Saturday, June 25, 2022

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two Turkish Foods

      These were kind of random finds at the alternate Shop-Rite yet again.  They worked out pretty well, since I haven't done too many posts about Turkish cuisine, or about the food types themselves.  Looking back through my blog history, it appears that the only two were about Turkish fried eggplant on December 9, 2017, and then the one about various Mediterranean dishes on October 24, 2020.  (To be fair, some of these dishes weren't exclusively Turkish, but I believe the owners are Turkish, so I think that counts.)  Anyway, I tried the beets from Pickerfresh, and the stuffed vine (grape) leaves from Roland.

     Pickerfresh (it seems like it's spelled this way, as one word), as the name suggests, makes an assortment of pickled things--cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, capers, and garlic.  I couldn't really find out whether Pickerfresh started out as a separate company, or if it was always a brand of the larger Turkish company Euro Gida (or, more accurately, and longer, Euro Gida Sanayl Ve Ticaret A S).  There wasn't a lot about Euro Gida's history online, either.  It was started in 1995, and the current chairman is Haluk Onen.  Aside from Pickerfresh, the business also owns large brands such as Melis and Tazely.  Overall, Euro Gida makes pickles, roasted veggies, canned veggies, dried veggies, and sauces.  The company exports to 33 nations around the world, including much of Europe, North America, and Australia.  All (?) or at least most of their wares are Kosher and not made with GMOs as well.  And the American distributer for Pickerfresh goes by the rather boring and obvious name of Nature's Best LLC, out of New York.

     Fortunately, I was able to learn a little bit more about Roland Foods.  In 1934, Bruno Scheidt left Germany, fleeing the Nazis.  He settled in France, and started Roland, also in 1934.  It was named after the knight who was one of Charlemagne's top men.  In 1936 he married Suzanne (her maiden name wasn't provided), who joined him in running the company.  The Scheidts moved to the U.S. in 1939.  During World War II Roland sold just domestic foods, but afterward it started importing.  After Bruno died in the 1960's he and Suzanne's son Charlie began running the Roland business.  Their website notes that Roland was an early utilizer of computers in the company, starting all the way back to the 1960's and 70's.  In the decade of 2000-2010 Roland expanded into China, the United Arab Emirates, and various parts of South America.  Roland was acquired by a private equity firm, Vestar Capital Partners, in 2013.  Roland's products include vegetables, grains, rice, pastas, oils, vinegars, condiments, sauces, seafood, fruit, spices, snacks, desserts, pastries, and kitchen and dining accessories.

     My can of stuffed vine leaves was called "dolma."  Which is traditional Ottoman fare, which at some points in history included what's now Greece, Turkey, parts of the Middle East, and the Balkans.  Dolma is kind of an umbrella term--it essentially refers to foods stuffed with other foods.  Vine (grape) and cabbage leaves are common as the outer element, along with fruit or vegetables like quinces, peppers, and zucchini.  The inner filling can be varied too--anything from vegetables, fruit, meat (especially organ meat), seafood, and spices.  I was amused to learn that the type I tried, without meat, is sometimes sardonically referred to as "yalanci dolma," which means "stuffed with lies" in Turkish.  I find it funny that apparently some folks consider what's put in your grape leaves, peppers, or fruit fairly seriously.  I plan to use this expression when I can, and not just for food preparations.


Pickerfresh pickled beets:  These were sliced beets, cut into ribbed designs.  So obviously they were red.  The odor was vinegar-y.  I had some plain, and they tasted just like regular pickled beets.  I should say that I'm not a beet guy in general--they've always tasted bland and uninteresting to me.  These were just like the others I had--no better or no worse.  I also tried them mixed up with sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers, and this didn't change my opinion.  On a sandwich roll was better, as the bread soaked up some of the vinegar.  So all in all I won't buy these again, but if you like canned beets, you'll probably like these.  And the beets themselves were grown in Turkey.


Roland dolmas, stuffed vine (grape) leaves:  These looked sort of like a type of sushi roll--green leafy rolls about 2.5 inches (about 7 cm.) by 1 inch (about 2.5 cm.).  The smell was vinegar-y.  They were oily, vinegar-y, and spicy.  In short, delicious.  The interiors of these wraps were spicy rice.  Unlike the beets, I have traditionally loved grape leaves when I've had them before, both the canned and fresh, restaurant-made varieties.  These were no different.  So I highly recommend these, and will definitely look for them again.  I will also look for the kind stuffed with meat, since some connoisseurs consider this kind the only "true" kind of dolma.  Once again, these were products of Turkey, imported by Roland.





  











 

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