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Author Archive | Ozlem Warren

Turk Kahvesi – Turkish Coffee


Turkish coffee is a very popular drink at home. It is a very special drink for us as we celebrate engagement ceremonies (and the bride-to-be is required to make a nice, frothy coffee for the guests!), or simply gather with friends and enjoy the moment with this wonderfully fragrant coffee. As soon as I start making mine here in England, I feel I am home, sitting along with family and friends, a wonderful feeling. I have many friends in England and America thoroughly enjoy this drink, I hope you give it a go sometime.

Although coffee was first cultivated at the southern edge of the Arab peninsula, it was via Turkey that the fame of coffee spread to Europe. Within just a few years of its introduction to Europe, hundreds of coffee houses sprung up in Istanbul alone, and coffee drinking became such an important part of daily and ceremonial life that the Sultan’s coffee-set was carried during royal processions; every wealthy household had a servant whose sole task was to prepare coffee and under the laws the failure of a husband to provide his wife with coffee was grounds for divorce!

To make Turkish coffee, you need the right equipment: a special long handled pot called “cezve”, small coffee cups called “fincan” and a special coffee mill. The coffee beans, which is 100 % Arabica beans, have to be toasted to the point and ground to a very fine powder. Middle Eastern stores or specialty stores carry the finely ground Turkish coffee.

There are different sizes of “cezve”, depending on the number of persons for whom you wish to make coffee, from 1 to 4; because a well-made coffee must have froth on the top and you can not have a good result if you prepare the coffee for 2 persons on a pot for 4.

Into your “cezve”, put one cup of water for each person, 1 rounded teaspoon of coffee and 1 rounded teaspoon or less of sugar. Traditionally, the amount of sugar should be known beforehand, i.e. “az sekerli” (with little sugar), “orta sekerli” ( medium), or “sekersiz” (with no sugar). Stir well, put over very low heat and bring slowly to boil. As it boils, the froth forms on top. Just before it overflows, remove and divide the froth into the cups, bring to boil again and divide the rest out.

Afiyet Olsun!

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Fasulye Piyazi – Turkish bean salad with vegetables

 

Bean salad with onions, tomatoes, olives and boiled eggs - Fasulye piyazl

Bean salad with onions, tomatoes, olives and boiled eggs – Fasulye piyazi

I love this tasty, nourishing Turkish bean salad, Fasulye Piyazi. At home, traditionally we serve fasulye piyazi with grilled meatballs, koftes. There are traditional restaurants, lokantas, at home that solely serve Turkish style meatballs, fasulye piyaz and pickled cucumber and peppers. This salad is also a great alternative for lunch, as I like to have, served with some nice crusty bread or in can be a part of a meze spread or accompany grills as a side.

I like to use both black and green olives, the Greek or Spanish olives work well if you can’t find Turkish olives.

Turkish cuisine is based on seasonal produce and very healthy; we have a wide variety of  salads (including this bean salad), hot and cold mezzes, vegetables cooked in olive oil  and they are all featured at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland; signed copies are now 25 % OFF at this link, if you’d like to grab yours. I am also delighted to share with you that we also designed this lovely Ozlem’s Turkish Table apron. It is special to my heart, as it is made in Turkey, with my hometown Antakya’s celebrated daphne leaves in the hand embroidered design – you can get yours at this link. Delivered worldwide including the US.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 10 – 15 minutes

2×400 gr/2 (14 oz) cans of precooked cannellini beans
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
3 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
45-60 ml/3-4 tablespoon olives, halved and stones removed
2 hardboiled eggs, quartered
A handful of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped
5 ml/1 teaspoon salt
30 ml/ 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
5 ml/1 teaspoon ground sumac – optional-
1/2 teaspoon paprika flakes – optional –
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Place the cooked beans in a bowl, after draining its juice and rinsing over warm water. Work salt and sumac into the onion slices with your hands really well. This will soften the onions and make them more palatable. Add the onion, chopped tomatoes, half of the olives, parsley and paprika flakes into the bowl. Wisk together the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and pour over this mixture.

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and combine well. Arrange on a serving plate and garnish with the eggs and remaining olives.

Serve immediately or refrigerate until required.

Afiyet Olsun!

Note: If you prefer to use the dried beans, you need to soak them in water overnight. Then drain the beans and put in a pan with plenty of fresh water. Cook about 60 minutes or until tender, adding salt toward the end of cooking time. Drain and set aside in a bowl, to be used in this salad.

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Slice of England – Visit to Beautiful Bath





My sister and family are visiting us and we have been exploring around. We decided to visit Bath and it was an amazing experience; what a beautiful, neatly kept city. Designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, it has a stunning architecture; breathtaking sites include the Royal Crescent, Roman Baths, Bath Abbey and many more. And if you have small children like we do, a visit to the Royal Victoria Park is a must with fantastic multiple slides, playgrounds, elaborate climbing frames and more. We all loved it, something for everyone in Bath! Here are some photos from Bath, before my batteries run out!

It is wonderful to spend time with family and friends. And especially when they come from long way and you don’t get to see them often, time spent is really precious. I cooked some Turkish food for us and put in freezer during last couple of weeks and it really paid back. Turkish food, especially stews and casseroles (like baked chicken casserole with vegetables, meatball casserole in the blog)freeze very well, which is great for having company around. And you get to spend more time with your family and friends:)

And the Baklava passed the test, joy to the world! I hope you can get to try sometime, look forward to hearing about your experience.

More Turkish recipes will follow soon. Whatever you may be cooking, Afiyet Olsun; wishing you all a nice week ahead!

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