What shall we cook?
Ready in 30 minutes
Kahvaltılık
Tahini with Grape Molasses (Pekmezli Tahin)
Two ingredients and one ratio. Half and half is neither too sweet nor too heavy.
Kahvaltılık
Fried Eggs (Sahanda Yumurta)
Runny yolk, fully set white. A lid is what strikes that balance.
Salata & Meze
Rocket Salad (Roka Salatası)
The sharpness of rocket balanced with parmesan and lemon. Three ingredients, five minutes.
Kahvaltılık
Plain Omelette (Sade Omlet)
A low heat and constant stirring. Over a high heat an omelette turns rubbery.
Kahvaltılık
Pan Fried Sucuk (Sahanda Sucuk)
No eggs, just sucuk. In a dry pan, until the edges curl.
Kahvaltılık
Honey and Kaymak (Bal Kaymak)
Not a recipe but an arrangement: cold kaymak, honey at room temperature, hot bread.
Salata & Meze
Pickle Salad (Turşu Salatası)
Whatever pickles are in the fridge, chopped and dressed with olive oil. A five minute meze.
Kahvaltılık
Curd Cheese Salad (Lor Salatası)
Lor, spring onion and dill. Ready in five minutes and the lightest thing on the table.
Kahvaltılık
Eggs with Pastırma (Pastırmalı Yumurta)
Pastırma cooks very briefly. Left too long it toughens and its çemen crust turns bitter.
Kahvaltılık
Cheese Omelette (Peynirli Omlet)
The cheese goes in at the last moment. Beaten in at the start it makes the eggs watery.
Kahvaltılık
Cheese Toastie (Peynirli Tost)
Cheese between the slices, butter on the outside. That order is what makes it crisp.
Kahvaltılık
Breakfast Kavurma (Kahvaltılık Kavurma)
Kavurma is already cooked; the pan only heats it through. Cooking it long makes it tough.
Kahvaltılık
Porridge with Milk (Sütlü Yulaf Lapası)
A hot breakfast in five minutes. The ratio decides the texture: 1 part oats to 2 parts milk.
Kahvaltılık
Eggs with Curd Cheese (Lorlu Yumurta)
The lor melts into the eggs in the pan. Unlike white cheese it softens without breaking down.
Kahvaltılık
Eggs with Çökelek (Çökelekli Yumurta)
The çökelek breaks up in the pan and folds into the egg. Choose an unsalted one.
Kahvaltılık
Boiled Eggs (Haşlanmış Yumurta)
Timing is everything: 6 minutes runny, 8 minutes creamy, 11 minutes fully set.
Salata & Meze
Haydari
A meze ready in 15 minutes with strained yoghurt, garlic and mint. No hob involved, and the only real job is…
Salata & Meze
Green Salad (Mevsim Salata)
The leaves must not stay wet. Undried lettuce will not hold the dressing and the salad goes watery.
Salata & Meze
Shepherd’s Salad (Çoban Salatası)
The size of the dice decides everything. Cut large, a shepherd’s salad does not go watery and the pieces stay…
Salata & Meze
Purslane Salad with Yoghurt (Semizotu Salatası)
With yoghurt and garlic. If the thick stalks are not picked out, they stay stringy in the mouth.
Kahvaltılık
Eggs with Sucuk (Sucuklu Yumurta)
Frying the sucuk in a dry pan is enough. It releases its own fat and the eggs cook in that.
Kahvaltılık
Egg Bread (Yumurtalı Ekmek)
Stale bread dipped in egg and fried. It works sweet or savoury.
Salata & Meze
Sumac Onion Salad (Nar Ekşili Soğan Salatası)
The classic beside a kebab. Salting and rubbing the onion takes out its sharpness.
Kahvaltılık
Pan Fried Sausages (Sosis Tava)
Scoring the sausages makes them cook evenly. Unscored, they swell up and burst.
New recipes
Ana Yemekler
Lamb Chops (Kuzu Pirzola)
Meat at room temperature, a very hot pan, one turn. A marinade is not even necessary.
