Turkish Cooking 101 – Aegean Style

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 31, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 4 comments

Aegean cuisine is wonderful using their fragrant olive oil, lots of fresh vegetables and herbs. We did an Aegean cooking class and got hands on learning Mousakka Agean style, Purslane with onions, tomatoes and garlic in olive oil, Gozleme – the Turkish pastry with various fillings and a semolina helva – just right a day before the start of Ramadan, as it is a festive dessert. A wonderful experience, thanks to Bizimev Hanimeli:)

Purslane is a very common vegetable with a great, mild flavor. We cooked the purslane with sauteed onion,garlic and tomatoes in olive oil. Then we added a little rice and cooked covered for about 20 minutes. Using olive oil is the key in this vegetable course; in this style of cooking in Turkish cuisine, we simply let the vegetables cook in their own juices and with olive oil.

The result is a wonderfully refreshing, tasty and a light vegetable course, that we enjoy eating at room temperature or cold – ideal for summer!

No Turkish cooking is complete without the mention of patlican, eggplant (or aubergine), the king of vegetables in Turkey. The key with eggplant is to make sure to get all the moisture out to avoid the bitter and soggy taste/texture. So simply slice the eggplants, season with salt and leave aside for at least 15 minutes. You will see lots of moisture coming up and squeeze dry the eggplants to take out all the moisture. This stage makes such a difference.

We made the moussakka Aegean style; this version involves lightly frying the eggplants and topping them up with a sauce of ground meat, tomoato, onion, garlic and green peppers. First we layered the fried eggplants and topped them with the meat sauce. Then decorated the top with sliced tomatoes and peppers, and off it went to be baked in the oven!

And this is the result! Juicy, wonderfully flavored moussakka without the heaviness of the bechamel sauce, highly recommended.

Another course we did was the Gozleme – delicious thin pastry filled with various fillings (potato and onion, spinach and onion, ground meat, onion and parsley). Here is Hatice Hanim showing us to strech the dough on the rolling pin.

Once we add the filling, we fold the pastry to make it a rectangle shape, and it is ready to bake!


And here is how the gozleme is traditionally baked on Sac ovens (the ovel shaped traditional ovens)

Time to tuck in! Here is our generous lunch spread with all the wonderful Aegean style cooking; stuffed zucchini flowers, grapevine leaves, yoghurt with cucumber and dill, eggplant and peppers cooked in olive oil, Turkish style dried beans cassesole and many more – cok guzel!:)
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And best way to finish off Turkish style is with a cup of Turkish coffee:)

Turkish cooking is delicious, healthy and easy to recreate – I hope these inspires you to try sometime.
Afiyet Olsun!

Fascinating Turkey continues – Ephesus and Kusadasi

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 31, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Our fascinating Turkey tour continues; we are now in Kusadasi, staying at the charming Kismet hotel. The bouganvilles with their vibrant colour mesmerise us.

And here we are at the fascinating ancient city of Ephesus, what a sight. After Rome, Ephesus was the most populated city during the Roman Empire, with a population of 250,000 people. The scope of the ancient city is mind blowing. This is the Domitian Temple at the city of Ephesus, dedicated to the Emperor Domitious, whose was not much loved – and therefore the Ephesians turned the temple to a shopping arcade after he passed away!

This is the Curetes Street, the former processional way of about 210m long. This prestigious boulevard would lead up to the famous library and paved with precious marbles and statues at both sides.

And the landmark of Ephesus, the famous, beautiful library. The library was built as a monumental tomb, dedicated to the marshall Selsus, and it is the 3rd largest library in antiquity; simply breathtaking.

And here we are all congregated by the library as a group:)

Let me finish off with a fascinating view of the Kusadasi Bay, the Aegean sea is so inviting, mesmerising view:)
More to come from our Aegean cooking class!

Pergamom (Bergama), the koftes and the pine honey – Aegean Coast

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 30, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 7 comments

I hope I am not bombarding you with posts from Turkey at the moment, please bear with me:) There is so much to see, taste and appreciate that I hope through these posts, you can get a taste of what we are experiencing.

We have been traveling towards the north Aegean, and passing through fig trees, peach and cherry orchards and lots of olive trees; a very bountiful region, in addition to its historical significance. Here is a fig tree at the above photo, smells so wonderful.

This is the steepest ancient theatre in antiquity in Pergamom at the Aegean region, and used to seat 10,000 people. It is 12,000 ft above sea level and you can see the modern city Bergama at below, a very impressive sight.

