Cooking Alaturka

Several years ago on a trip to Istanbul, I had the good fortune of enjoying lunch at Cooking Alaturka, a delightfully intimate restaurant and cooking school located in the historic section of the city. So when I found myself back in Turkey, I made a point of having a more hands on experience. The instruction is conducted by the owner Eveline, a European Expat who has lived in Turkey for many years, and Feyzi, a turkish chef. The menu rotates regularly; when I attended, we prepared the following dishes:

• Yayla çorbası – Hot yogurt soup with dried mint, cumin and lemon
• Zeytinyağlı taze fasulye – Runner beans cooked in olive oil with onion
• Kabak mücveri – Zucchini pancakes with white cheese and herbs
• Karnıyarık – Eggplant stuffed with meat and bell peppers, with bulgur pilaf
• İncir tatlısı – Walnut-stuffed dried figs cooked in clove syrup
  

The class size is limited so that everyone gets a true hands on experience. For my class there were

three of us in the kitchen, so everyone had plenty to do! Eveline and Feyzi walked us through the steps for each course offering tips and guidance. Everyone was expected to participate, and for nearly 3 hours the five of us worked in sync, dividing up the labor for each of the dishes. The preparation wasn't hard, but it was very time consuming. There are few short cuts in Turkish cuisine. The final product was worth the effort, however, and at the end we sat down to enjoy a fabulous meal. If you find yourself in Istanbul, I highly recommend setting aside some time to take a course, or at the very least have lunch or dinner. But if Turkey isn't in your future, I've included Eveline's recipes below. Hopefully you can bring a little Ottoman flair to your part of the world!

Yayla çorbası

“Meadow soup” or “Hot yogurt soup with dried mint”

Serves 6-8

½ cup medium grain rice (pirinç), washed and drained

8 cups lamb or beef or chicken stock (kuzu/dana/tavuk suyu)

½ cup milk

1 cup thick Greek-style half-fat yogurt (yoğurt)

juice of ½ lemon

1 ½ tablespoon flour (un)

2 egg yolks (yumurta)

½ teaspoon black pepper powder (toz kara biber)

½ teaspoon cumin (kimyon)

1 teaspoon salt (tuz)

1 ½ tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon dried mint (kuru nane)

1 tsp red pepper flakes (kırmızı biber)

Prepare stock by boiling lamb bones or other for one hour and then straining them out. Add milk to stock, salt and, once boiling, the rice.

Beat the yogurt, lemon juice and egg yolks with the cumin and black pepper in a bowl. Add the flour and mix well.

Melt the butter in a separate pot and add about half of the dried mint and red pepper flakes. Add the other half directly to the stock. Once butter is golden-brown, add to the stock.

Pour a little of the hot stock into the liaison (binding) mixture, mixing well, keep pouring more till it is liquid enough to pour back into the main pan. Stirring quietly yet continuously, bring to the boil over a low heat and continue cooking for another few minutes.

This soup is best served the same day but keeps well if wanted. It will thicken considerably however the next day and the rice may get a bit soft.

Zeytinyağlı taze fasulye

Green runner beans cooked in olive oil with onion, garlic and tomato

This simple yet refreshing dish is part of the “zeytinyağlı” family of vegetables cooked in olive oil. A pinch of sugar is traditionally added to balance the lemon juice, but be careful not to add too much. Beans and certain stuffed vegetables (including the classic dolma and imam bayıldı) are prepared the same way. Best is to let the vegetables cool slowly in their cooking liquid, which is why some are better made one day ahead. The beans are best the same day though. They are served at room temperature, but they are also wonderful (luke-) warm.

Serves 4:

450g / 1 lb green runner beans (taze fasulye), washed and trimmed

1 medium-sized onion (soğan), cut in half and chopped

2 cloves garlic (sarımsak), chopped

4 tbsp olive oil (zeytinyağı) (Extra Virgin preferred)

2 tomatoes (domates), skinned and diced in medium sized cubes

1 tsp sugar (şeker) (just enough to balance the lemon juice)

300ml / ½ pint water (the liquid should be about half-way the beans)

juice of ½ small/medium lemon (limon)

2 tsp salt (tuz) (about twice as much as sugar)

1 bunch of fresh dill (dereoto), roughly chopped

Trim the ends of the beans and cut them in two if very long and then in two lengthwise. If you are using French beans or haricots verts, leave them as they are, but still trim the ends off. Sprinkle a layer of chopped onion, garlic and tomato over the bottom of a large empty pan and add a layer of beans, more onion, garlic and tomato, and repeat till all ingredients are finished. Pour over the olive oil, water, lemon juice and add the salt, pepper and the sugar.

It can take up to 45 minutes, but start checking the consistency of the beans after 30 minutes. They should have a light bite to them still. Once cooled off, divide the roughly chopped dill over the beans and mix in when ready to serve, taking the beans out of the liquid with tongs. 

