas, which added that little extra touch. Even though paça çorbası (leg of lamb soup) is a very Turkish soup, it’s not part of the tasting menu because it’s a bit too adventurous, especially for those who are novices to Turkish cuisine.

Following the soup, the mix meze platter includes a nice variety that is representative of what Turkish cuisine is about. There is an eggplant dish simply because eggplant in Turkey tastes fantastic and any visitor should have the privilege to taste it. The acılı ezme (roughly translated as spicy salad on the tasting menu) is representative of all that is spicy in Turkish cuisine. (Those who are not used to spicy foods should steer clear from this spicy paste!) The spinach root in the platter serves as a very delicious example of all the light and healthy vegetarian dishes in Turkish cuisine. The mercimek köftesi (lentil balls) is a local specialty of the Southeast region and represents the wide variety of regional differences that Turkish cuisine offers. Oh, and it’s also very delicious! The fava beans is a specialty of Hünkar and in fact was chosen number 13 in the list of “25 Great Dishes You Must Have Before you Go” by Papercity Magazine. Last but not least, the octopus carpaccio in the meze platter is a fine example of the delicious seafood that Turkey is famous for.

Carb-lovers will be especially thrilled by the pastry platter that follows the mix meze platter. The highlight of this pastry platter is definitely the mantı (Turkish ravioli) - it is one of the best that you can have in Istanbul, so enjoy it! Once you’re done with the pastry platter and have savored the meatballs, the watercress will serve as the sorbet in gourmet tasting menus - something to clear the palate before the next meat dish is served. Hünkar Beğendi (smoked eggplant puree topped with lamb or beef) that follows is a classic in Turkish cuisine, and is very well done at Hünkar. Finally, the dessert platter comes. You’ll probably be quite full by this time but won’t be able to resist the urge to try these delicious Turkish desserts. The highlight of this platter is the irmik helvası (semolina helvah), which is made slightly differently at Hünkar with the addition of milk and a secret ingredient that turns this dessert into creamy perfection.

So, whether you’re a tourist wanting to become familiar with Turkish cuisine or a local who just wants to eat a variety of really good dishes, we strongly suggest you give the tasting menu at Hünkar a try.

Hünkar, Mim Kemal Öke Caddesi No. 21, Nişantaşı; P: (0212) 225 46 65

The food is very good, and the menu is quite extensive, with a focus on fish and seafood. The house specialties include mussel stew with ouzo, sea bass stew with saffron, and shrimp sauté with cognac. The highlights of our lunch when we visited include saganaki (pan-fried cheese), dolma (vine leaves stuffed with rice), caciki (yogurt with cucumbers), crab salad, and the vegetable platter (broccoli, potato salad, beetroot, brussel sprouts, and cauliflower).

Kalabalık is the kind of place that anybody looking for a good Greek meal and good conversation with friends could go for lunch or dinner. Those who want to dance the night away should head to Kalabalık on Friday and Saturday nights when Yorgo the Greek entertainer takes the stage and turns Kalabalık into a full-blown Greek tavern.

Kala means good in Greece; balık means fish in Turkish. If you want good fish and seafood, you now know where to go.

Kalabalık; Muallim Naci Caddesi No:99, Kuruceşme; P: (0212) 3583628

The menu was designed with the consultation of French three Michelin stared chef Alain Ducasse, thereby setting some pretty high expectations. The menu is not extensive, instead focusing on a select number of dishes, which are well-prepared. A number of items on the menu are cooked using the “sous vide” method in which the food is sealed in an air-tight bag and cooked immersed in water for long periods at relatively low temperatures. This cooking method creates a particularly tender consistency as evidenced by two popular dishes, the Monkfish Pêcheur and T-bone steak. The menu also features a number of tasty gourmet sandwiches such as the Lobster Double Decker served with truffle mayonnaise, and the Bruschetta Florentine, with sautéed spinach and quails egg. There is also a noteworthy wine list, with a nice selection of both Turkish and international wines.

On any visit to Baylan it’s almost compulsory to end your meal with one of their desserts, such as the legendary Kup Griye, an indulgent combination of vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with pistachios. But their other desserts, which are classic European in style, are also well worth a try.

