FOOD Archives - following the funks

TURKEY: 5 Turkish Foods I Love

February 17, 2021March 16, 20222021, FOOD, TURKEY Catie

What comes to mind when you think of Turkish food? A lot of people come to Turkey and they think kebabs and rice. But as someone who took Turkish cooking lessons once a week for a year and a half, there is SO MUCH MORE.

ADANA KEBABS IN ADANA – MASSIVE MIX GRILLED PLATE!

Little Recap:

For the month of February (the month of lllooooovvvvveeeee), I am doing a quick little mini LOVE series. Each week I will cover 5 “…” I love about Turkey.

Here is the line up! (scroll to the bottom for all the links)

WEEK ONE: 5 Things I love about Turkey
WEEK TWO: 5 Places I love in Turkey
WEEK THREE: 5 Foods I love in Turkey
WEEK FOUR: 5 People who also love Turkey too

DON’T FORGET: FREE PRINT!

If you’re new here I have a newsletter that goes out every month with a free download. I just sent out our first one for this year! This newsletter includes 3 free prints with the Turkish words faith, hope, and love. Please subscribe and access to those freebies will go straight to your mailbox!

Let’s get started! Read on to learn the **5 FOODS I love in Turkey**.

1. BEYTI KEBAB

It’s funny that I mentioned kebab’s first, especially after using it as an example of what people assume Turkish food is… To be fair, it’s a slightly different take on kebab which is probably why I enjoy it more!

Beyti is a Turkish dish consisting of ground beef or lamb, grilled on a skewer and served wrapped in lavas (or flat bread) and topped with tomato sauce and yogurt. Like most Turkish meals there is usually some type rice or bulgar served as a small side (as if the bread it was wrapped in wasn’t enough…)

Fun Fact: I learned is that this dish is actually named after a Beyti Güler, the owner of the popular restaurant Beyti in Istanbul.

TRY THIS RECIPE AT HOME.

2. ALI NAZIK

Gosh, I love anything with eggplant. Let’s get this straight – TURKISH eggplant. It’s just different than what we have in the states. I even mentioned that eggplant, or aubergine, in my ‘5 things I love about Turkey’ video.

And my favorite eggplant dish? Ali Nazik.

Ali nazik is a scrumptious Gaziantep specialty. The delicious marriage of char-grilled smoked eggplant puree mixed with yogurt is then topped with tender lamb stew. Ali nazik is sometimes served with rice pilaf and grilled vegetables. Unfortunately, this dish gets overlooked by a lot of foreigners that they’ve never have really good eggplant. So if you come to Turkey please, please, please, give it a chance. That’s all I’m asking because the mixture of the eggplant with the lamb that is so tender on top with makes it so incredibly delicious.

It really is a feast to all senses and a special dish to share.

TRY THIS RECIPE AT HOME.

FollowingTheFunks Turkish Food Ali Nazik

3. MEZE

Meze is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers or served as a part of multi-course meals. Mezes are a parts of the Middle East, the Balkans, Greece, and North Africa. You can kind of think of it like a larger portions of Spainish tapas (not free).

Our neighborhood in Izmir is know for its meze, especially the Rakı-Balık combo. Balık is the Turkish for fish and rakı is the Turkish version of their licorice tasting spirit which personally it’s not my favorite because I don’t love the licorice. Part of the rakı-balık experience is getting all these little side dishes to eat alongside your hand picked fish. I love being able to explore the freshly prepared selections of mezes and choose four or five and then later pick my fish.

This meal is most definitely a slow and social experience with friends. Everyone sits, chats, eat a little bit at a time, and maybe there will even be singing if a lingering 2 person band comes by to serenade you.

If you are a person who loves everyone ordering different items from the menu so you can ‘try it all’ then THIS is your type of place (and food). It is a great option for those who want to try a little bit of everything.

TRY THESE RECIPES AT HOME.

4. KUNEFE

Kunefe is dessert made with shredded filo pastry, soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup, and typically layered with cheese in the middle. If you aren’t a fan of super sweet desserts like kadayif or baklava, this is a great combination – something about the mix of cheese and simple syrup balances the flavors out and makes it seem lighter. This dessert is made fresh when ordered and it takes a while baked on the stove. If you are out of restaurant and know you want to this tasty dessert, make sure to tell them at the beginning of your meal. If you forget you’re going to find yourself waiting another 20 minutes.

I especially love Kunefe with pistachios sprinkles (or if you are in the hazelnut capital of Turkey then maybe hazelnuts would be a good choice!) and a little(actually a lot) scoop of clotted cream, or kaymak in Turkish. The mixture of shredded wheat, syrup, and cheese sounds odd, but you have to at least try once.

And yes, you’ll thank me for it. It’s just absolutely delicious.

TRY THIS RECIPE AT HOME.

5. KAHVALTI

I am sure it isn’t a surprise to those of you who have been following along for any amount of time here. From our blog post write-up, breakfast in Kalkan, video explaining what Turkish Breakfast is, and our recent Black Sea series telling you about the must-trip mıhlama breakfast dish served in Trabzon and Rize, it’s my jam (get it?).

Kahvalti, the Turkish word for breakfast, literally means ‘under coffee’ or a better translation is ‘before coffee’. Turkish breakfast is often diverse and consists of several different foods eaten together with a big pot of çay, or Turkish tea. Turkish kahve, or coffee, comes at the end of the meal. Breakfast in Turkey, traditionally, is family gathering, much like a brunch is for us Americans. With a line-up of tastes all its own, who wouldn’t look forward to it the night before and WANT to make it a longer, sit-down affair.

