Epílogo Grimoldi después de 1940: expansión, crisis y refundación

Tokat is in the “Halay Region”. The dances are either separa- te as women and men or mi- xed and are accompanied by instruments like drum, zurna (kind of trumpet), ba¤lama (kind of banjo), flute, and tam- bourine and sometimes with a folk song. In the plays; themes like solidarity, love, faith, di- saster, war, peace, nature, mankind, animal relationships based on religion, society and entertainment are performed and there are about 140 plots/ choreographies. Plays; con- sist of three parts as a¤›rlama, yanlama and yelleme. Rhythm wise they are 2/4, 4/4, 7/8 or 9/8. Tokat a¤›rlamas›, Tombul Makine K›z›k Halay›, Ellik Ha- lay›, K›rat, Karadut, Ters Bico Çekirge Emine Can Kazova Yanlamas›, Temira¤a, Koççari, Mero Sar›k›z, Üçayak, Yaryan- d›m, Simsim, Kartal, Gönüller Semah› and Caucasion Dances (fieflen, Kafe, Vuig) are the ones performed often in the region. And also in rituals Hubyar Semah› and K›rklar Se- mah› are performed.

Tokat A¤›rlamas›

The welcoming, hosting and contending of the guests co- ming to the wedding are told. There are three different melo- dies and three parts as “a¤›r- lama”, “yanlama” and “yelle- me”. Omuz Halay› is another

play within this play. The bride and her friends are picked up and brought to the groom’s house on horses.

The groom and his friends kneel down to take the girls on horses on their shoulders.

Simsim

Usually played on wedding nights. Played around a big fire.

Kartal Halay›

Played with player imitating the eagle flying, floating and attacking its victim.

Koyun Yüzü - Saya Gezme - Deve Oyunu

This play carrying dramatic elements, expresses the joy felt in the equinox when the sheep give birth to lambs. It is played with 12 people like the old man, bride, lover, beggar, etc who walk around the hou- ses collect food and then eat together and have a good time.

K›rklar Semah› (H›z›r Semah›)

The whirling done in Tokat among the Alevi population is the same as the one done all over Anatolia.

Ellik Play and Guinness Record

Tokat made it in Guinness Bo- ok of Records, in August 2009, when 1040 people danced ‘El- lik Halay›’ a regional folk dan- ce in Cumhuriyet Square in To- kat with the purpose of pro- moting Tokat to the world.

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TRADITIONAL

CUISINE

Tokat with its history going back to 5000’s B.C. and being a geographic passage, has a rich cuisine culture with the influ- ence of the different cultures it hosted.

Tokat Çöre¤i (cookie)

Available all the time, “Tokat Çöre¤i” is an indispensable on the dinner table of all houses especially in Ramadan. Per- fectly light for diabetics and made of chickpea yeast, “To- kat Çöre¤i” can be made plain as well as with walnut or with walnut and raisin.

Soups

Bacakl› Soup, Bütün Soup, Ça- tal Soup (Niksar Area), Erikli Soup (Niksar Area), Gendüme Soup, Mercimekli Hamur, Mer- cimekli Helle Soup, Yogurt So- up with Chickpeas, Pezüklü Toyga Soup, Green Bean Soup, Zo¤all› Soup (Niksar Area).

Bacakl› Soup

Ingredients: 1 cup eriflte (ho- me made macaroni), 1 cup len- til, 2 onions, 1 tomato, 3 green Tokat peppers, 150 g salted fat, salt, black pepper, cumin, mint.

Preparation: Pick lentil out cle- an, wash and boil in salted wa- ter. Add fettuchini in the boi- ling lentil. In a separate pot stir cubed onions and sauteed peppers to yellowish color in salted fat, add tomato. Add spices. Add the sauteed ingre-

dients to lentil and fettuchini and serve hot.

Meals

Ayval› Yahni (Meat Stew with Onions and Quince) (from Zile), Baklal› Sarma (Rolls with Bro- ad Beans), Bat (with Walnut), Bulgur Domates Yeme¤i (Dish with Boiled and Pounded Whe- at and Tomato), But Yarmas› (Dish with Rump Steak), Çöke- lekli Katmer (Flaky Pastry with “Çökelek” Cheese), Domates Biber Yeme¤i (Dish with Toma- to and Pepper), Ebe Gömeci (Mallow), Ekmek Afl› (Dish with Bread), Erikli Yavan Sarma (Plain Rolls with Plums), Etli Bütün So¤an Yahnisi (Meat Stew with Whole Onion), Etli Yaprak Sarmas› (Rolls with Me- at), Gelmifl, Haflhafll› ve Cevizli Parmak (Dish with Poppy and Walnut) (from Erbaa), Hafl›l, Is- panakl› M›hlama (Egg, Onion and Minced Meat Dish with Spinach), ‹flkefe, Kabak Kabu- ¤u Kavurmas› (Fried Marrow Skin), Keflkek, Kete (from Tur- hal), Kömeç Yeme¤i (“Kömeç” Dish), Kuru Bamya (Dried Ok- ra), Kuru Patl›can Yeme¤i (Dri- ed Aubergine Dish), Mad›mak, Mayal› Pifli (Fried Soft Dough with Yeast), Mercimekli Bulgur Pilav› (Boiled and Pounded Wheat with Lentil), Nivik, Pan- car Dal› Silkelemesi (Dish with Beet), Pancar Yeme¤i (Dish with Beetroot), Patl›can Dizme (Aubergine Dish), Patl›canl› Pehli (“Pehli” with Aubergine) (from Zile), Pehli, P›rasa Sar- mas› (Leek Rolls), Sirrun, Soh- ta Cörme, S›psi, Taze Fasulye

143 Kavurmas› (Fried Gren Beans),

Tokat Kebab› (Tokat Kebab), Tokat Tavas› (Tokat Pan Dish), Turflulu (Dish with Pickles) (from Zile), Velibah (from Tur- hal), Yeflil Fasulyeli Bulgur Pi- lav› (Boiled and Pounded Whe- at with Green Beans), Yo¤urtlu Zeytinya¤l› Patl›can (Aubergi- ne with Yoghurt and Olive Oil), Yufkal› Pilav (Thin Sheet of Do- ugh and Rice) (from Turhal), Yumurtal› Pürpürüm Kavurma- s› (Fried “Pürpürüm” with Eggs), The flat bread of Tokat with minced meat and curd.

