New Year's Supper: Highlights

In the celebration of the New Year, the most important meal is the New Year's Supper that usually lasts until very late hours.
A typical Turkish New Year’s Eve Supper, can be composed initially by a dinner with a soup, one or more appetizers (meze), pilaf, salad, a main dish, which is usually stuffed turkey (Hindi Dolması), but can be also stuffed chicken (Tavuk Dolması) or other dishes, usually meat dishes, and one or more desserts.

The most common turkey stuffing in the New Year is the iç pilavı, containing usually dried red currants, pine nuts, turkey or lamb liver in very small pieces, and flavored with all spice and cinnamon. Often, the turkey, in addition to the rice filling, is also stuffed with chestnuts (Kestaneli Hindi Dolması).

The whole turkey only appears in supermarkets at this time of the year, and is not very consumed in Turkey in the rest of the year.

The dinner may be accompanied with wine, which occupies an important place in the New Year's Supper, in the case of consumers of alcoholic beverages and wine lovers.

The most appreciated and consumed alcoholic beverage in Turkey is the raki, the national drink of the country. It is also very popular in the New Year’s Supper, among other alcoholic drinks, such as vodka, whisky, beer and various liquors.

Raki is not drunk pure. It is always mixed with water and also accompanied with water. Another raki’s inseparable company, are the mezes, which are a wide range of Turkish appetizers, namely stuffed grape leaves, several köfte, dolmas, among many others.

Russian Salad (Rus Salatası) is a very popular meze in Turkey.

Several mezes for sale in a supermarket in Ankara

On the New Year’s Eve, after the dinner, the evening may continue with various mezes, with raki and other beverages, and also kuruyemiş (dried fruits for aperitif).

Wine, kuruyemiş and pineapple in a supermarket in Ankara

The menus of the restaurants and hotels can repeat this type of menu or can opt for more international menus.

The New Year’s Eve is generally an happy coexistence between family and friends, animated with typical games, eventually with colorful flower arrangements that resemble the ones typical of Christmas, and often lit by intermittent lights that can decorate a "Christmas tree” and the windows and balconies. People also exchange presents, and there are special shows on television, in the main squares of the cities, in hotels, restaurants and bars, in addition to the spontaneous meetings on the streets.

Natural European holly for sale in Kızılay, in the center of Ankara.

Happy New Year! ***** Mutlu Yıllar!

Pomegranate Juice (Nar Suyu)

Turkey is right now in the pomegranate season, so the pomegranate juice is a constant presence in the Turkish homes and in the natural juices selling points.
The easiest and convenient way to make pomegranate juice at home is with a citrus-squeezer (in the picture), very common in Turkey.

The pomegranate has properties very beneficial to health, which are also present in its shell. You can use the pomegranate shells to make tea.

Rice Stuffed Chicken (İç Pilavlı Tavuk Dolması)

There is also a version of this recipe made with turkey. The recipe with turkey is specific for the New Year, as the turkey in Turkey is almost only eaten in the New Year.
Both versions are a good suggestion for the New Year’s Supper or for the lunch of the first day of the year.

1 chicken with about 2 kg * 50 ml of olive oil * 2 tbsp thyme, * black pepper * red pepper * salt

Filling:

1 cup rice * 1 1/2 cup water * 3 tbsp dried red currants * 1 onion * 1 tbsp olive oil * salt * black pepper * 1 tsp cinnamon * 1 tsp all spice

Wash the rice and place it in hot water for about 20-30 minutes. Mix the olive oil with the spices and the salt. Place the chicken in an oven tray and brush it with this mixture. Put it in the oven at 180° for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Sauté the onion in olive oil. Add the rice and fry it lightly for about 2-3 minutes. Add salt, black pepper, all spice and cinnamon. Add the water and the red currants. Cook until all the water evaporates. Stuff the chicken with the rice and place the chicken again into the oven for about 15 minutes.
The rice recipe (İç Pilavı), which name means Rice for Stuffing, is also used as a filling of dolmas and sarmas and as a side dish.

