TURKISH FOOD: Gözleme – a dish of Adaptation, Convenience, and Versatility
Note from Catie: If you have been around here, even for just a little bit, you will notice food is an important part of Turkish culture and the Funk family LOVES food! From Turkish breakfast to the special Ramazan bread, every bit of Turkey and its food revolves around seasons and events. Gözleme is one of the simpler yet filling choices. I like to call it the ‘fast food’ of Turkey.
The drive-thru is a concept that differentiates American culture from others. Both a perpetuator and reflection of many American values, the drive-thru is nearly synonymous with the idea of fast food. If your restaurant has a drive-thru, it can very easily be categorized as fast-food, and if it doesn’t, it is not.
American’s love for independence, instant gratification, priority of efficiency, and multi-tasking can all be seen in the idea of the drive-thru.
While I have yet to see a drive-thru in Turkey, fast, convenient food does exist. Of course, there are foreign chains like McDonalds and Dominos serving up American-style burgers, fries, pizza.
However, if you’re looking for Turkish fast food, there are some great comfort food options, one of my favorites being gözleme.
Gözleme is a very thin flatbread stuffed with an array of various toppings. It is extremely versatile and can be found at the kahvaltı table, being sold at the open-air pazar as shoppers bargain for produce and home goods, and even at a sit-down restaurant. Some traditional toppings include cheese and spinach, potatoes and spices, ground beef and onions. However, I’ve also had some delicious dessert gözleme including tahini and sugar, or chocolate.
Depending on region and season, you can find a wide array of fillings for gözleme. If the American drive-thru represents independence, multi-tasking, and instant gratification, the Turkish gözleme displays adaptation, convenience, and versatility.
I’m convinced that one of the best parts of eating gözleme is watching the women who make it.
It’s incredible to watch the deft fingers gather and roll a small ball of dough into a paper-thin circle, flip it over a broomstick-like rolling pin, cover it with toppings, fold it in half, brush it lightly with oil and flip it over the griddle.
The final product can be sliced up like a quesadilla, rolled up like a dürüm, or served flat on a plate with a slice of lemon. It is endlessly versatile, can adapt to personal taste or to be a part of a meal or snack at any time of the day, and is convenient to take on the go.
The flatbread itself is very simple: usually an unleavened mix of flour and water. If you visit Turkey, you’ll often see it advertised as a “Turkish pancake,” but don’t be fooled. This flatbread is a distinct food all its own. To me, it is more akin to a very thin flour tortilla: slightly stretchy and quickly giving in to a satisfying tear which is especially lovely with melted cheese stringing between the halves.
Some argue that the word “gözleme” derives from the root word “göz” meaning “compartment” (or, more commonly, “eye”). The logic is that the inside of the gözleme is like a compartment for the fillings inside. However, the full word “gözleme” in Turkish means “to patrol/to spy/to eye” rather than “to compartmentalize.”
There is, however, another theory that I tend to lean towards.
Other sources argue that the word “gözleme” comes from the word “közleme” which means to barbeque, grill or cook over embers. It’s easy to see where the food got its name, as it is grilled on a large, round griddle. But how did the word “közleme” become “gözleme”?
Language, like cuisine, is an ever-shifting, -growing, and -adapting entity. One of the things that cause language to shift is ease of pronunciation. In fact, a similar shift from “g” sound to the “k” sound happened in the Proto-Indo-European language in the shift to the Germanic language that eventually became English.
{Ok, I know my language-loving nerd side is showing, but hang with me. (If you want to geek out with me, check out my more detailed explanation at the end of this post.*) }
Over time, languages shift as people pronounce certain consonants differently depending on the sounds that surround them, so that it is easier to say. For example, when I say “blessed,” it sounds like “blesst” unless I emphasize the second “e” and say “blesséd.” A similar thing happens in Turkish, but where English doesn’t change the spelling of our words based on their pronunciation, Turkish does. So, sometimes a “k” in a word like “renk” (the Turkish word for color) becomes a “g” as in “rengi” (“the color of”). This shift makes the words more comfortable to pronounce. The shift from k to g in “közleme” and “gözleme” is not such a stretch after all! This shift is especially noticeable in the accent of those from in and around Ankara, the capitol city of Turkey. Most people from Ankara pronounce their hometown “Angara” and pronounce the “k” sound as a “g” sound.
