Thanks to a recommendation from Jonell Galloway at The Rambling Epicure, Mastering the Art of Food Writing, I received a beautiful cook book for Christmas in the form of “Istanbul & Beyond” by Robyn Eckhardt.
Filled with a great variety of traditional recipes from her travels throughout Turkey and photographed by her husband David Hagerman the book offers an insight into daily life at the table beginning in Istanbul and then travelling to the provinces beyond.
As part of my effort to improve my cooking skills and increase my repertoire of recipes that I can call upon, I determined to cook my way through this book with an online group from across the world.
Starting at chapter 1 “workers’ canteens, street fare and a multiethnic past in Istanbul” I had no difficulty choosing something to make at home. But first I had to stock my kitchen and Robyn’s helpful list of ingredients was very beneficial. I did have to make some substitutions but not too many thanks to my local Middle Eastern and Mediterranean supermarket S2Mart.
I started by making the “Iced Almonds” recipe which intrigued me in its simplicity and also seemed fitting for a hot Melbourne Summer as they are served on summer evenings.. atop cracked ice in crowded drinking houses in Beyoglu districts fish market.
Presenting these almonds as little jewels atop cracked ice and on a silver platter seemed so alluring and reminded me of the beauty that comes from slow food.
On a whim one night whilst feeling a general malaise in the kitchen that comes after a busy week of work  and nearly succumbing to the temptation to order take away I instead remembered that I had all the ingredients to make “Yes Mercimek Yemegi” or Green lentil and beef soup. My motivation to cook at home returned as a took on the challenge of trying something new.
That is the joy of a really good cookbook, it helps you produces wholesome tasty food and in so doing, care for your kin.
The “soup” was delicious and was made more pleasing on the palate with the suggested accompaniment of a chopped salad and some “soupy yoghurt with cucumber and mint”. Perhaps come Winter I will find myself wanting to eat it without the light, fresh salad but for now it balanced things out well.
I also turned the “En Guzel Tost or Istanbul Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich” into a Friday night supper for the family although I did not manage to make the cucumber pickle in time. I did however roast a beautiful, crisp, sweet yellow chilli from the supermarket and in so doing, I learnt to prepare a new ingredient in my kitchen. Yum!
My absolute favourite dish from this section was the “Tahtakale market chicken wings with thyme chilli salt.” To tenderise the chicken it was marinated overnight in a mixture of vinegar, onion and olive oil. Again this was a new technique to me and it worked an absolute treat and provided the chicken with a sweet flavour and heat that was difficult to identify as having come from onion and vinegar. My family all guessed at “lemon” which I think is the closes I could come to explaining the complex flavour that was produced.
In this recipe I did use a substitution and used chicken thigh fillets instead of wings. I can’t wait to make it again and will probably use this recipe for the I have guests over thanks to its simple magic.
I also want to try the “hot pink quick pickled cabbage”, the “Iman fainted eggplant” and the “fragrant orange cookies.”
Next up is the “Fish, corn and greens” section from The Black Sea.
I am enjoying learning new skills in the kitchen and also cooking with ingredients that I don’t traditionally favour for everyday meals. I want to learn more about how to prepare eggplant and lentil so they soak up beautiful flavours and I hope to have a few more moments of learning new techniques like I did with the chicken pieces.
In the meantime I hope to hear about what other people have made and how they have found the process.
Want to join in?
Happy Eating.
Dani xx