turkishcuisinefinalcookbook

By Lydia Ioannidou

Turkish Cuisine All you Need to Know


Designed and created by Lydia Ioannidou

Text © Lydia IoannidouDesign © Lydia Ioannidou 2014

Typography 2Professor Douglass ScottFall 2014

Typeface: Monotype Garamond regular, italic, bold

Contents4 Introduction

5 Revani

6 Kofte

7 Sarma/ Dolma

8 Imam Bayildi

9 Baklava

10 Sources


IntroductionTurkish cuisine is largely the heritage of Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Mediter-ranean and Balkan cuisines. Turkish cuisine has in turn influenced those cultures and other neighbouring cuisines, including those of Western Europe. The Otto-mans fused various culinary traditions of their realm with influences from Middle Eastern cuisines, along with traditional Turkic elements from Central Asia (such as yogurt and Manti dumpling), creating a vast array of specialities many with strong regional associations. This cook book will serve as a guide for beginner cooks and for those with more experience to learn the most important turkish recipes.

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Instructions

1 Put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. If you are using bread slices, wet them and squeeze out the water before adding them to the bowl.

2 Briskly knead together all the ingredients in for several minutes until well-blended. Set aside to rest for a few minutes.

3 Break off an apricot-sized piece of the meat mixture and form the desired shape with your hands. Flattened meatballs or patties cook up the best.

In Turkish, ‘köfte’ is a general term that refers to any food shaped by hand into a patty, ball or cylinder. Use of spices, ingredients and cooking methods vary greatly across the country, making ‘köfte’ an important example of Turkish regional cuisine.

Köfte750 grams minced meat (lamb/ mutton or beef 2 small onions, finely chopped or grated 2 slices of dry bread (without the crust) 1 egg 1 bunch of parsley 1 Tsp cumin 3 Tsp sea saltSalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Difficulty: Easy

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Instructions

1 Before you start making the cake, prepare the syrup to give it time to cool down.

2 Begin by mixing the sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Turn the heat on high and bring the mixture to a boil while continuously stirring it. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and let the syrup boil gently for about 10 minutes with the cover off. Add the lemon juice toward the end. Turn off the heat and let the syrup cool down while you make the rest of the recipe.

RevaniCake:3 eggs1 cup plain yogurt½ cup canola oil1 cup sugar1 cup semolina1 cup all purpose flourzest of ½ lemon 2 and ¼ tsp baking powder

Syrup:3 cups water3 cup sugar½ lemon juice

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 50 mins

Difficulty: Hard

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5 Before serving, garnish each square of cake with a pinch of coconut and ground nuts. You can also make orange-flavored ‘revani’ by substituting the lemon zest and juice with orange zest and juice. Or, you can eliminate the lemon all together and use rose water instead to give the cake a wonderful rose aroma.

Ravani is made of cooked semolina or farina soaked in simple syrup. Coconut is a popular addition. The syrup may also optionally contain orange flower water or rose water.

3 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar first. Whisk the mixture briskly for several minutes until the sugar dissolves. The more you whisk, the better your ‘revani’ will turn out. Next, add the oil, lemon zest and yogurt and whisk for several minutes more. Last, add the dry ingredients and mix together well until you have a smooth batter.

4 Pour the batter into a greased 10 x 12 inch baking tray. Bake in a 350° F/ 175° C oven until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Once you remove the pan from the oven, let it rest for about five minutes. Cut the cake into portion-sized squares or rectangles while still in the pan. Using a large spoon, slowly drizzle the cool syrup all over the cake and let it soak in. When you’ve used up all the syrup, cover the cake with foil and refrigerate it for several hours.

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Instructions

1 Place the vine leaves in a large bowl and fill it up with hot water. Soak them for 20 minutes.

2 To make the filling; place the rice, onion, oil, parsley, mint, pine nuts, cur-rants, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.

3 Remove the leaves and squeeze any excess water out, cut off any stems –some leaves come with stems still attached and some don’t. Reserve 3 leaves to line the saucepan.

Sarma/Dolma33 vine leaves in brine1 cup medium-grain white rice, rinsed and drained1 small onion1 Tbs pine nuts1 Tbs dried currants½ Tbs dried spearmint2 Tbs flat-leaf parsley (leaves only), chopped finely1 Tbs vegetable oil1 lemon, freshly squeezed2 Tsp salt1 Tsp freshly ground black pepper

Prep Time: 40 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Difficulty: Hard

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6 Judging by the number of stuffed leaves; choose the right size of a heavy-based, stainless steel saucepan. Mine was 18cm in diameter. Line the bottom of it with the reserved vine leaves. Drizzle with a little bit of oil. Pack the dolmas tightly in one layer and then another. Boil some water, pour it over the dolmas and cover with an inverted plate although I used 2 saucers as my breakfast plates are a little big for the job. The reason for this is that you need enough water to cook the rice in the filling but once it starts boiling dolmas start to float around. To make things worse, it doesn’t matter how tightly they are wrapped, they release their content into the water.

