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Recipes by Kemal Türkler Primary School-TURKEY

TURKISH CUISIN

E IS C

OLOURFU

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TURKISH CUISINE IS MULTINATIONAL

Anatolia wast the host of many civilizations suc as Lycians and Hitties and lastly has been the host of Turks,who immigrated from Central Asia.The culture of Nomadic Turks combined with the settled culture of Romans and blended with Egypt,Syia,Iran ,Iraq Balcans and the Aegean to make up todays Turkish cuisine…Eating plays an important role ,in Turkish people’s lives .Especially diner is a social occasion here all family members enjoy being together and have a chat.There are irreplacable favourites in the turkish cuisine ,such as:Eggplant :ıt has nearly forty different varieties of cooking.Yoghurt:yoghurt is eaten in almost every meal.added into dishes during or after cooking ,it is turned into ayran or eaten plain.Pickled vegetables:almost all vegetables may be pickled.Onion:the white red fresh or dried types are consumed lavishly.It is used in nearly all hot or cold dishes.

--A typical Turkish breakfast consists of white cheese,olives,jam,butter,eggs,sucuk(a kind of spicy salami)bread and tea--There is a tradition to prepare summer’s ample variety of fresh produce for winter.methods for winter preparations are;drying fruits,making jam a,pickling vegetables ,cooking pekmez from grape juice ,making tarhana,yufka and tomato paste.-- Dolmas –stuffed vegetables --have a great part in Turkish Cookery.Grape leaves ,peppers,eggplants,mackerel and mussels may be stuffed.Two kinds of stuffing are with minced meat or with rice ,which combined with currants,pinenuts,sugar,herbs and spices.

Healthy cooked meat:Eggplant stuffed with minced meatVegetarian:Rice stuffed bell peppersWithout fire:Bulgur salad(kısır)For religious days/holiday:AşureFor fasting periods:Güllaç

HERE ARE THE DISHES WE HAVE CHOSEN FOR THE COOKING

BOOKLET

INGREDIENTS10 EGGPLANTS –MEDIUM6 ONIONS-MEDIUM6 CLOVES OF GARLIC100 GRAMS OF BUTTER1 KILO OF MINCED BEEF500 GR TOMATOES-MEDIUMSALT1 TABLE SPOON OFTOMATO PASTE5 CUPS OF HOT WATER½ BUNCH OF CHOPPED PARSLEYTO FRY:3 CUPS OF SUNFLOWER OIL

Finely chop the onions and garlic.Peel the tomatoes,and chop small.Chop parsley.Melt the butter in a saucepan,add the chopped onion and garlic And stir over the heat for a few minutes.Add the minced meat and stir until the juice released.Add the tomatoes and cook until softened.Finally add the salt and tomato paste.Continue to stir for 5 minutes.Add the hot water and simmer for 5 minutes.Remove from the heat and strain off the liquid into a bowl.Stir the choped parsley into the minced meat and set aside.peel the eggplants .let the eggplants stay in salty water for 15 minutes and dry throughly.Fry the eggplants in sunflower oil until they get light brown.With a spoon ,make a spilt down the eggplants and pres out a hollow with the back of the spoon.fill each eggplant with minced meat mixture.cut the remaining tomato into 10 slices lay on the each eggplant.(you can also put fried gren pepper on the mixture.) pour the liquid from the minced meat over and bake in pre-heated oven at 160 centigrates for about 15 minutes.Serve hot,with rice pilaf and cacık(yoghurt with cucumber)

(for 10 portions)

20 bell peppers

2 tomatoesSalt1 cup of olive oilFor the stuffing:

½ tea spoons of sugar

2 cups of rice1 cup of olive oil

4 tomatoes½ cup of pinenuts

500 grams of finely chopped onions

1 teaspoon allspice

½ cup of dried currants

2 cups of hot water

1 Cup of chopped parsley

chopped DillDried mint

Cut tops of peppers and remove the seeds and wash.Combine finely chopped onions and pinenuts in a saucepan.Add oil.Saute until onions are tender stirring occasionaly.Stir in rinsed and drained rice mix well.Saute for 4-5 minutes.Add minced tomatoes, salt,sugar,allspice and hot water ,stir,Sprinkle dried currants over.cover and simmer for 15 minutes drain.remove from the heat.stir in finely chopped herbs.season with spices,sprinkle With lemon juice.Fill peppers with filling.Cut 2 tomatoes into 20 slices ,place one slice of tomato as a cap of each pepper.Arrange peppers in a shallow saucepan.add hot water and oil.sprinkle salt.Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is tender.Remove from heat,serve cold

INGREDIENTS:400 ml hot water300 gr bulgur( boiled and pounded wheat)1 table spoon tomato paste1 table spoon red chilli paste1 dessert spoon salt1 table spoon dried mint(or one or half bunch of fresh mint)Black pepper and red chili pepper(quantity is optional)1 crisphead lettuce1 /2 bunch of parsley1 bunch of fresh onions1/2 cup lemon juice1 cup olive oil pomegranate sauce (if desired)

Place bulgur in a large mixing bowl.Pour over hot water and salt.Mix and cover the bowl .Approximately 30 minutes later,add tomato and pepper paste .

