In search of lost taste Kavata: Tomato, pepper or eggplant?
ISTANBUL
A few weeks ago, on our way back from Bursa, I came across a long-lost taste at a roadside fruit and vegetable stand that thrilled me. Among the various types of peppers — Charleston peppers, bright green village peppers, stuffing bell peppers, and sweet-and-spicy pointed peppers—there was a small amount of flat, round peppers that looked like bright green tomatoes. They were almost hidden among the others. I couldn’t help but exclaim, “Hurray, it’s kavata!” When I asked the seller what they were called, he simply replied, “Gavata, of course!” The kavatas on the stand were immediately snapped up by the food researchers and historians in our group. We were all ecstatic.
Kavata is a taste that was once very popular in Ottoman cuisine but eventually disappeared. However, today it is still grown and enjoyed in the Bursa and Bilecik regions. For years, kavata was regarded as a name given to green tomato. As is well known, although all peppers are eaten green, they eventually turn red, yellow or orange, at least when dried. When kavata turns red, it resembles a fully ripe tomato. It is, however, eaten when green, and its firm, juicy flesh is what makes it so beloved. Its taste is similar to that of a green pepper used for stuffing, but it is much fuller, with thicker walls, and has a pleasant, sweet flavor.
What exactly is a kavata? Though it was mentioned in historical sources, nobody seemed to get hold of one to taste the real thing. This question has occupied researchers and historians for years. For a long time, kavata was interpreted as a green tomato, and at times it was believed to be a pepper shaped like a tomato. Ultimately, one researcher, food historian Priscilla Mary Işın, scrutinized all data and, with some field research, she concluded that it is neither an unripe tomato nor a pretty pepper, but a type of eggplant, an odd one indeed, shattering or debunking all former beliefs. Many researchers were perplexed. Which was correct? Was kavata a tomato or a pepper or, against all former beliefs, a strange eggplant?
What does the name mean?
Kavata is actually a word used for carved wooden bowls, and it appears more often in records as a kitchen utensil. For instance, Evliya Çelebi, the famed Ottoman traveler, makes no mention of the kavata as a vegetable, but lists it among kitchen utensils. The word originates from the Latin verb “cavare,” meaning “to carve,” and “cavata” means hollow or carved. It is likely that it was named “kavata” due to its round, flat shape, which resembles a rather flat bowl when cut. Its shape and structure resemble a tomato, particularly the once-common curvy ribbed tomatoes. Since it is eaten green rather than ripe, it has always been interpreted as a green tomato. It is thought to have come to Anatolia from Africa, which is likely because it was always mentioned alongside okra and molohiya, which are both from Africa. However, if it is truly a type of pepper, or even a green state of a tomato, then it should be of American origin, like all tomatoes and peppers. Still, we know that certain foods, such as peanuts, which originated in Peru and Bolivia, and came to Anatolia via Africa through the slave trade from the Americas. However, when we say, “African origin,” we can also think of a connection with Asian plants that made their way to Arica first, and then up north to Anatolia.
Bitter or sweet?
Old sources often describe kavata as having a certain bitter flavor, saying that its inner skin and seeds taste bitter. However, the ones we bought on the road to Bursa were really sweet, with no trace of bitterness in the skin or seeds. But the definition of bitterness can be confusing in our language and in translations. There is a single word “acı” that refers to both “bitter” and to “spicy,” or “hot” flavors in Turkish. The term “acı” is sometimes used to describe quinine-like bitter flavors, or sometimes, the kind of heat that makes your mouth burn, like chili peppers. Therefore, it’s not always clear which type of taste is being referred to. However, we can make an inference from the recipes. For instance, if a recipe says, boil to remove the “acı” taste, or salt to extract the 'acı” flavor, it must be a way of dealing with “bitterness.” Then it is more accurate to think of it as quinine-like bitterness. It’s similar to how we used to treat the bitter eggplants of the past. At this point, one can draw a parallel with Asian eggplants that are green in color and resemble peppers. Indeed, kavata has also been defined as African eggplant or Ethiopian eggplant. If the bitterness referred to is that of quinine, it is possible to support this theory by drawing parallels with old bitter eggplants and today’s Asian eggplant varieties.
The determined detective, Mary!
The most comprehensive and groundbreaking publication on the true nature of kavata came years ago in 2013 from Priscilla Mary Işın. Her article titled “In Pursuit of Kavata,” a must-read for any food history enthusiast, is a true detective adventure. Mary dives into old Ottoman-era cookbooks, references accounts by foreign travelers, examines the purchase ledgers of Topkapı Palace, in short, she goes through every written source that existed, always citing the original source of each reference. She does not settle for written sources; she goes to the villages of Bursa in search of kavata. Indeed, after finding a kavata plant in the village of Alaeddin Bey in Bursa, she first consults botanists in Türkiye and Italy, and finally takes a whole plant — roots, leaves and fruit — to the Oxford Botanic Garden in England for a definitive botanical identification. Yes, kavata is neither a green tomato nor a type of pepper; it is originally an eggplant, known by its Latin name Solanum aethiopicum, or the African or Ethiopian eggplant. When her article was published, it was groundbreaking news, deeply frustrating the ones who wrote about kavata as unripe tomatoes. Well, we can say that they are relatives, though not close; tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are all related, belonging to the same Solanaceae family.
So, what is the result? Kavata is a tomato-shaped, sweet pepper-flavored vegetable, far removed from its distant Asian relative, the eggplant, which has traveled far and wide, disappeared in the land of Abyssinia and probably ended up on Ottoman tables in the bosom of an unfortunate black slave, becoming the Sultan’s delicacy! Originally a bitter eggplant, it has journeyed through the cycle of fate, leaving its bitter days behind to become sweet.
