MULBERRIES
In the intoxicating coolness of the early morning,
young women with buckets and tarpaulins in hand leave their houses
behind, and are soon on the earth road which runs between the orchards.
The air is filled with the melody of water pouring through the irrigation
channels and the singing of birds. When they reach the mulberry
orchards the tarpaulins are spread beneath the trees and the strongest
of the women begin to shake the branches. The white mulberries come
pattering down, some full and juicy, others nearly dried. Then the
buckets are filled with the fruit, and those that have fallen on
the ground are carefully gathered so that none goes to waste.
For the village people summer is not a time of rest but of hard
work. They rise in the first light of day and continue to work with
hardly a pause until sunset. Arzu, Tülay, Nuray, Fatma and
Özden toil like bees or ants. The day is long but there is
plenty of work to fill the hours.
Carrying their buckets of mulberries they make their
way home and set about lighting fires under huge cauldrons in their
courtyards or outside their front doors. The experienced older women
- Adile, Emine and Türkân - supervise the work, while
the young women and girls who are their apprentices wash the mulberries
and pour them into the cauldrons. To make mulberry pekmez (fruit
molasses), the boiled fruit is then poured into baskets and the
juice strained into copper vessels. If fresh mulberries are being
used the juice is strained for a second time through bags. The juice
is then boiled up, strained through cloths and poured into large
shallow pans which are placed on the flat roofs in the hot sun for
several days until the juice is transformed into a dark syrup. After
being strained one last time, the syrup is poured into glass jars,
ready to put on the breakfast table.
The first stages of preparation are similar for
making pestil, or sheets of dried fruit syrup.
For this the boiled and strained juice is boiled
for a second time with either flour or starch, stirring until it
thickens. This mixture is then poured into copper buckets and spread
in a thin layer over muslin cloths laid on the roofs. Five or six
women are needed to do this job together. While two hold the cloth
at either end, two hold a pole beneath it, and the others begin
to spread the fruit mixture onto the cloth using strainer spoons.
Pestil made with flour is spread thicker than that made with starch,
and its colour is darker. Poppy seeds are sprinkled over starch
pestil. In some areas coarsely ground walnuts are added to the mixture.
The pestil is left to dry on the roofs overnight,
and the following day the cloths are slightly dampened and peeled
away. The pestil is left to dry for another few hours, and then
in the case of starch pestil the upper surface is sprinkled lightly
with starch. It is then cut with scissors into large pieces and
folded up, a process known as tahtalama.
As well as pestil and pekmez, the mulberries are
preserved by drying, in which case they are spread on tarpaulins
on the roofs under the blazing sun for several days. They are then
picked over and filled into jars to provide a tasty nibble on winter
evenings.In September and October, another delicious confection
made of dried mulberries and walnuts is made. Known as cevizli sucuk,
literally ‘walnut sausage’, the walnuts are first threaded
a few centimetres apart onto strings. The strings are then repeatedly
dipped into a syrup made from dried mulberries every five or ten
minutes until they reach the desired thickness. The strings are
then hung up to dry.
Then we must not forget dut ezmesi, yet another
unforgettable flavour. For this dried mulberries are pounded and
sieved into a large shallow pan to form a thin layer. Ground walnuts
are then sprinkled over the top, and covered by a second layer of
pounded mulberries. The whole is then pressed firmly down and left
in the sun. When dry it is cut into slices and stored.
Black mulberries are not as versatile, but apart
from being eaten fresh are used to make a delightfully refreshing
summer drink with a sweet yet tart flavour. As for pekmez the mulberries
are boiled, then strained and the juice poured into shallow pans
which are then left in the sun for several days. The resulting thick
syrup is stored in bottles for diluting with water when required.
As well as being a source of so many varied flavours,
mulberries are rich in vitamins. They are said to strengthen the
blood, improve the appetite, reduce fat levels in the kidneys to
normal, and to be beneficial for liver complaints and angina. Mulberry
molasses is highly recommended for colds, stomach complaints and
anaemia. White mulberries eaten on an empty stomach followed by
a glass of water get the intestines working. Mulberries are widely
grown throughout Turkey, the main varieties being white, black and
red.
While in western Turkey they are mainly grown for
sericulture and the leaves fed to the silkworms, the fresh fruit
only being eaten, in the central, southern and eastern regions of
the country the diverse confections described above are made. In
western Turkey the mulberry trees fruit for 15 to 20 days in June,
whereas further to the east they continue to fruit in diminishing
quantities until the end of August. Kemaliye, Malatya, Elazig and
Adiyaman in the east are famous for their pipless mulberries, and
here mulberry confections are produced in the largest quantities.
Here no breakfast table is complete without health-giving mulberry
molasses, and black mulberry syrup is the principal drink in summer.
On cold winter evenings the diverse mulberry confections serve as
dessert and snacks at gatherings of families and friends.
By Gunsel YILDIRIM
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