Knead throughly.Add the lemon juice and olive oil.knead again Add chopped parsley ,mint , lettuce and fresh onions.(they have to be chopped small )SERVE WITH LETTUCE LEAVES AND PICKLED CUCUMBER…

Aşure is a traditional dessert prepared during a certain time of the year. It is well-known that Turks love to share what they have with their neighbors and it is a custom to prepare aşure in large cauldrons and distribute it to the poor. It doesn't always have to be the poor, neighbors also get to eat this dessert.

The preparation of aşure in Turkey is an old custom. It signifies thanksgiving to God for the granting of abundance since this delicacy contains grains, dried fruits and pulses grown in the country. The recipe has many ingredients. In the past, the ingredients varied from region to region, depending on their availability.

There is a folktale which explains the reason for the preparation of this delicacy which is as follows: When Noah's ark landed on Mt. Agrı (Ararat) there was great joy and to celebrate the end of the deluge and offer thanks to God those on the Ark prepared a delicacy with what was left on the Ark. There were grains, dried fruits and pulses on the vessel such as figs, nuts, wheat, chickpeas, almonds and apricots which were cooked together with sugar. According to this tradition aşure represents abundance and good luck.

Aşure symbolizes various events. It is believed that aşure is prepared to celebrate the anniversary of the day when Abraham was saved from the fire into which he was thrown and also when Jacob saw his son Joseph again. However, aşure is also prepared every year to mourn the deaths of Hasan and Hüseyin, the grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad.

In Turkey, it is customary to prepare aşure at a certain time of the year, which occurs for 10 days during the Moslem month of Moharrem. However, in Turkey, you can find aşure in pastry shops throughout the year. Aşure prepared at home is shared with the neighbors. Although it might be a bit difficult to do this in big cities, generally people who prepare aşure send a cup to each of the neighbors in their building. Others invite relatives for dinner and serve aşure for dessert.

-(10 portions)-400 GR Wheat grains--125 grams white beans--125 chick beans--150 grams dried apricots--150 grams of dried currants--200 gr raisins--150 grams dried figs--1 table spoons grated orange peels--800 grams sugar--5 liters water-- all kinds of nuts--cinnamon --pomegranate grains

soak the wheat in warm water,the beans in cold water and the chickpeas in a of the warm water overnight.They have to be soaked in separate bowls.Drain the chickpeas and beans,rinse and place in separete saucepans.Add the cold water and bring to the boil.Cover and simmer until it gets very tender.Drain.Chop the dried apricots and figs into hazelnut sized pieces.wash and cover dried currants with water .Boil for 10 minutes and drain.Wash the wheat and drain .Place the wheat in a large saucepan with 5 liters of water .Bring to the boil,cover and simmer over a low heat ,strring occasionally to prevent catching..When the wheat is tender to the point of mushy,add the currants,and cook for further 5 minutes ,stirring occasionaly.Stir in the grated orange peel ,chickbeans,stirring occasionaly.Add the dried apricots and sugar.Simmer for another 5 minutes.Put aşure in the serving bowls.As topping,put nuts ,cinnamon ,Pomegranate grains on the dessert.p.s:(all kinds of fruits can be cooked in aşure)

In Turkish gül means rose and aş means food; gullac is the abbreviation of güllü aş, which means food with rose. Noone calls it güllü aş today, gullac is easier to pronounce,so it is the modern name of this yummy dessert. So what is the relation of rose with this dessert? Actually, it’s not the rose, but rose water which has that relationship. Rose water used to be the main flavor in this dessert in Ottoman culture because of its refreshing effect. However, today, it depends on your taste to add rose water or not. Some people use it, some don’t.You can see gullac at patisseries and at markets just in Ramadan. Just like dates,in Turkey it is special for Ramadan. This simple and easy dessert is made from gullac sheets.. Gullac sheets are so white, thin and crispy. Today, people don’t make these sheets themselves as it requires special talents. These are sold in packages at the markets. And there are about 15 sheets in a package.

Ingredients

- 10 gullac sheets

- 1 ½ kg milk

- 350g sugar

- A cup of crumbled walnut

- Pistachio and pomegranate for garnish

Put milk and sugar (and 1 tbsp rosewater if you like) in a pot and heat it until the sugar melts. Stir it occasionally. It shouldn’t be too hot to touch, so let it cool a little. When it gets warm enough, we can start to make our dessert. If you use it hot, your dessert gets mushy.Lay a gullac sheet on an average size tray. Wet it with the warm milk. Repeat this with five sheets. After the fifth one, spread the crumbled walnut on it. Then lay the rest five sheets one by one and wet each of them with milk. When you finish with the tenth one, pour the rest of the milk on it. They don’t need to be very good in shape while arranging them in the tray.They will combine when they get wet with milk. After pouring the milk, you will see the Sheets are rising, do not touch them. Cover it with stretch film and put it in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.