7 Put the lid on and bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until all that water is absorbed and the rice is cooked thoroughly.

8 Pour freshly squeezed lemon juice over and set aside to cool. Remove the dolmas with fork and spoon once they are cool. Arrange them on a serving plate and serve cold with lemon slices.

The word sarma means ‘a wrapped thing’ in Turkish, from the verb sarmak ‘to wrap’ or ‘to roll’, and dolma means “filling”.


4 Get yourself 2 large flat plates; one for the rolling process and the other one for rolled ones.

5 Lay a leaf glossy/smoother side down on the plate stalk end should be at the top. Place 1 tbsp of filling at the base of the split and spread the filling, making sure that it is a long line, not a fat and short one. Fold the tops over the filling they should overlap a little then the left and right sides into the middle. Roll firmly towards the tip. Pop it onto the other plate and repeat with the remaining filling and leaves.

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TurkishCuisine All you Need to Know

Instructions

1 Cut eggplants lengthwise, and their meat cut part of the grid. Season with salt and leave to stand for about half an hour.

2 Peel tomatoes and cut into cubes. Onions, garlic and parsley.

3 Eggplant dry with absorbent paper. Saute them in the hot oil on both sides. Remove them from the pan, scoop out the meat part of it, chop finely.

4 In the remaining oil fry the onion light, add tomatoes and cook until the liquid part evaporates.

5 Stir in garlic, bay leaf, pepper, a little sugar, meat part of the eggplant and Vegeta. Saute for about 10 minutes then add the parsley and almonds.

6 In a greased ovenproof dish, arrange eggplant, fill them with the prepared mixture of vegetables and bake for about 15 minutes in the oven at 180 or 200 ° C.

The story behind this dish is that the Imam (a Turkish official in the Ottoman Empire) fainted when his wife told him she’d used up all the olive oil in making this dish. Eggplant is an oil sponge, it loves to soak it up. Having said that, it is also very, very delicious, and if you allow the eggplant to drain well after frying them, you will still cut calories while retaining great taste.

Imam Bayildi2 medium onions chopped½ – ¾ cup olive oil2 garlic cloves, crushed3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped4 Tbs chopped parsley1 Tbs chopped fresh mint or ½ teaspoon dried mint, crumbled salt and pepper2 medium eggplants1 Tsp sugar2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Difficulty: Easy

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TurkishCuisine All you Need to Know

Baklava½ cup butter, melted1 package (16 ounce) phyllo dough, thawed¾ cup unsalted pistachio nuts, finely chopped1/3 cup sugar1/3 cup honey2 Tsp cinnamon2 Tsp juice from lemon

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Difficulty: Hard

Instructions

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. In a bowl, combine pistachio nuts and butter. Take eight sheets of phyllo dough and layer them in the pan, spreading each sheet with melted butter. Spread about half of the nut mixture over the phyllo dough and cover with a buttered sheet of phyllo dough.

2 Layer five more sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet. Add remain-ing nut mixture and layer with remaining sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet.

3 Using a knife, cut the baklava into 1 ½-in. diamonds. Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. About 30 minutes before Baklava is finished, combine sugar, honey, cinnamon, and lemon juice for glaze in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, making sure that the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce heat and allow the mixture to simmer for five minutes. When Baklava is finished cook-ing, drizzle syrup over top and let cool.

5 Briskly knead together all the ingredients in for several minutes until well-blended. Set aside to rest for a few minutes.

It is widely believed that this baklava is of Assyrian origin. Around the 8th century B.C. Assyrians baked thin layers of dough with nuts, poured honey over it, and enjoyed this sumptuous treat. The history of Baklava changed with the history of the land. Baklava and the recipe spread over the centuries in the Near East, Armenia, and eventually Turkey.

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Sourcesozlemsturkishtable.com/2013/09/homemade-turkish-meatballs-kofte-101-grated-carrot-red-cabbage-salad/

myturkishkitchen.ca/2014/06/revani-turkish-semolina-cake-with-syrup.html

bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/turkish

allrecipes.com/recipe/baklava/

everythingturkish.com.au/turkish-cuisine/

deliciousistanbul.com/blog/2014/07/24/imam-bayildi-stuffed-eggplant-boats/

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