I am obsessed with reducing food waste. Even so more since I am in a risk group: mine is a small urban household where wasting food is both likely and easy. Plus, I run a food-related business. That’s why besides my food waste prevention routines I undertake small projects now and then.
I have been writing a lot about the winter greens that come with thick juicy stalks or root vegetables that are often sold here with the greens (and I’ve gotten pretty good at salvaging them from the greengrocers). Leafy greens don’t keep so well, and it’s hard to use them whole in a single dish. Here is your food waste potential. Or a room for a little project.
[click to continue…]
I often get asked about the Turkish cookbooks in English I recommend. Overall I feel there it still too little written about this world-class cuisine, but fortunately there are a few great cookbooks out there. Here are the 5 favorites I often consult or simply page through for an inspiration.
[click to continue…]
There is a certain decadence to compote. The word is French, and so is the custom of serving it as a light dessert. When I think compote, I picture a long late night dinner accompanied by an intellectual conversation in French and a cake with compote served at the end. Otherwise, a hybrid of beverage, cold soup and dessert, compote is a rare animal on the modern-day tables.
[click to continue…]
When buying beets, have you ever though with happens its beautiful lush greens? The ones with the purple stem, purple veins and the leaves green as the forest at a summer dawn. Some of them may be fed to the animals, but a lot of the greens get tossed. A few weeks ago I was walking through the Kadıköy market at an early hour when the vendors are still setting their stalls. I spotted a huge box of assorted stems and leaves, and asked the greengrocer (who was peeling off very edible, but not so good looking layers from the leeks) what was going to happen with them. “We are tossing them”. I recognized beet greens and black radish stems in the box. “Can I take some?” “Go for it. What are you going to do with them?” I did know make my mind, “Soup? Börek?” For me it was ridiculous he even asked: what would you not do with the greens like that? “I took a bunch of mixed greens and headed home.
[click to continue…]
Living abroad for the past 10 years, I have learned one certain thing: you should never take for granted how people go about routines. Think about street crossing. In Norway any car, however big and cool, will slow down to let you cross the street. In India no car will ever stop to let you cross, but if you find the courage to start crossing and signaling where you are heading, the drivers will take you into account. In Russia a car may run over you crossing the road if the driver is an oligarch. In Turkey you play chicken with an approaching car to see who has more self-confidence - you crossing the road or the car driver running over you. These differences come from the different chips we were born with and the different conditions we grew up in, so don’t assume that you and me bake in the same way.
[click to continue…]
What did you cook last time you had no time or little energy left to put together a proper meal? Did you dry an egg? Did you inspect the fridge in the hope for the tasty and (and still edible) leftovers? Did you make hot-dogs like my husband? Did you brew some tea and pull out the breakfast set with cheese and olives, like my Turkish family? Did you just order in?
[click to continue…]
