Yeşillikler

Green chickpeas (yeşil nohut), a variety of parsley (firik maydonoz) and nettles (ısırgan otu).

Çorum Bread (Çorum Ekmeği)

Although it seems ordinary bread equal to many others, it surprises for its crustiness, lightness and has also the typical flavor of bread baked in firewood stove.
This is the type of bread most consumed in Turkey, and is also used in the döner and other Turkish fast-food, especially in fried fish sandwiches, which are also very typical.
This bread is made with Çorum flour. Çorum is a Turkish province located in the Black Sea region, which is also known for having the best flour of the country.

Orchid Root Drink (Salep)

Seller of Salep in the center of Ankara, December 2007.

The salep is a drink made of orchid root in powder called salep, which lends its name to the drink. It is a hot drink very common in Turkey during the winter, like the boza, another drink made with bulgur.
The popularity of salep extended from Turkey and the Middle East to England and Germany before the coming of coffee and tea, and later remained as an alternative beverage.
The Romans used the orchid roots to produce some beverages considered a powerful aphrodisiac.
In Turkey there are desserts made with salep and also ice creams. The Turkish city of Kahramanmaraş is the biggest salep producer and the delicious Kahramanmaraş ice creams are famous throughout Turkey.
The popularity of salep in Turkey led to the decrease in the amount of wild orchids in the country. As a result, it is illegal to export salep. Also due to this fact, there are many instant mixtures for sale to make salep drink with artificial aroma.



Makes 1 serving

1 cup milk * 1 tsp salep * cinnamon powder * sugar

Mix the salep and the milk very well until boiling. Add sugar to taste and sprinkle with cinnamon. Drink hot.

Note: In Turkey, the genuine salep powder can be found for sale in herbalists (Lokman Hekim). The instant preparations are sold in any supermarket.

Dry Mint (Kuru Nane)

Dried mint is essential in many Turkish cuisine dishes, particularly in some soups. It gives a unique and delicious flavor to dishes, more discreet than fresh mint.

Baked Chestnut Seller

Ankara, February 2008.

At the Market

Purple / black carrots (kara havuç).


White cabbage - brassica oleracea var. capitata f. alba (beyaz lahana). This is the most common cabbage in Turkey, and is always very big.


Oranges (portakal).




Turnips (turp).


Jerusalem artichokes (yer elması).




Pumpkin (bal kabağı).


Chestnuts (kestane).


Cauliflower (karnabahar) and broccoli (brokoli).

Weekly market in Ankara, December 2007.

Vermicelli (Tel Şehriye)

In Turkey, this kind of pasta is used specially in soups and pilafs.

Beypazarı Baklava (Beypazarı Baklavası)

Beypazarı is a town belonging to the province of Ankara and located nearly 100 kilometers far from the centre of the capital of Turkey. Walking in the streets of Beypazarı is a discovery of new flavors in every meter square. One of the most typical and famous products of Beypazarı is the baklava with 80 layers (80 katlı Beypazarı baklavası). It is a baklava made with 80 sheets of very thin dough and filled with walnuts. So many layers of dough contribute to a unique and different flavor, but always delightful.











You can find here a baklava recipe

.

Istanbul: Foodie Destination 2008

The New York Times chose Istanbul as the Foodie Destination 2008.

Find here the article on the subject.

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.

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...

In Amasra...

Amasra is a beautiful and welcoming port town located in the Black Sea border.

View of Amasra

In the Black Sea region, women have an important role in the agriculture and also in selling the products they produce.

Black Sea woman sells garlic, spices, jams, sunflower seeds and other products, in Amasra.

In Amasra, in the Black Sea border, especially during the summer, many women sell several products, namely strawberry and cornelian cherry jams and other products from the soil.

Sunflower seeds (ay çekirdeği). The consumption of sunflower seeds is very popular in Turkey. Usually they can be bought roasted and they are eaten at any moment of the day.

Cornelian cherry (kızılcık). This fruit is mostly eaten in jams.

Dried Figs (Kuru İncir)

Organic dried figs

Turkey produces about half of the world production of dried figs, and is the second country in the world in the production and commerce of dried figs. Most of the dried figs are produced in the Turkish provinces of Aydın and Izmir, located in the Aegean Sea coast.

Cola Turka

This is a special Cola Turka commercial for Ramadan:

A delicious dessert: Baklava and Padişah

I had already published a baklava recipe here. Soon I will publish the padişah recipe.

In the Market...

Tarhana (ready powder used to make a typical turkish soup with the same name) and phyllo pastry (yufka) special for baklava.

Phyllo pastry sheets (yufka)

Different kinds of pasta and tarhana.

A kind of Turkish bread called bazlama.

Green beans (yeşil fasuliye)

Apricots (kayısı)

Purslane (semizotu)

Cherries (kiraz)

Potatoes (patates)

Mushrooms (mantar) and white mulberries (beyaz dut)

Wine leaves (asma yaprağı) for sarma