Moussaka, ouzo/raki, grapeleaves sarma, baklavas, tatziki/cacik,halva, etc,etc. What's Greek? What's Turkish?

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Archer1

I think it does not matter if they are Greek or Turkish. The point is that you can eat the same food in Greece or in Turkey, with different taste but always amazing!

Litsa B

They are amazing tastes and we should be very thankful to all the charismatic people that gave as such Delicious food.
Wikipedia also helps for the details.
http://www.hummingbirdpublications.com For good food

Elaine

Actually some of them are neither Greek nor Turkish in origin. :)

Serendipity

I agree with Barbie on eveything apart from Baclava. The origin of baclava is widely disputed. After a bit of research I came up with this, the most neutral of opinions:

Many groups claim Baklava as their own. However, a check of the history of baklava yields surprising results. It is widely believed that it is of Assyrian origin. Around approximately the 8th century B.C., Assyrians baked thin layers of dough with nuts, poured honey over it, and enjoyed this sumptuous treat.

Baklava was baked only on special occasions, usually by the rich who could afford such a luxury.

The history of Baklava changed with the history of the land. The Near and Middle East saw many civilizations come and go. Baklava and the recipe had spread to the Near East, Armenia, and Turkey. With the advent of the Grecian Empire, it spread westward to Greece.

Phyllo dough is named after the greek word for "leaf", being "as thin as a leaf". The thickness (or for that matter, the thinness) of Phyllo gives baklava is delicious crispy taste. So, when some people eat a piece of baklava,they may want to think of Greece. However, the history of baklava reveals it came from farther East... Even so, various countries offer tasty variations and have loyal followings.

Ask the Greeks and they will say: "The Lebanese stole the recipe."
Ask the Lebanese and they will say: "The Greeks stole the recipe."
Ask the Turkish and they will say: "Our Pashas and Viziers (rulers) owned the recipe"
Ask Armenians and they will say: "We invented and improved the recipe" (with spices)
Ask all of them and they will say: "Our baklava is better than all the rest" and "Our pronounciation is the correct pronounciation of the word Baklava."
The history of baklava - as colorful as the history of the lands of the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
Bon Appetit!

At the end of the day, good food is for all people, everywhere. And it doesn't matter who thought of it first.

GPapenburg

Raki is of Turkish orign.

adventurous

i only know halva has arabic origins...

lets call all as ottoman, then it is turkish and arabic and greek and many others'

Propertravel

I have a theory; add in i to the end of the word becomes Greek, take the İ away becomes Turkish. Either way is delicious. Raki and Baklava ( despite the i at the end of Raki) are Turkish. Barbunya becomes Barbuni, Marul becomes Maruli etc....Every time I am in Greece I am surprised with the similarity of words especially for the food. No need to start a discussion out of this but I owe an answer to Zoltan I think there are still some "hurt remains" with you due to history. We seem managed to leave the history behind and trying to look forward. Cause if we start centuries behind us than this topic turns into a mess and we don't want this do we? I have not seen anyone claiming copyright of anything.

Personal note: I feel sorry for you that you are in Euro zone unlike the way you are priding with being a part of EU.
I have not seen a single Greek happy with this. I believe being part of Eu helped a lot to re construct the country which is good but what about life standards ? Being a Turkish citizen if I am asked my vote to EU is a very clear NO not only because of getting Euro zone makes life expensive but slowly takes your personality away!

Lady S

I'll give the same answer as I did in the Turkish section.

Most foods that are now common in the Balkan countries came from Turkey. Some of them were not a Turkish invention, they came from the Middle East or some other places, but they were brought to the Balkans by Turks (Ottomans). I have always thought of moussaka and feta cheese as Greek, but not sure if that was really its origin. On the other hand, baklava, raki, sarma and many other foods are considered to be Turkish. However, those foods are so mixed in all those countries that it is hard to define where they came from.

GREEK BARBiiE♥

OUZO - is 100% Greek - it dates back from the Byzantine times.

Tzatziki is Greek - but also used in the Balkans, and Turkey.

Moussaka is Greek- but used in the Balkans, Turkey and the Middle East.

Halva is Middle Eastern - but used in the Balkans, Turkey and Central Asia.

Baklava is Turkish - but used in the Balkans, and the Middle East.

cyberleo

greek goodies, with some turkish names

zoltan

kita re mexri kai to fai thelon na xenoonomasiasoun ..aman deladi se ligo tha maz poun oti o ali pasha extise tin acropoli..? ohh iam sorry did the turks have a copyright on the food?..well we better give it all back then we dotn want turkey to be underadvantage ..after all greece is in the EU ..

Vasiliki-Βασιλική

ouzo is Greek 100%
Tzatziki is Greek 100% also
i think baklavas and halva is not Greek i can't confirm the origin though and Mousaka is considered a food of balkans,who started from the Greek cuisine
Raki ,I also think is not Greek but still is not something I am sure of..........
No matter what I love eating them..........

Georgia S

Mousaka: totally greek
ouzo/raki: greek , raki is mailny used and produced in Crete
Baklavas: turkish
tzatziki: greek...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ellas

they are all greek and when turkish found out how cool we where they wanted to also be cool so they decided to rename all the things the cool people create into different names so that way no1 discovers they stole them lol

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