Baylan’s interior is rich and tasteful with lots of dark wood, cream colored linens and marble floors in a herringbone design, with a wonderful view over the Bosphorus. Particular attention has been paid to the table setting, with fine linen table cloths, Limoges china and silver flatware, as well as beautiful double walled glasses. Baylan can rightfully be called an Istanbul classic, and with this restaurant it has been reinvented to be enjoyed by a new generation.Baylan Patisserie;Cevdet Paşa Caddesi No.52-54 Bebek; P: (0212) 358 07 60

After closing for the summer, Antica Locanda is back with a new menu for the fall season. Once again, the menu is not extensive, and instead offers a select mix of pastas, pizzas, and mains. Some favorites from last season remain, such as the scrumptious saltimbocca, a flat dough topped with mozzarella, goat’s cheese, and caramelized onions.

New to the menu are items such as the Venetian fresh fettuccini with orange flavored duck and beef rague, fresh fagottini stuffed with fish and served with a nutmeg-flavored cream sauce, and the veal scaloppini served with a lemon, vodka sauce. New dessert items include the classic lemon tart served with vanilla cream and the basil-flavored panna cotta.

Da Mario and Gina are having an 11-day special truffle menu starting on 20^th of October and lasting until 31^st of October for all truffle enthusiasts.

The white truffles on Da Mario and Gina’s menu grow in and around the city of Alba in the Piemento region of Italy only during October and November. Both restaurants will have the same menu, which will feature Tagliolini with white truffles, risotto with white truffles, and beef carpaccio with white truffles.

The menu will be available for both lunch and dinner; the prices at both restaurants are 150 TL for the pasta and risotto dishes and 90TL for beef carpaccio.

Da Mario: Dilhayat Sokak No. 7 Etiler; P: (0212) 265 15 96

Gina:Kanyon Shopping Mall Levent; P: (0212) 353 54 52

Good news for fans of Italian food in Istanbul. The renowned eatery Piola – with restaurants all over the globe in both hemispheres – has just revamped its menu. Piola’s first branch in Turkey opened last year, in the Point Hotel Barbaros in Esentepe, and has become popular among Istanbul diners for its pizzas, pastas, antipasti, and meat and fish dishes. Now there are several tasty new additions to the restaurant’s already impressive menu.

Piola has a selection of several dozen different pizzas, featuring such unconventional ingredients as tuna, potatoes, and eggs, and not just mozzarella cheese, but also brie, gorgonzola, and ricotta. Piola also makes varieties of pizza both with and without tomato sauce (to all those self-described purists who would not deign to eat pizza without sauce, consider this: the tomato only became common in Italian cuisine in the 18th century, so tomato-less "white" pizza has an older lineage.) Now, two more pizzas have joined the Piola roster: Pompei, a pizza made with "explosively" hot Italian sausage, and Beirut, topped with zucchini, walnut, and dill.

Piola's smaller, but equally delicious repertory of pastas (including potato gnocchi) has likewise been augmented by the addition of Pappardelle Cortina, made with mushrooms, cream, and Grana Padano cheese. For less adventurous types, or fussy eaters, for whom pasta must be accompanied with tomato sauce, Piola's menu obliges with several kinds of tomato-covered spaghetti, maccheroni, and penne.

There is more to Italian food than pizza and pasta, of course. Chicken Piola, bearing the name of the restaurant, is a delicious dish of lemon-sautéed chicken breast, served with puréed celery, mushrooms, and asparagus. Chicken Ciccioli -- a nod, perhaps, to fusion cuisine by this otherwise Italocentric eatery -- is made with curry sauce and rice, giving it a decidedly Indian inflection.

For an appetizer, you could try old favorites like bruschetta, or the visually appealing, tri-color caprese (tomato, mozarella, and basil); or the restaurant's new, creatively-named Calvino salad, made with slices of sirloin steak. (Why the salad is named after Italo Calvino is anyone's guess.)

Piola's desserts called Monterosa and Montenero -- respectively made from panna cotta and strawberry sauce, and panna cotta and chocolate sauce -- are in line with their penchant for visual symbolism in their dishes. (The first name means "Rose Mountain," the second, "Black Mountain.") Their dessert menu now includes the always-popular profiteroles: Piola's version of the dessert, made with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, is the perfect finale to a sumptuous meal at this restaurant.

To experience excellent Italian food in a chic, modernist setting, by all means try Piola. If you've already been there, and need an excuse to come back for another visit, now -- thanks to their new menu -- you have one.

Lucca has long been one of the most popular restaurants in the upscale Bebek neighborhood. Walk past here on any weekend and you’re sure to see the stylish crowd spilling out onto the sidewalk. Not ones to rest on their laurels, they are constantly updating the menu with new and inventive dishes.