Kabak mücveri

Zucchini (Courgette) patties with herbs and cheese

Serves 4-6:

2 big firm zucchini/courgettes (kabak), seeds removed and grated with their skins

1/2 bunch of spring onions (taze soğan), chopped finely

4-6 eggs (yumurta), depending on size and the batter’s consistency

3-5 tablespoons plain flour (un)

8oz/200g white feta-type cheese (beyaz peynir), soaked in water if very salty, and crumbled

Large bunches of dill (dereoto), flat parsley (maydanoz) and mint (mint), chopped finely

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (kırmızı biber)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Sunflower oil (ayçiçek yağı) or corn oil (mısır yağı) for frying

Yogurt, mixed with garlic crushed with salt in a mortar en pestle

Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise after taking the brown end piece off, making sure to have a piece of stem on each side. Holding your knife in a low angle, cut out the bulk of the seeds (too watery) but not too much, because then the zucchini becomes to thin to grate. Hold it on its side so you can both skin and flesh and in a 45 degree angle to the (medium-size) grater. Make long strong movements to get long strips. Turn every so often to do the same thing on the other side of the half so that in the end all your have left is the stem with nothing on it.

Squeeze the excess water out of the grated zucchinis, if necessary.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the flour to a smooth batter. Add the cheese, herbs, red pepper, zucchini and the finely chopped spring onions. Season with a little salt and pepper. Let de mixture rest for minimal 10 minutes, preferably in a lukewarm place.

Heat a little sunflower oil, just enough to cover the base of a frying pan. Drop a small ladle full of the zucchini mixture into the oil, repeat until the pan is filled, and fry the blini-size pancakes until golden-brown on both sides.

Drain on kitchen paper, if necessary, and serve hot (preferred) or cold, with the garlic-yogurt on the side.

Karnıyarık

Eggplant stuffed with minced meat (“Split belly eggplant”)

An Ottoman dish that became a home-cooking favorite (Every Turk’s mother makes the best!)

Serves 4:

4 medium-sized eggplants (to fit on one plate), stems trimmed and skin peeled zebra-style

2 tomatoes, 1 skinned and cut in cubes, 1 sliced for decoration)

1 green bell pepper, cut in strips for decoration

1 green bell pepper, cut in small cubes (brunoise)

1 red bell pepper, cut in small cubes (brunoise)

1 onion, chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

250g minced (or hand-cut) meat (lamb and/or beef, mixed)

1 tsp salt, freshly (coarsely) ground black pepper

½ tbsp red chili flakes (Turkish chili)

½ tbsp tomato and/or bell pepper paste

Sauce:

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely

1 tbsp tomato paste

Red chili flakes to taste

2 glasses boiling water

A little oil

Place the partially peeled eggplants on a baking tray, brush with sunflower oil (or any oil with a high cooking temperature – peanut, canola, safflower, grape seed…) and sprinkle with salt. Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C (350 F). Cook for about 30 minutes till browned yet not burnt and cooked all the way through (press to feel resistance). Turn around towards the end of the cooking process. Remove and leave to cool a little.

Meanwhile, sauté the onion and garlic in some oil, add the minced meat (if cut by hand, beef first, lamb later) and once seared, add the bell pepper cubes. Cook a few minutes and then add the chili flakes and black pepper. Add tomato and bell pepper paste, cook another few minutes and then add the tomato cubes and salt, cook a little more. Leave to cool a little as well.

Lay the eggplants with one open side up and cut a slit superficially without cutting through the bottom or the end. Use convex side of spoon to press eggplant flesh down and divide meat mixture over the eggplants, stuffing it in gently and thus enlarging the eggplants. Decorate with green pepper strips and tomato slices.

Sauce: Heat some oil in the un-rinsed meat pan; add whole peeled garlic cloves, and a little later tomato and red bell pepper pastes. Cook a few minutes and then add boiling hot water and salt to taste. Pour over eggplants, about 1 cm (½ inch) high. Place back in the oven and cook for 10 minutes, until the decoration is cooked.

Bulgur pilaf: Melt some butter (or oil) in a pot and add finely chopped onion, red and green bell pepper cubes, dried mint, chili flakes, tomato paste, while stirring and cooking a bit. Add tomato cubes and boiling water and once boiling again add the bulgur (2 cups of water to 1 cup of bulgur). Add salt to taste. Cook for 20 minutes.

İncir tatlısı

Walnut-stuffed figs in syrup

Serves 6:

12-18 dried figs (kuru incir)

100g walnuts (ceviz)

½ lt / 1 cup water (su)

250g / ½ cup sugar (şeker)

¼ lemon (limon)

12-18 cloves (karanfil)

Prepare a syrup by bringing the water, sugar, cloves and lemon (squeeze the juice out and throw in the peel as well) to the boil.

Meanwhile, stick a little knife into the side of a fig and cut through to a little beyond the center, then turn the knife in a way that a little less than half of the fig gets opened on its side (big enough to stuff a walnut half inside). Stuff the opened fig with half a walnut (or the equivalent in pieces), the bulbous side of the walnut under the stem of the fig. Close back up, making the sides stick back to each other. Repeat procedure with the rest of the figs.

Add the figs with their stem up to the (just covering) boiling syrup. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn them mid-way the cooking process and then turn again about 5 minutes before the end, to give them some color on each side. Take off the heat and let cool in the syrup, then transfer figs on plate, leaving behind the syrup. Decorate with ground pistachios and / or grated coconut. Serve at room temperature, if wanted with kaymak (heavy Turkish cream) on the side (although that is meant to balance, when the figs are much sweeter than we make them in this recipe).