Hamur İşleri
Homemade Sandwich Loaf (Ev Yapımı Tost Ekmeği)
A tin is essential; a loaf shaped by hand will not make toast. A lidded tin gives the flat top.
Salata & Meze
Mixed Pickles (Karışık Turşu)
If the salt ratio is wrong the pickles go soft. One tablespoon of rock salt per litre, no negotiation.
Kahvaltılık
Homemade Ayran (Ev Yapımı Ayran)
The yoghurt is loosened with a little water first and the rest added after. The other way round leaves lumps.
Tatlılar
Homemade Turkish Delight (Ev Yapımı Lokum)
Starch and sugar syrup stirred for forty minutes. Cut the time short and it will not set; go over and it…
Çorbalar
Cabbage Soup (Lahana Çorbası)
White cabbage collapses into its own liquid, and tomato paste and lemon hold the balance. A pinch of cumin…
Ana Yemekler
Baked Pasta (Fırında Makarna)
The pasta is boiled firm because it carries on cooking in the oven. Fully boiled pasta falls apart there.
Ana Yemekler
Adana Kebab
The mince is cut with a zırh, the tail fat ratio is kept, the skewer is packed by hand. Three rules, and the…
Salata & Meze
Fried Aubergine with Yoghurt (Yoğurtlu Patlıcan Kızartması)
The aubergine is soaked in salted water and then dried. Those two steps halve how much oil it takes up.
Hamur İşleri
Burger Buns (Hamburger Ekmeği)
Potato gives the softness, egg the shine and sesame the look. All three are thought to be skippable.
Hamur İşleri
Puffed Cheese Pastries (Puf Böreği)
Dough that meets hot oil puffs in a second. If the oil is not hot enough it does not puff, it soaks up oil.
Çorbalar
Chicken Stock (Tavuk Suyu)
It is not boiled, it is heated. Boiling clouds chicken stock; liquid that only trembles over a low heat stays…
Çorbalar
Collard Greens Soup (Karalahana Çorbası)
The winter soup of the Black Sea kitchen. Cornmeal gives the body and white beans make it filling.
Tatlılar
Semolina Milk Pudding (Sütlü İrmik Tatlısı)
The semolina is toasted in butter and the hot milk added slowly. Rush it and it lumps.
Salata & Meze
Green Lentil Salad (Yeşil Mercimek Salatası)
The lentils are cooked just enough to stay firm. A minute more turns the salad into purée.
Kahvaltılık
Homemade Yoghurt (Ev Yapımı Yoğurt)
The temperature of the milk is the only variable. If you can hold a finger in it for ten seconds, it is time.
Çorbalar
Chicken Soup with Egg and Lemon (Terbiyeli Tavuk Çorbası)
The soup you ask for when you are ill. Egg and lemon turn chicken stock into something velvety.
Ana Yemekler
Çöp Şiş
Small cubes, thin wooden skewers, a short cook. Cut the meat large and it is not çöp şiş but kuşbaşı.
Hamur İşleri
Savoury Loaf Cake (Tuzlu Kek)
Olives, cheese, pepper. One bowl, one tin, forty minutes.
Tatlılar
Hanım Göbeği
The dough goes into warm oil and heats with it. Dropped into hot oil it stays raw inside.
Salata & Meze
Celeriac and Apple Salad (Elmalı Kereviz Salatası)
The celeriac is grated raw and dropped into acidulated water. Left waiting it browns and the salad comes out…
Ana Yemekler
İskender Kebab
Döner, flatbread, tomato sauce, yoghurt and sizzling butter. Five parts prepared separately and brought…
Ana Yemekler
Sac Kavurma
The vegetables go in one at a time: meat first, tomato last. Put them all in together and it is not a kavurma…
Tatlılar
Bülbül Yuvası
Pastry wound on a rolling pin and gathered, with pistachio in the middle. Cold syrup onto a hot dessert.