Excerpt taken from an interview done with İvi Dermancı:

“I was born and raised in Istanbul and have never left. When we were young, once the schools were closed we would go to our summer house in Büyükada (Big Island) with those nostalgic ferry boats. We had a large garden, and we were about 40 kids, who played all kinds of games. My most memorable joy was the spit roasted lamb we made in the garden during Easter period. The side dishes and stuffed dishes would be made days ahead. On the day, there would be a bonfire prepared to roast the lamb which would take about 3-4 hours. While roasting, a branch of marjoram that was dipped in olive oil was brushed on the meat to give it extra flavour and aroma. The meat would roast beautifully.

My mother made the best spoon desserts. I especially cannot forget the one she made from Bodrum mandarines. I still remember the wonderful tastes of those desserts. My mother also made a very special dessert called ‘quince paste.’ She would boil the quinces until softened and then pour on a tray and leave it in the sun for a few days then serve in squares.  

Past times were times of abundance and prosperity. We used to go to the butcher shop and buy kilos of meat. However now we can only afford to buy 300gr. or 200 gr. at a time.

Usually wine, sometimes beer accompanied meals. My mother used to make grape juice at home in a large jar with a tap.  Of course ‘rakı’ was always a big part of the meals. In fact I have a memory that I’d like to share. I had two uncles. They would frequent to the market near my house.  Uncle Kimon would stand on the right side, smoke Bafra cigarettes and drank Klüp Rakı, uncle Biron would stand on the left side smoke Yenice cigarettes and drank Yeni Rakı.” 

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Excerpt taken from an interview done with Angela Piliuri:   

“Stuffed vegetables hold an important place in the Rum cuisine. We make it a little bit differently. We add lot of onions, dill, spring onions, lemon and very little rice. The important part is you close your eyes and pour the olive oil, that means, don’t be shy about the olive oil. We usually received olive oil from nothern Aegean coast. Sometimes we would order them from Greece.  When the fasting period was over, we usually roasted leg of lamb, in a pot without adding any liquid. It would take about 2,5 hours.

Also one of my favourite dishes was the lamb’s intestines. These intestines were made from very young lambs, and braided in a certain way. My mother used to say, these intestines were only available between the dates of April 6th until May 10th. It was cooked with lots of spring onions. Nowadays it is very hard to find them, sometimes a special order can be put with the offal shops. But as the Rums are gone the braided intestines are not made anymore. ”

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Rum cuisine is a very important part of Turkish cuisine. In Turkey, especially in the Anatolian part, Rums have resided over many years. Most of them left with the population exchange. In Istanbul the population of Rums have decreased immensely over the years. The small population living in İstanbul is trying their best to keep their culinary cultures alive. All these different ethnicities and cultures form the basis of multiculturalism, which is one of the unique qualities of Istanbul and Turkey.

*The text is a translated transcription of food culture researcher and journalist Nedim Atilla’s seminar “İstanbul Rum Cuisine” that was held at TCF-Culinary Arts Center on 15 May 2013.