 | |
| Type | Flatbread |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Turkey |
Gözleme is a savoryTurkish stuffedturnover. The dough is usually unleavened, and made only with flour, salt and water, but gözleme can be made from yeast dough as well. It is similar tobazlama, but is lightly brushed with butter or oil, whereas bazlama is prepared without fat. The dough is rolled thin, then filled with various toppings, sealed, and cooked over agriddle. Gözleme may sometimes be made from prepackaged hand-rolled leaves ofyufka dough.[1][2]
Fillings for gözleme are numerous and vary byregion and personal preference, and include a variety of meats (minced beef, chopped lamb, fresh or smoked seafood,sujuk,pastirma), vegetables (spinach, zucchini, eggplant, leek, chard, various peppers, onion, scallion, shallot, garlic), mushrooms (porcino, chanterelle, truffle), tubers (potatoes, yams, radish), cheeses (feta,Turkish white cheese (Beyaz Peynir),lavaş,çökelek,Kasseri, andKashkaval), as well as eggs, seasonal herbs, and spices.
The wordgözleme is derived from the Turkish wordközleme, meaning "to grill/cook on the embers". This word can ultimately be traced back to Turkish wordköz, meaning "ember". TheOttoman Turkish alphabet had no distinction betweenk andg sounds, so it is unclear when theconsonantal shift fromköz togöz happened. The oldest record of the word in a Turkic language is dated back to 1477. It is first attested in Persian-Turkish dictionaryLügat-i Halîmî [tr] and also found inEvliya Çelebi'sSeyahatnâme.[3]
Originally a breakfast item or light homemade snack, thecomfort food nature of gözleme has allowed it to achievefast-food status in Turkey in the latter part of the twentieth century, with both simple and gourmet preparations ranging from the traditional (e.g. sauteed minced beef and onion, "kıymalı"; spinach and feta, "ıspanaklı"; potato and chive, "patatesli"; etc.) to the contemporary (e.g. chocolate and orange zest; walnut and banana with honey; smoked salmon and eggs; etc.) proliferating across the country's restaurants, cafes, andfood carts. Typically, gözleme is cooked over asac griddle.
Jews avoided clarified butter, since by the rules ofkashrut butter cannot be eaten at the same meal as meat, so bakers who made gözleme for them usedsesame oil instead.[4]
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