Now there is one more reason to visit Lucca on the weekends – their updated brunch menu. Starting on September 4, on Sundays from 10:00 to 3:00 you can enjoy a brunch menu that brings together the best of Turkish and international cuisine. The menu includes dishes such as Quail Egg Crostini, Hash Browns, Pancakes with fruit, and the Lucca Scramble, made with organic eggs, all prepared with the highest quality local ingredients. To accompany your meal you can enjoy one of the delicious fruity brunch cocktails such as a Bellini or Mimosa, just don’t forget to make reservations!

Elio’s menu focuses on Mediterranean fare, with a strong Italian influence. Menu highlights include artichoke salad, Robespierre pizza, linguine con le vongole, risotto with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil, and ossobuco. At lunchtime, a more casual, bistro-style menu is also available. Meanwhile, the Sedef Adası branch features the same delicious cuisine, but in a romantic setting overlooking the cool waters of the Marmara

To finish off your meal, you can enjoy one of Divan’s classic ice cream Sundays or you can opt for a more exotic dessert, such as the Cinnamon and Sugar Coated Tortilla or the Crispy Cinnamon Bunuelos (a Mexican-style fritter).

Bebek’s ultimate brunch spot. Amazing Bosphorus views. Casual, comfortable, relaxing atmosphere. This is Mangerie. Now with an expanded menu.

Seafood aficionados will be happy to hear that one addition is the moules marinière with basil, celery, and parsley. If not a mussel person, try the bruschetta with king crab salad or the fried baby calamari (sautéed in white wine).

For those shying away from seafood, an organic oven-baked chicken stuffed with firik pilavı (wheat rice) is on offer. A new vegetarian dish is also available for those looking for a lighter option: stuffed squash blossoms with goat cheese and pine nuts.

During summer, Mangerie becomes a preferred spot for those looking to have a drink after work to wind down. In addition to Mangerie’s classics, such as mojito, bloody mary, and lime margarita, now you can choose from apple mojito, strawberry vodka, and lemonade vodka.

Grab your friends, head to Mangerie, pick a spot at the terrace, and enjoy your meal & drinks.

Enstitü is now offering a set dinner menu in small portions (accompanied with wine) that allows foodies to explore a variety of delicious food prepared by Enstitü’s chefs. For April, this is what’s on offer for 65TL per person:

French Onion Soup

*

Purslane Salad, oven-baked crisp duck, boiled Moroccan couscous, sumac vinaigrette

Sarafin Sauvignon Blanc

*

Fresh Squid, fresh herbs, tarator sauce with walnuts

Sarafin Fume Blanc

*

Mini burger, potato chips, home-made ketchup and mayonnaise

Karma Cabernet Sauvignon-Öküzgözü

*

Rose Sorbet

*

Nectarine-flavored turkey tandouri, rice with saffron and almond

Karma Merlot-Boğazkere

*

Lavender Crème brûlée

Safir

The head chef is Emre Çapa, known locally as Istanbul nightlife royalty thanks to his father’s many successful ventures. Minyon is a perfect place to meet friends for after-work drinks, with its warm and elegant décor, and excellent service. Thanks to the terrific DJs that spin every night, this is also a great place to dance the night away.

The chefs Gencay and Gulabi have obviously spent years perfecting their imaginative and mouthwatering versions of each dish, and will make sure you aren’t just well-fed, but also well-educated about each and every item on the menu. Situated directly across from the historic Pera Palace Hotel, the creative cuisine, cozy atmosphere, and multilingual staff will make you feel simply a ‘MEZE’ing.

The restaurant's accomplished chef Didem Şenol studied at the renowned French Culinary Institute of New York and even has a cookbook. Having travelled extensively around the country’s Aegean coast, she has in-depth knowledge of the region’s products. Maya is sparkling clean, and while the décor may be a little too minimal for some people’s taste, it helps keep the focus just where it ought to be – on the food.

Here is a list of the participating restaurants: 37, Aşşk Kahve, Beymen Brasserie, Cafe Inn, Cafe Wien, Cafe Zone, Casita, Cento Per Cento, Corridor, Delicatessen, Den Cafe, Galata, Hünkar, Kırıntı, Köşebaşı, Mania Gourmet, Midpoint, Nisantasion, Park Hyatt İstanbul “The Prime”, Park Şamdan, Passage 55, Piyasa, Ranchero, Maybe Salomanje, Sushico, The House Cafe Teşvikiye, Therapy, Tribeca, Touch Down, Zanzibar, Creperie ve Food Factory.