Bat (With Walnuts)

Ingredients: 1 cup boiled gre- en lentil, 2 spoons tomato pas- te, 2 tomatoes, 2 onions, spring onions (3-5 sprouts), 200g grape leaves, 3 cups wa- ter, 1 small cup ground wal- nuts, 1 spoon dried basil, 1 bunch dills, 1 teaspoon papri- ka, and salt.

Preparation: Boil the lentil and cool it off. Mix tomato paste, walnuts, washed and sliced to- matoes, dill, basil, onion, spring onion. Serve Bat with grape leaves and home made bread.

Pehli

Ingredients: 1.5 kg lamb, leg and loin (Karayaka lamb), 3 cups water, 2 spoons butter, salt.

Preparation: Melt butter in a pan. Fry the meat well. Trans- fer to a cooker. Heat water and add on the meat. Cook over the stove. Add salt half hour later and cook the meat very well.

Serve with rice pilaf and chick- peas and serve hot.

Tokat Kebab

Ingredients: 1.5kg fresh lamb meat, 500g tail fat, 1 kg egg- plant, 1kg tomato, 300g pep- per, 6 potatoes, 10 small oni- ons, 6 teeth of garlic, 10 long lavash bread.

Preparation: Cover the mid si- ze sauteed meat with rock salt. Split the eggplants in half wit- hout peeling. Rub inner sides against each other using rock salt. Sautee to thumb size. Pe- el the potatoes and cut into half cm circles. Rub the kebab shishes tail fat. Later on the shishes string the in the order of 1 piece of tail fat, 1 whole garlic, 1 piece of sauteed meat, 1 piece of eggplant, 1 piece of potato. Use 1 whole garlic in each shish. Cut the tomatoes in half and place on the tray of the kebab stove. Align the shishes on the stove in the or- der of cooking and place on the pan with the tomatoes. After cooking for 20-30 minutes, pla- ce the shishes on the tray lined with lavash bread. Place the tomatoes in the middle. Add kebab fat in the middle of to- mato. This meal is cooked in special stoves made with the soil found in old Tokat houses. Tokat kebab is a ritual from preparation to cooking to ea- ting manners. It is cultural tre- asure left by the people of ple- asure and leisure. The oven of the Tokat kebab is an indispen- sable tradition of Tokat vine- yards. To be able to make the-

145 se ovens is a measure of mas-

tering and value in Tokat area. Every ingredient of the kebab requires skill. It is said that To- kat oven is the most advanced among Anatolian civilizations. With its special built it avoids direct contact of the food with heat; meaning, the vegetable and meat is both grilled and placed into the oven with the perspiration technique. The vegetables and meat are hung inside the oven and this way they are cooked evenly. Tokat kebab is easy to digest although the opposite might be thought, since it is cooked in dry heat. When the old ovens are examined it is seen that in the past Tokat kebab was cooked in ovens that were heated without facing fire. But later when commercialized to catch up with time, Tokat ke- bab started being cooked in valonia wood fire and lasted till today.

Basta-fiipsi (Caucasian Cuisine)

Ingredients: 1 big chicken, 2 onions, half cup olive oil, 3-4 teeth garlic, sea salt, black pepper, water, 1 spoon butter, 2 spoons flour, 1 spoon tomato paste, 1 cup bulgur.

Preparation: Smoke the chic- ken and then wash and chop. Fry sauteed onions in oil, add the chopped chicken. Add the garlic and stir for a while. Add black pepper and salt and co- ver with water and boil. In a se- parate pan stir the flour with

butter a little, add tomato pas- te and continue to stir. Add chicken broth. When boiled add the chopped chicken and cook for 10 minutes. For the Basta boil the bulgur, water and salt mixture. Mesh the boi- led bulgur with a spoon, to help chicken broth can be ad- ded. When meshed thoroughly (to a smooth paste) transfer to a round tray and flatten, make a hole in the center. While ser- ving, put the meat on the sides and the soup in the hole in the center.

Desserts

Kuru Erik Tatl›s› (Dried Plum Dessert), Leylek Gili¤i, Pancar Tatl›s› (Beetroot Dessert) (from Turhal), Pekmez Helvas› (Halva with Grape Molasses) (from Turhal), Yufka Tatl›s› (Dessert with Thin Sheet of Dough).

Dried Plum Dessert

Ingredients: 500g dried plum, sugar, water, 1 cup ground wal- nut.

Recipe: Wash the plums. Fill a pan with water up to an inch above plums. Cook the plums for about 10 minutes till they get soft. Add 2 cups sugar, co- ok for 7 minutes and taste. Amount of sugar can be adjusted. Boil with the lid off till the water gets syrupy. Place in a flat plate and leave to cool off. Add walnuts when cool. Vine leaves of Tokat, ro- sehip, Zile grape molasses are the hightlights of Tokat cuisi- ne, one should taste.

146

VERBAL CULTURE