Dried Figs and Walnuts Dessert (Cevizli İncir Tatlısı)

Makes 7 - 8 servings

1 kg dried figs * 150 g walnuts * 2 cups sugar (400 g) * 1 1/2 cup cold water * 1 stick cinnamon

With a knife, open the figs in half without completely separating the halves. Put them in warm water for 10-15 minutes. Stuff them with the walnuts. Place them in a pot without overlapping. Sprinkle with the sugar. Add the cinnamon stick and the cold water. Cook on low heat in boiling water for about 20-25 minutes. When the syrup evaporates, turn off the fire and let it cool down. Wait about 30 minutes and serve cold.

Merry Christmas! **** Noeliniz Kutlu Olsun!

Pumpkin Sweet (Kabak Tatlısı)

Makes 6-7 servings

6 medium slices / 1 kg pumpkin * 4 cups sugar (800 g) * 2 cups cold water

To garnish:

200 g walnuts * 3-4 tbsp kaymak (or whipped cream without sugar)

Peel the pumpkin and cut into slices giving them an oval shape. Arrange the slices in a large pot and sprinkle them with the sugar. Then add the water. Cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, until the water evaporate. Place the pieces of pumpkin in a big serving plate or in individual dishes. Decorate with walnuts and, if desired, serve with kaymak.

The kaymak combines perfectly with desserts and honey. It is cream with a consistency similar to butter. You can replace it with whipped cream without sugar. Soon I will talk in detail about the delicious kaymak.

Fried Bread with Cheese (Peynirli Yumurtalı Ekmekler)

Makes 4 servings

8 bread slices * 2 cups milk * 200 g kaşar cheese (or cheddar) * 2 eggs * 2 tsp thyme * 1 tsp red pepper * 1 1/2 cup crumbled bread * oil to fry

Put the milk in a deep bowl. Dip each bread slice in the milk, and place them in a large plate. Cut the cheese in slices and place two of them over four bread slices. Cover with the remaining ones. Mix the eggs with the red pepper and the thyme. Put the crumbled bread in a plate. Pass both sides of the bread on the crumbled bread and then in the eggs. Fry in very hot oil. Serve hot.

Fried Cauliflower (Karnabahar Tava)

1 cauliflower * 1 cup crumbled kaşar cheese (or cheddar) * 2 coffee cups flour * 1 egg * 2 coffee cups corn starch * 1 bottle (33 cl) of mineral water with gas or beer * salt * oil to fry

Wash the cauliflower and separate the flowers. Cook with water and salt. Then, wash with cold water. In a bowl, place the mashed cheese, the flour, the egg, the corn starch, the water (or the beer) and the salt. Pass the cauliflower on this sauce, one by one, and fry.

This dish is a delicious appetizer and is included in the many Turkish meze (appetizer). The meze have a very special role in the Turkish cuisine, and many times the Turkish meals are composed by a group of various meze.

Lokma and Tulumba (Lokma ve Tulumba Tatlısı)

Lokma and tulumba are two versions of a kind of a sweet very typical in Turkey. There is also another, called halka tatlısı with the shape of a ring. The dough is very similar to the one of the Portuguese farturas or churros. It is fried and then dipped in very hot sugar syrup. They are crusty and melt in the mouth...

Chicken Croquettes (Tavuk Köftesi)

Makes 4 servings

2 chicken breast (without bone and skin) * 1 cup water * 3 old bread slices * 1 onion * 1 tbsp minced parsley * 2 eggs * salt * black pepper * grated bread * 3 tbsp oil to fry

Boil the chicken in one cup water, on low heat, for about 25 minutes. Mince the chicken with the hands or use the mixer. Moisture the bread in some water and squeeze it. Mince the onion and the parsley. Mix the chicken with the bread, one egg, onion and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Thoroughly mix all ingredients. Take portions of the mixture in the size of an egg and give them a croquette shape. Whisk an egg. Place grated bread in another recipient. Put oil in a frying pan. Pass the croquettes first in the bread and then in the egg. Pass them again in grated bread and fry them. Serve hot.