Я использую много специй в своей готовке. Моя жизнь и путешествия по Индии, Марокко и Турции научили меня внимательному обращению с ними. Теперь, когда я еду домой и готовлю у родителей или друзей, мне чаще всего не хватает именно специй. Почему я так полагаюсь на них?
Мои любимые специи
(English) Red Lentil and Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Have you noticed how the cold days bring food cravings along? Finding yet another excuse to bake. Ditching meals for a cake. Curling up on the sofa with a treat. Tell me about it. Or do you know the feeling after a meal when you had quite a bit to eat but still don’t feel satisfied? A few years ago I often considered a sweet bite and espresso after lunch or dinner. I could pass on the dessert, but no meal was complete without a cup of espresso. Now with my growing awareness about how we eat I can see that I was intuitively looking for the astringent taste to finish a meal, only that I did not know better than coffee. This espresso incident still reminds me that the meals I was eating back then were not balanced enough leaving me to crave even after I ate sufficient quantities of food.
(English) Spice Roasted Cauliflower with Green Tahini
I roast vegetables all the time. Rubbed with olive oil, salt and occasionally spices, they get cozy in the oven giving me time to consider how to serve them. They may keep a company to the meatballs or grilled fish as the thin arches of roasted fennel bulb my husband worships. Perhaps, they might become a spectacular meze like the whole, skin and all, roasted peppers I turn into the addictive muhammara. Roasted vegetables can suffice as a meal on its own calling only for a simple sauce or possibly an egg cracked on top if you are reheating the leftovers. And never, never underestimate the nourishing power of a creamy thick soup made with roasted roots.
(English) Istanbul Pantries: Ulli, Ayurvedic Consultant, Herbalist and Yoga Therapist
I met Ulli through my Istanbul Breakfast Club and was soon introduced to her own cooking: her meals always strike me as utterly delicious, nourishing and making you feel content and yet light while her baked goods are the most delicious guilt-free treats I have tried in Istanbul. She’s such a fascinating woman that I wanted you to meet her in my Istanbul Pantries Series: I chatted with Ulli about her cooking style, favorite Turkish pantry items and tips for shopping in Istanbul.
(English) Istanbul Pantries: Alex, San Francisco Baker and Agriculture Researcher
How do you feel about peeking at other people’s kitchen pantries? This is the first thing I do when allowed to somebody’s kitchen! What can be more fascinating than looking at your friend’s curated collection of jars, boxes, bags of the cooking condiments you also use, you know but have never ventured to cook with or you never knew existed? I love asking questions and hearing stories about how people source their ingredients and what they cook with them. A week ago Alex, my friend from San Francisco living in Istanbul, invited me over to have a look at her pantry.
(English) To The Food Snobs
The first time I was admitted to Marina’s kitchen it became clear I was dealing with a food snob. There are people who love eating and appreciate a broad range of foods; they are called foodies. Yet certain individuals are so meticulous about their food they would be looking down on you indulging your store-bought hummus or — God forbid — hummus made of unpeeled canned chickpeas. The said individuals are food snobs. Like Marina. Or like myself. I often talk about how spending time with my mother-in-law cooking top-notch Turkish food in Sapanca has made me such a demanding eater. But it is hanging out with Marina in Istanbul — over food, food shopping, cooking or eating — that has shaped me as an ultimate food snob.
(English) 7 Turkish Spices Worth Hunting For
Turks do have a few things to teach the world when it comes to the spices. Not every spice used in Turkish cooking originates from Turkey but it does not meat they has not acquired special place and use in Turkish cuisine. And where to get a better idea of the Turkish spices if not at the famed Istanbul Spice market, a venue where spices have been traded for centuries?
Let’s get a few things straight. If you try to educated yourself about the use of spices in Turkish cuisine by visiting the Istanbul Spice Market you may come out with rather inaccurate impressions, at best. Instead of buying what spice sellers would like to sell you should be looking for the spices you are interested in. And here are the tips to get your hunt for Turkish spices started.
