Month: March 2017

A good example of the richness of its cuisine is, without a doubt, Turkish dried fruits and nuts. No country eats and reveres dried fruit, seeds and nuts quite like Turkey. Today, the consumption of nuts has become an essential part of a healthy diet. Nuts have been recommended primarily for coronary heart diseases, problems in blood sugar and cholesterol, diabetes, metabolic problems, and their antioxidant, vitamin and mineral contents. More and more governments recommend them to be consumed on a daily basis. Dried fruits and nuts occupy a special place in the culinary culture and have created their own special traditions. In Turkish there is a special word, kuruyemiş, which used to describe all sorts of mixed nuts and dried fruit. Squash and sunflower seeds (çekirdek) have become practically vital when going to the park or to watch football. For this reason the entrances to parks are full of sellers of squash and sunflower seeds. It’s a food used to pass the time. Vast areas are covered by the shells of the sunflower seeds and there is a fine art to extracting the kernel inside. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it you too, will be addicted. Open-air and regular cinemas are places where sunflower and squash seeds are also consumed. As well as in tea gardens. Villages Dry fruits and nuts also add colour to village festivals. In the old days, when sweets were uncommon and sugar was expensive villagers would give children handfuls of dry fruits and nuts. Dry fruit and nuts also help people pass the long winter nights. When tea and coffee were not readily available, it was common to serve guests plates of dry fruit and nuts. When children went to school, mothers filled their pockets or bags with whatever dried fruit or nuts were available. Turkey

This Mother's day make your mum, or anyone else, a sweet treat that you can wrap and give. Turkish Delight and crunchy Nut Brittle make a lovely combination. Both these sweet treats are popular in Turkey. You can find them in markets and towns when you go shopping. Some of the nicest are found in little back streets of the larger towns. Look out for both when you visit Mugla or Fethiye with us or when you are walking around Dalyan. Rose Turkish Delight 32 oz. Sugar 3.5 oz. Corn starch 4 cups Water Icing sugar Metal or glass tray, 50cm x 50 cm x 5 cm deep First dust your tray with some of the icing sugar. Be sure to cover all of the sides and the bottom thoroughly. Mix the water, corn starch, and sugar in a large saucepan. Gently heat the mixture on a medium heat. Make sure that you stir continuously. After around five minutes the mixture will begin to thicken. Keep stirring until you have the consistency of toffee. Add 4 or 5 drops of rose water. Stir in and then pour into your tray. Leave to cool for at least 2 hours. Once your Turkish Delight is set dust your work surface with more icing sugar. Remove from the tray and cut into 2cm cubes. Dust all of the Turkish Delight with more icing sugar and little more corn starch. Nut Brittle 12 oz Sugar 1 cup of water 8 oz Golden Syrup 1 oz Butter 3 oz of nuts. I like to used mixed nuts but it is up to you. I also like to have a handful of them salted. This gives a lovely sweet and salty flavour. Grease a 50cm x 50cm x 5cm baking or glass dish. Mix together the sugar, water, golden syrup and butter

At this time of year there are hundreds of oranges in Turkey. Literally falling on the floor and rotting. So far I have marmalade, biscuits, rice pudding and sorbet! Now to try Turkish Orange cake......... Ingredients Zest from 5 oranges 4 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 1/2 cup flour Syrup: Juice from the 5 oranges 9 tbsp sugar Whisk the eggs and sugar util light and fluffy. Fold in the flour and orange zest. Pour into the oiled loaf cake mould. You can use a round baking tin but I find this better for the slicing. Preheat the oven to 180 F. It will take around 45 minutes to cook. Check that a knife comes out clean when pricked into the cake. Once cooked remove from the mould and  leave to cool on a wire rack. In the meantime, mixed together the orange juice and sugar and bring to the boil for 2 minutes. Slice up the cake and place on a plate. Spoon the syrup over all of the slices. Cover and keep in the fridge. The cake will easily last for 3 or 4 days if covered but I guarantee it won't hang around that long!

In Britain I was very good at knowing my wildflowers. If you had stuck me in the middle of a meadow or woodland I could have told what you could and couldn’t eat. Move to Turkey and I am slightly lost. Common Turkish herbs are easy, as is fruit. It’s everything in between. Flowers for tea? This was highlighted to me when my friend’s son came home with a bunch of flowers that he was eating! Neither of us knew what they were but his headmaster had told him they were fine to eat. Hmm, I needed to do some research. A lot of this list is from the Turkish Cuisine Portal. A brilliant website that has loads of information. The other way is to ask people. Visit the villages and markets. People love to share knowledge. Anywhere you look in a country with such natural diversity as Turkey, you can become acquainted with plant you’ve never seen before. Go to the market and you will see plenty of bunches of wild greens. The gozleme you ate might have been made with wild plants weeded a garden or gathered along the roadside and will have been the tastiest thing you tried on holiday. There are thousands of plant species in Turkey. Many are edible, and many are endemic, meaning that they grow only in Turkey. Some of these may be familiar to you. Nettles, mallow, sage, rosemary and thyme. It would be impossible to list everything in Turkey that you can eat. Regions vary from each other as well as habitats. As always, please BE CAREFUL. If you don’t know what you are picking, ask someone. People will be very informative and willing to help you. Turkish Herbs Arapsaçı (Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare): This “anise” scented herb looks like dill at first glance,

This is more than just a Persian soup. It can make a very filling meal and is a great way to use up vegetables and pulses that might otherwise be thrown away. I hate waste! Alternatively, visit a local market and try out some vegetables that you have never seen before. Visit a Turkish market with us and you will probably see vegetables and greens that you have no idea what to do with. The original recipe is actually Persian but there aren't really any strict rules. Use whatever you have in the kitchen. For 4 people olive oil 750g potatoes peeled and cut into chunks (use a waxy type that won't break down) 2 large onions finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped 4 large tomatoes, chopped (you can use a can but drain away some of the liquid)                                                                  1 courgette, chopped                                                                                                                                                                         1/2 celeriac, peeled and chopped