by Zeynep Cermen
ISTANBUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Prawn satay half cooked over a mini Asian barbecue was ready to be served, while the chef was still busy decorating a plate of sushi rolls with salted bonito flakes and crispy French fried potatoes.
The restaurant named after a banyan tree was to be packed soon with customers, who came for a fusion cuisine as dinner as well as for a breathtaking view of the Bosphorus Strait from the upscale Ortakoy neighborhood in Istanbul.
For the main course that day, the chef and his team selected a portion of a filet mignon already marinated for 24 hours in Japanese sake.
"We serve the main dish with seven-herb Asian pesto, which includes kaffir lime leaves and coriander along with other greens and a curry rice cake flavored with traditionally pickled Japanese ginger, gari," said Cem Pasinli, owner of the restaurant.
"We blend Asian foods with classic European cooking methods and create different specialties," he explained, saying the items on the menu have more flavors of Thai cuisine but are blended as well with Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Cambodian and Malaysian tastes.
Onur Koksal, the chef, was placing seaweed on a bamboo mat, covering the sheet of seaweed with a delicious layer of sushi rice. Later he put in a flake of salted bonito and gently rolled it with a rice paddle.
"This is a solid example of our fusion technique," said Koksal. "We combine typical traditional Asian sushi rolls with a wine reduction sauce inspired from a French flavoring used for their well-known poached pears in red wine."
He said the sauce also includes star anise, clove and cinnamon, while the salted bonito inside the rolls is usually very appealing to Turkish and Greek diners.
Koksal regularly creates new items for the menu as he has been trying to improve his creativity, like combining wasabi or Japanese horseradish with white chocolate.
"We need to be innovative to be unconventional and successful in the sector," he said.
Following a 20-year corporate life, Pasinli decided in 2002 to try on fine dining with Asiatic tastes. The following year, he opened his restaurant, the first of its kind in Turkey.
However, some essential elements like coriander or galangal were then almost impossible to find in the country, as Turkish people were not very keen on Asian cuisine.
Pasinli had to rely on his contacts in Asia for kitchen supplies and brought them back in suitcases.
"We also faced a lot of criticism from the customers as they were not familiar with the Asian flavors at all," the owner said, noting Turks have travelled a lot over the years and got used to new tastes.
Pasinli loves to mix some local spices with Asian seasonings for his fusion cuisine. He spends a lot of time in open-air markets across the city to find unique herbs and spices used in local cuisine.
"In that sense, I could say Banyan is the pioneer of fine dining, bringing Asian flavors to Turkey and combining them with Turkish and European delicacies," he said.
At Banyan, a dinner for two costs approximately 600 Turkish liras, or nearly 115 U.S. dollars.
