What does fried wheat strands, rose syrup, endless supply of pistachios and the famous Turkish delight have in common? They are all delicacies of Istanbul’s history as the melting pot of European and Eastern cultures. While I am not a dessert person, one place in Istanbul has made me proclaimed that “this is one of the best dessert places I have been to in a long time”, a statement which I have not made for the entire 2014/2015 period till then.
After a trip to the Basilica Cistern, we were craving for some food and the tempting colours of the Grand Cafe or Grande Cafe as the Turks call it lured us in.
Sugar, sugar, everywhere sugar.
There are plenty of sweets here but majority of the ready to go desserts were Turkish delights, Baklava, Lokmas and such. Very inviting! Note that the Turkish delight in Turkey seemed less artificially sweetened compared to the ones I had tasted before coming to Istanbul!
In a true East meets West fashion, the four of us ended up with three desserts and some tea or rather "chai" in Turkish. Two were Turkish staples the Kunefe and a Trileche while the other was an American style cheesecake. What is a Trileche? It is the pinnacle of simplicity. consisting of a sponge soaked in mildly spiced milk topped with a creme caramel style burnt syrup.
The soaked spongy cake was a reminiscent of a childhood where I enjoyed dipping everything in my cup of hot Milo. Biscuits, cake and breads! And at the very top the Trileche was a very fine tasting caramel layer. It was sensational. The Trileche looked like a dessert that does not contain complex techniques or sophisticated flavours but yet it pleased the palate so very well. I am amazed.
Kunefe
What is a Kunefe? It was essentially baked cheese topped with intertwining wheat strands that is baked until crisp. Once cooked, it is doused with syrup and topped with crushed pistachio.
The result is a combination of texture, flavour and visual pleasantry that help produce an outstanding dessert. The crisp of the wheat strands, fragrance of the pistachio and subtle syrup worked together to make a mildly savoury cheese taste sensational. It was warm and absolutely pleasing for that cold-rainy day. It was super good. I have never had a Kunefe before and having is this once is making me want to have it again (unfortunately other Kunefe that we had in town did not even come close).
Last but not least is the Berry Cheesecake which I believe needs no introduction. With the Kunefe and Trileche stealing the limelight, there was no space for error with the Cheesecake if it wanted its own 5 minutes of fame.
Unfortunately, it did not pass my requirement for a good cheesecake. Whilst everything looked really pretty, it lack that melt in your mouth feel. A sensation one gets from when the baker properly fine tunes the addition of gelatine, agar or other hardening agents. This one was really hard which I did not enjoy. Needless to say, it was the wrong dessert in the wrong place haha. Still edible nonetheless!
WenY