And here we are at the Temple in ancient city Pergamom; the Traejans used to visit the temple to offer their sacrifice of animals to the Gods but remain at the below level for worshipping. And a lovely Mulberry tree in the at the side:)


And this is the place to be at the modern city of Bergama, that you may like a lunch break. At this traditional “lokanta”, restaurant, you can enjoy their signature meatballs, “kofte”,

and a very refreshing glass of “ayran”. This is my favorite drink, consisting of plain yoghurt, cold water and salt of your taste. You can blend with some ice cubes to get the foam. Wonderful, healthy refreshing drink that we Turks enjoy a lot.

Last but not least, here is a happy man, Ali, at Pergamom, proudly selling wonderful pine nuts and pine honey, thanks to the abundant pine trees in the region

Aegean region has lots to offer in terms of history, culture and food, definitely worth a stop – highly recommended:)

Travelling through Gallipoli, Dardanelles and Troy (Troia)

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 29, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 5 comments

It is our last day in Istanbul and we left the charming Armada Hotel -but please check out their wonderful breakfast; fresh seasonal fruit, dried fruit,all kinds of cheeses and olives,

Different home made jams, natural honey, yoghurt, grains, pastries, simit, different ways with eggs and many more. Over looking to Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, this has been the breakfast I look forward to every morning:)

And we started our journey towards the Dardanelles (the strait that connects Europe to Asia at the other end of Sea of Marmara) to see the battlefields of Gallipoli. We passed endless fields of sunflowers, such an uplifting, happy site to see.


On the way, sampled some wonderful fresh calamari shallow fried in a light batter and cheese and parsley filled “Sigara Boregi” for lunch.

And here we are crossing the Dardanelles – you can see the battlefields of Gallipoli
at the landing.

And before my internet connection goes away, here comes the replica of the wooden house at Troy. Look forward to sharing more later!:)

Fascinating Grand Bazaar and Spice Market, Istanbul

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 28, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 3 comments

The over 400 year old Grand Bazaar is worth a stop in Istanbul; this ancient mall seem to capture all the colours and spirit of the city,

Colours are so mesmerising; colorful lamps, jewellery, cups and bowls, leather, you name it,it is there. You would get tourist prices I am afraid, but it is a joy just to witness all the hub there – and in the meantime, master the bargaining!

My favorite part is shops selling olive oil soaps and lovely Turkish towels. The olive oil soap is wonderful to the skin, highly recommended!

And how can you not get mesmerised at the ancient Spice Market? Wonderful spices – Turkish red pepper flakes, cumin, sumac, black pepper, nuts, Turkish delight, all kinds of tea and many more.

Make sure the soak up the atmosphere at the Spice Market and stock up all the wonderful spices!

Exploring Istanbul – Hagia Sophia, the Cistern, Rugs, Grand Bazaar

Posted by Ozlem on Jul 27, 2011 in Fascinating Turkey, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Hellos from Istanbul again; indeed the city of the world’s desire. We visited Hagia Sophia today – I must have been there over 20 times by now and everytime I go back I learn something new and Hagia Sophia keeps on fascinating us. Completed in 537 and reigned as the greatest church in Christendom until the conquest by the Ottomans in 1453, Hagia Sophia remains as the most famous monument of Istanbul.

It is a joy to see that the interior renovation inside Hagia Sophia is now complete and you can appreciate this magnificent museum with no distractions.I keep on admiring the wonderful giant round plagues of Islam (with the name of God, “Allah” and Prophet Mohammed) right next to the mosaics of Virgin Mary and Christ, delightful at the dome.

And this is Hagia Sophia’s friendly cat that we all admired!

Next stop is the tranquil Basilica Cistern, where the Byzantians used to store water for the great palace – and a wonderful stop to cool down in the summer time!

And this is Argos column in the Cistern; this is considered to be one of the roots of the “evil eye”, as the thousands eyes on the column meant to protect from the evil eye.

Anyone for rugs? Turkish rugs are of high quality as they are made with double knots. We had the pleasure of waching how the rugs were woven at Nakkas Rug store, where they have a wonderful collection of tribal, wool, silk rugs and many more.

Top quality rugs explained by experts and a fine example of Turkish hospitality, highly recommended. And the Ottoman prints and Turkish Iznik tiles are irresistable too!

How about food? Nothing symbolises Turkish street food more than “Simit” – susame covered round pastries, available in every coner on street stalls.

And simit is best enjoyed over a glass of cay, our national drink, served on tulip shaped glasses. Cay is enjoyed here all through the day, a drink of friendsip and hospitality, offered to everyone whereever you go. I drink to that:)

Until next time, happy travels!