I feel very privileged to be blogging about Turkish food as there is just not enough written about this massive topic. Especially when it comes to the Turkish recipes which one may say are all over and nowhere at the same time. I can rarely find reliable recipes for the Turkish food I want to cook.

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I lost my sleep after the last visit to Kantin, not your typical Istanbul canteen catering to the working crowd of the upscale district of Nişantasi. I was that thrilled not by the discussion of entering Azerbaijan market held by the industrialists at the next table and not even by my show-stopping salad. What kept me thinking for a week was a package of crackers I bought at their store downstairs.

The crackers were long and generously seasoned with your typical Turkish greatness: coriander seeds, nigella seeds, poppy seeds, dry mint and tomato paste. Kantin’s crackers are made of the “stolen” (as Şemsa Denizsel, the chef and proprietor puts it) sourdough purposed for the bread . I bought a bag of crackers and it was a big hit with my family that loves their tea time savory bits. So I set to work to find out how to make such crackers if you don’t have sourdough handy (phew).

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Turkish home baking is never fussy. It is what has become trendy to call rustic. Set aside baklava and Turkish attempts to recreate French pastry, and you will see something awkwardly shaped without much thrills. Cut with a tea class, shaped with a fork, or pressed with fingertips. Rustic was a necessity decades ago as women were juggling the chords of raising many children, working in a field, doing homework and cooking. With fewer children per houseful and no working in the fields rustic has become a fashion. So these dill biscuits of mine are terribly trendy.

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Today I would like to dream. About how Turkish baking could be. With a bit of butter lavishness. And more experimental use of the local ingredients. Like persimmons.. like red pepper flakes..
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It is still rather warm in Istanbul. 22C by day. It has snowed somewhere. Or so I hear from my sister who’s very close to the Russian-Finnish border these days. I am not sure what’s the snow outlook for Istanbul this year. But I know it will get colder here in a few weeks too. And I will start baking.

This baking season I have decided to go beyond selfish cravings for moist chocolate cakes and upside down cakes. Who needs another recipe for those really? Instead I am going to introduce you to more of Turkish baking - from Istanbul pastry shops, from regular Turkish homes, from my frivolous baking dreams. Join my Turkish baking quest and win a set of fantastic cooking condiments you can bake with (and not only!) from Istanbul!

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The whole week I am playing a kitchen patroness. Because I am replacing one. Anne has got her cancer treatment and at a rehabilitation right now. She would not be able to go outside for a few weeks. When leaving she said, “Now, you are on duty“. And so I am. I thought it would be straightforward but more often than not I wish she was nearby so I could show her my cookie dough and ask whether the texture was right.

But I am nailing it down. Last night I realized that 80% of over the dozen courses we served for dinner were made by me. I guess if the customers of Zeliş Çifliği had realized that this young foreign woman feeding them many would have been shocked. Because Turkish food is such a sacred domain and outsiders have no clue. Anyway, making food was a breeze. Unlike the morning baking.

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