It’s probably no surprise that I’ve taken my fair share of cooking classes as well as given them since I’ve been living here in Istanbul.
Last
week, I met up with Ozlem Warren of London-based Ozlem’s Turkish Table here at the
Istanbul Culinary Institute.
Lucky me, I had the chance to learn some more Turkish recipes from her in
person.
Last
August, Warren and I met for the first time in person in Istanbul though we’ve
both “known” each other through our blogs for nearly two years. You can see
that old post here: Turkish
Cooking with a Chef, Blogger.
Warren
grew up in Antakya, a southeastern city in Turkey near the Syrian border, fell
in love with a British man, moved away from Turkey but took her love of Turkish
cuisine with her. In England, she teaches Turkish cooking lessons; and she often
travels to Turkey to visit her family here.
In
last week’s class, we learned how to make one of Turkey’s classic soups and one
of my most favorite soups - Mercimek çorbası (lentil soup). You’ll find mercimek served on almost every menu across the country, and when
it’s not, I often wonder why! We made Warren’s heartier version of the soup
with chunks of carrots and potatoes, garnished with crispy croutons.
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| Mercimek çorbası and cacık (yogurt dip) at the end of the class. |
Next, we had to get the kebab meat mixed together, which
almost like making an American meatloaf but so much tastier. (My mother made
meatloaf nearly every Sunday so I now hate meatloaf with a passion.) Warren’s
version of fıstıklı
kuzu köfte kebab (lamb kebabs
with pistachios) was packed full of flavor from the ground pistachios, pul biber, cumin, parsley and black
pepper.
Warren
told us that in the Gaziantep
area, minced meat is prepared by chopping it into the size of wheat grains with
a special curved bladed knife called a zirh. She said hand chopped
meat has a lot more flavor than machine ground meat since the meat retains a
better texture.
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| Warren mixes the lamb and spices together for the kebabs. |
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| Our finished lamb kebabs served with our roasted veggies over Turkish flat bread. |
We also roasted a large tray of
veggies coated in olive oil and the spicy Turkish biber salcası (red pepper paste). Turks liberally use this paste in
everything, but I never seem to quite empty a small jar before mold starts
growing. Now, I know how to jazz up my roasted veggies.
Finally, for dessert, we prepared
the single most important Turkish dessert – in my opinion. Most people probably
first think of baklava, but for me, künefe
wins hands down every time!
This was when Warren asked her
mother, who was in attendance, to come and help her with the künefe. Her mother was very sweet, and
stood next to Warren, telling her instructions. Mother and daughter have a
little trick to make künefe even more
decadent by adding chunks of Turkish kaymak
with the special unsalted, creamy shredded white cheese. Sooo delicious!
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| Warren and her mother making Turkish künefe for the class. |
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| You must layer the kaymak and cheese on top of the butter-soaked shredded phyllo strands. |
Another trick I learned is that the
künefe needs to be hot while the
sugar syrup must be cooled down when it is poured over the whole dessert. This
technique helps prevent the dessert from getting soggy.
All in all, the class was another
lovely night in Istanbul. I’m happy I have some new Turkish recipes to add to
my cooking repertoire.
Afiyet
olsun!
Here is Warren’s Hearty
Red Lentil Soup Recipe as well as her recipe for Lamb
Kebabs with Pistachios on Flat Bread.
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| An amazing casserole dish filled with sweet Turkish künefe. |
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