Like the shift in its name, gözleme is an example of both adaptation and convenience. As a food that has its humble beginnings as a village food, it’s starting to evolve and make its mark as a part of modern Turkish cuisine. Its versatility means that you can eat a smoked salmon and egg breakfast gözleme, an eggplant gözleme as a snack, and a banana, walnut, and honey dessert gözleme and still have come nowhere near exhausting your options for delicious fillings!
*A little further explanation for those of you willing to geek out on language with me.
I’ll teach you something I teach my TCK students: to feel where and how words are produced in our mouths and throats.
In English, we tend to pronounce the same letters differently depending on the circumstances surrounding the letter. We do this in order to make it easier to flow from one sound to another. However, this is not usually denoted in the spelling of a word, which is one reason it’s so hard to learn English. (Some of us are having flashbacks to phonics in elementary school right now.) Try saying the word “bird” out loud. Now say “faked.” Did you hear a difference in the way you pronounced the “d” sounds?
The “d” in “faked” sounded more like a “t” which is a voiceless, or whispered, sound. Put your fingers on your throat where your adam’s apple is. Say “d” (not “duh” or “dee”, but try to isolate the sound at the end of “bird”). You should feel your vocal chords hard at work. Now say “t” (not “tuh” or “tee”, the isolated sound at the end of “faked”). You shouldn’t feel your vocal chords moving at all, because “t” is a voiceless sound.
There are several pairs of sounds that are made in the same way with all the same parts of your mouth or throat, the only difference being that one is voiced and one is whispered. Some examples are: d (voiced)/t (whispered), b (voiced)/p (whispered), j (voiced)/ch (whispered), g (voiced)/k (whispered).
Each of those pairs have one voiced and one whispered consonant. In Turkish, the whispered sound is changed to the voiced sound when a vowel is added to the end of a word. There is an exception. Rather than “k” to “g” shift, a “k” that ends a word usually shifts to ğ (the Turkish “soft g”). In Ottoman times, this “soft g” was pronounced in the same part of the throat as “k” and “g,” but these days is often silent or used to lengthen a vowel. So, rather than “köpek” (dog) changing to “köpegi” it changes to “köpeği” (his dog).
Now tell me:
- Have you ever tried gözleme? If so, what is your favorite filling?
- Do you think the word “gözleme” comes from the word “göz” or “közleme”? Why?
- What imaginative fillings would you put in gözleme that you haven’t seen before?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I am a lover of words and stories, student of culture, amateur photographer, adult cross-cultural kid, English tutor to TCKs (Third Culture Kids), and aspiring foodie. We will probably be instant friends if you give me good coffee, invite me to cook with you, or start a conversation with me about personalities, culture, and how the two intersect. I’m a life-long nerd, believer, and creative-in-the-works. I am all about the journey, so traveling and cross-cultural living is always something that has captured my heart and inspired my imagination.
In 2016, after teaching in an inner-city school and needing a change of pace, I spent a year abroad in Izmir, Turkey with a friend. I absolutely fell in love with the city and the people. The conveniences of a big city with a friendly, slow-pace-of-life atmosphere is all found between the mountains and the sea. What’s not to love? So, after my year of adventure, I knew I wanted to come back to Izmir to live.
Positioned on the perch of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Turkey is both a mix of cultures, and a unique culture all its own. The more I learn, the more I want to learn, and this desire to learn is what drives me to write. As a pretty quiet person, I write to learn, to discover, and to process. As someone who grew up in a cross-cultural context, Turkey’s diversity and mix of cultures is something I personally relate to. Plus, if you’ve ever tasted Turkish food, you know that it is definitely something to write home about. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Funks’ blog and to grow and learn in the process.
