All aboard the international cruise of flavors.......This crazy cruise ship has embarked upon a world tour, with curious and hungry cachers aboard. The itinerary is every country in the world, one restaurant at a time, all without leaving the confines of Central NJ. 35th Stop ... Turkey!
Join the Central Jersey Cachers as we venture across the Mediterranean to the Black Sea!
Wednesday, May 27 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Efes Mediteranean Grill
32 Easton Ave
New Brunswick, NJ
Enjoy delicious food and good company as this wacky cruise ship voyages across the Mediterranean Sea to Turkey!
Turkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Balkan cuisines. During the Ottoman Empire's six hundred-year reign, yogurt salads, fish in olive oil, and stuffed and wrapped vegetables became Turkish staples. The empire, eventually spanning from Austria to northern Africa, used its land and water routes to import exotic ingredients from all over the world. The Ottomans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia, creating a vast array of specialties—many with strong regional associations.
Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those and other neighboring cuisines, including those of Western Europe. Turkish cuisine varies across the country. The cooking of Istanbul, Bursa, Izmir, and rest of the Aegean region inherits many elements of Ottoman court cuisine, with a lighter use of spices, a preference for rice over bulgur, koftes and a wider availability of vegetables stew (türlü), eggplant, stuffed dolmas and fish. The cuisine of the Black Sea Region uses fish extensively, especially the Black Sea anchovy (hamsi), has been influenced by Balkan and Slavic cuisine,[citation needed] and includes maize dishes. The cuisine of the southeast -Urfa, Gaziantep and Adana- is famous for its variety of kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts such as baklava, kadayıf and künefe.
Especially in the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is the major type of oil used for cooking. The cuisines of the Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions are rich in vegetables, herbs, and fish. Central Anatolia has many famous specialties, such as keşkek (kashkak), mantı (especially from Kayseri) and gözleme.
A specialty's name sometimes includes that of a city or region, either in or outside of Turkey, and may refer to the specific technique or ingredients used in that area. For example, the difference between Urfa kebap and Adana kebap is the thickness of the skewer and the amount of hot pepper that kebab contains. Urfa kebab is less spicy and thicker than Adana kebap.
World Culinary Cruise Itinerary
1 - Mexico - July 16, 2012
2 - Greece - August 23, 2012
3 - Japan - September 12, 2012
4 - India - October 11, 2012
5 - Russia - November 14, 2012
6 - Poland - December 5, 2012
7 - Ireland - January 22, 2013
8 - France - February 26, 2013
9 - Spain - March 13, 2013
10 - Thailand – April 30, 2013
11 - Portugal - May 28, 2013
12 - United States of America - June 4, 2013
13 - Afghanistan - July 11, 2013
14 - Egypt - August 6, 2013
15 - United Kingdom - September 18, 2013
16 - Sweden - October 16, 2013
17 - Peru - November 6, 2013
18 - Germany - December 20, 2013
19 - Ghana - January 7, 2014
20 - Polynesia - February 19, 2014
21 - Sri Lanka - March 13, 2014
22 - Korea - April 22, 2014
23 - Jamaica - May 22, 2014
24 - Vietnam - June 25, 2014
25 - Mexico - July 23, 2014
26 - Mongolia - August 19, 2014
27 - Persia - September 17, 2014
28 - Philippines - October 15, 2014
29 - Dominican Republic - November 19, 2014
30 - Trinidad - December 10, 2014
31 - Nigeria - January 20, 2015
32 - Lebanon - February 18, 2015
33 - Cuba - March 24, 2015
34 - Brazil - April 21, 2015
35 - Turkey - May 27, 2015
Where will this ship pull into port next? Only the pink flamingo knows....
