True bastions of Turkish cuisine: there's a few of those. And köfte is most certainly one of them. It's also a bastion of our own personal diet. Whether we're grabbing a quick street food snack, making a special effort to visit a specialist köfteci, dining in a restaurant or cooking at home, … [Read more...]
Yeni Dünya Kebab – The Best Way To Celebrate Loquat Season
May 4, 2020 Leave a Comment
If you read this blog regularly, you'll know we love to eat and cook seasonally. It's really not hard to do in Turkey. This time of year is abundant with spring fruits and vegetables, making trips to Fethiye market and Çalış market all the more pleasurable. And now, it is the season for the … [Read more...]
Ali Nazik Kebab – Pure Indulgence On A Plate
April 26, 2020 Leave a Comment
Pure plated indulgence. That's our description for this oh-so-tasty dish; ali nazik kebab. If you like 'cooking light' then look away now. A Gaziantep ali nazik kebab is spicy, rich and buttery. At the same time, the aubergine and yoghurt bed that the meat is laid on is smooth, smoky and … [Read more...]
Karnıyarık – A Classic Turkish Stuffed Aubergine Recipe
April 13, 2020 Leave a Comment
Go into any lokanta in Turkey and you will be most unfortunate if you don't see karnıyarık as one of the choices in the bain marie. Along with imam bayıldı, it's a classic Turkish stuffed aubergine recipe. Aubergines are a major ingredient in Turkish cuisine and are paired with meat and … [Read more...]
Hamsili Pilav – A Black Sea Recipe Of Oven Baked Pilaf Encased In Fresh Anchovies
December 18, 2017 2 Comments
Hamsi season! Those of you who read this blog a lot will be fully aware that this is one of our favourite times of year. All those little anchovies swimming amongst the icy currents of the Black Sea and along the Bosphorus. Hamsi is nigh on worshipped in the Black Sea regions of Turkey and the … [Read more...]
Iskender Kebab Recipe – Turkey’s Famous Kebab Made At Home
June 18, 2017 2 Comments
Iskender Efendi; this is the chap who invented the Iskender Kebab in the northwest city of Bursa back in the 19th century. When we moved to Turkey in 2003, Bursa was the first place we visited as part of our travels. Friends had told us to make sure we ate Iskender Kebab at the restaurant run by … [Read more...]
Sauteed Brussels Sprouts With Chestnuts & Sucuk – How We Learned To Love Our Seasonal Nemesis
December 26, 2015 14 Comments
As you're no doubt aware (if you read this blog a lot) we're all for promoting our local Fethiye markets, particularly the Fethiye Friday market. The Friday market, in contrast to the Tuesday Market, is more of a villagers' market that sells seasonal produce - and you're never quite sure what's … [Read more...]
Etli Kapuska – Turkish Cabbage Stew With Meat: Let Cabbage Reign
November 24, 2015 24 Comments
It's usually springtime that comes to mind when we think of seasonal food and abundance - but autumn on the markets of Fethiye is also another period where the stalls are just piled high with all the seasonal produce that tells us summer is over and winter is almost upon us. That's no bad thing; … [Read more...]
Celebrating Saffron Milk Cap Mushrooms – A Recipe For Sucuklu Çintar Mantarı
November 1, 2014 12 Comments
We talk about seasonal foods in Turkey rather a lot on this blog and, while some seasonal foods tend to appear on Fethiye market on a more year-round basis - they're just in their prime at certain times of the year - there are some foods that are truly seasonal; here one minute, gone the … [Read more...]
Turkish Recipes: Recreating Our Ankara Kayseri Mantısı At Home
June 14, 2014 2 Comments
Mantı - it's easy to wonder what all the fuss is about. The first time we saw it (and had no idea what it was called) was when we originally moved to Fethiye and our neighbour knocked on our door, presenting us with a bowl of little dough parcels encasing a tiny piece of minced beef and topped with … [Read more...]
