Community Ovens: The Place to Buy Fresh Baked Bread
Turkish culture, like many cultures in this region of the world, is a collectivistic culture. This means that in general Turkish people think in group, or communal terms instead of individual terms. They enjoy group activities. They enjoy doing things together. They don’t want to be left out or to leave anyone out. They like working together, playing together, even resting together, and they share resources.
This collective mindset is reflected in a lot of aspects of Turkish life. One of those ways is in the community oven, or fırın, as the word is in Turkish. While of course many Turkish homes have their own oven, most Turks prefer the local fırın to buy their fresh bread every day. This generally entails standing in line, greeting and passing by neighbors, and is an overall participation in the community.
The ovens are made of brick, and heated by different means. Below is an oven near my house that uses wood to heat the brick. Below that is another oven which uses natural gas to avoid the smoke and ash created by the wood.
In Adana, pide ekmek is a bread popular at all times of day, but especially at breakfast. In the mornings sometimes you can see lines of people waiting at their local fırın to purchase it.
The dough is made of flour, salt, and yeast and is rolled out on long tables. Then it is placed on wooden paddles to put into the oven. The bread is sold for 1 Turkish Lira per piece.
Another service offered by local fırıns is that of baking pizza or cheesy bread. The customer brings in whatever toppings they want to add, and the baker rolls out a crust for it, baking it in the oven, then charging by the piece. Turkish pizza, or lahmacun, is topped with a mixture of lamb meat, tomato/pepper paste, onion, parsley, and other spices. Adana’s lahmacun is known for being spicy and full of flavor. Add to this the thin, crispy dough baked in the local brick oven and you have a delicious meal!
If you have the chance to buy some bread from a local community oven, you should. You will enjoy not only the taste of freshly baked bread, you will enjoy a small taste of the community itself.
TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE WEST, KEEP LOOKING EAST!
Ginny Lou Henley
Ginny Lou is a co-founder of West2East. Originally from Alabama, Ginny Lou has called Turkey home for the past nine years. To read more about her, click here.