Poğaça (Turkish Cheese Pastry): Secret to Divine Mornings
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.
[click to continue…]
Classic Menemen Recipe
Winter is way more cheerful in Istanbul than back on our hilltops. And way more delusional: the bright sun dazzles not only your eyes but also the brain and makes you think the spring is early this year. My sunglassed neighbors in Moda are happy to be tricked: they leisurely promenade by the Sea of Marmara, queue for the Belgian-style waffles at Kemal Usta and occupy all the tables at the street cafes. But it’s all only the theater: there is still not a sign of fresh artichoke or asparagus or even humble nettle on the market stalls to confirm the spring has arrived.
[click to continue…]
Easy Eggs with Grated Potatoes
“He has got interesting relationships with food, my brother. He needs to find something beautiful that would be worth eating” - Özgür’s sister Özge says.
Is not that interesting that some people are more fussy about their food then the others? It does not take much effort to figure out good food and become reasonably fussy, if you ask me. We all practice eating three times a day for many years which gives a natural ground to develop substantial expertise in food. Yet, some people are happy with any food they get and some are very particular about what they are eating.
[click to continue…]
Menemen (Turkish Scrambled Eggs) Rethought
If there is an iconic food that many Istanbulites would swear by, it is menemen, scrambled eggs cooked with tomatoes and green peppers and traditionally served in a tin-lined copper pan with two handles (sahan). The eggs are a bit undercooked: there is a definite joy in breaking a large piece off the white bread, dipping it onto the moist eggs and munch this deliciousness enriched by the tomatoes and crunchy peppers.
[click to continue…]