What makes Turkish breakfast even more appealing? Every region of turkey has a different type of breakfast tradition or breakfast dishes that they love to serve in their spread. Of course the most common items are usually there: tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, cheeses, eggs, and usually some types of jellies or honey with bread.

Turkish breakfast is usually done best on the weekend – during the week families are busy, but usually on a Saturday morning or Sunday morning, families make a point to sit down and have this breakfast or brunch with their families. Our family too has followed this tradition! I LOVE a good brunch on a weekend, and our favorite restaurants in Karsiyaka know us now! (Well, when they are allowed to be opened – stinky covid.) I also appreciate enjoying it with good friends and/or family.

I’ve got a couple of videos about Turkish breakfast but if you’re curious to learn more about what all could be found in a Turkish breakfast at a restaurant you can watch one of my videos called “What is Turkish Breakfast???”.

TRY THIS LIST GUIDE AT HOME.

FollowingTheFunks Turkish Breakfast Kahvalti

There you have it! Those are my top five foods I love in Turkey. I think I will have to do a part 2 because I could easily name 5 more!!!

Check out our matching video over at our YouTube Channel.

LISTEN to our podcast episode about our top 10 favorite Turkish food!

Comment below and let me know about some of the questions below:

Have you visited Turkey?
Where do you love to visit?
Or where would you love to visit one day?

Check out our other Mini LOVE Series videos and blog post too!

5 Things I love about Turkey: BLOG POST + VIDEO
5 Place I love in Turkey: BLOG POST + VIDEO
5 Food I love in Turkey: BLOG POST + VIDEO
5 People who love Turkey too: BLOG POST + VIDEO

Thank you for watching my mini love series and so thankful for you and I hope you enjoy the freebies!

FOOD: Learning to Love Eggplant [Karnıyarık]

August 18, 2020August 17, 20202020, FOOD, TURKEY Nia McRay

Before I moved to Turkey, I never bought an eggplant at the grocery store.

I loved to cook meals with lots of fresh vegetables, but I had NO IDEA what to do with this weird, rubbery purple thing. I’d had eggplant parmesan before, and it was tasty enough. But, to be honest, I’d prefer the chicken version. With the amount of imported produce available in the States, there was always such a variety of veggies that I never felt the need to attempt to do anything with eggplant.

I wrote it off as a food I didn’t like.

Within a month of arriving in Turkey, my eyes were opened. A friend ordered a patlıcan (pronounced pot-luh-john) pizza and let me try a slice. The eggplant I ate didn’t squeak between my teeth like I expected. In fact, it almost melted in my mouth.

Was this even the same vegetable I thought I didn’t like?

Several months later, my language tutor agreed to give me a cooking lesson for my birthday. I asked to her to teach me whatever she wanted to cook. She quickly decided on Karnıyarık, a stuffed eggplant dish. I was excited to learn how to make eggplant in a way that I would actually eat it. As a girl born and raised into a Southern American cuisine tradition, I should not have been surprised that the secret was in frying it.

If you’re interested in falling in love with eggplant, grab a kilogram of eggplant, some ground beef, and try out the recipe below.

Ingredients:

1 kg (about 2 lb.) eggplant
Sunflower (or other light) oil for frying
3 liters cold water
1 Tbsp olive oil
500g (1 lb) ground beef
1 large white onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, grated
1 ½ Tbsp + 1 tsp tomato paste
½ bunch of fresh parsley, minced
Boiling water
Salt
Black Pepper

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Instructions:

Wash eggplants and chop off stems. If eggplants are a larger variety, cut in half so they are about 15 cm (6 inches) in length. Peel four long stripes off each eggplant. Soak the eggplant in a brine consisting of 3 liters of cold water, and two tablespoons salt for 20-30 minutes. Then squeeze the excess water from them.
As you squeeze the excess water from your eggplant, heat up enough oil to deep fry your eggplant on medium to medium high heat. Fry each eggplant until it has a brown exterior and a soft interior. Set on paper towels to drain.
In a frying pan, over low heat, brown 500 grams (1 lb.) of ground beef and one large diced onion in a tablespoon of olive oil for 20 minutes.
Turn off the heat, and add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste, ½ bunch of minced parsley, salt and pepper to taste. Cover.
Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Place your eggplant in a large oven-safe pan, spacing them 2 cm (about an inch) apart. Slice open the middles of each eggplant, leaving 2 cm (an inch) on each end. Fill each eggplant with beef, using a spoon.
To create the sauce, add boiling water, little by little to 1-1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste. Stir as you add each bit of water, smoothing out any grainy feeling in the tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Grate 4 cloves of garlic. Place them in between the eggplant in the pan. According to my tutor, this is the most important step to getting delicious eggplant. Then, carefully pour the sauce between the egpplants until it comes 2/3 to the top of the stuffed eggplants.
Cut a tomato in half, top to bottom, then cut thin slices. Place a half-moon shaped slice on the top of each stuffed eggplant to keep the moisture in. Top each eggplant with a little sauce. Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
Serve with red pepper flakes, rice pilaf and cacık. Afiyet olsun!

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What about you?

If you like eggplant, what is your favorite way to cook it?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I am a lover of words and stories, student of culture, amateur photographer, adult cross-cultural kid, English tutor to TCKs (Third Culture Kids), and aspiring foodie. We will probably be instant friends if you give me good coffee, invite me to cook with you, or start a conversation with me about personalities, culture, and how the two intersect. I’m a life-long nerd, believer, and creative-in-the-works. I am all about the journey, so traveling and cross-cultural living is always something that has captured my heart and inspired my imagination.

In 2016, after teaching in an inner-city school and needing a change of pace, I spent a year abroad in Izmir, Turkey with a friend. I absolutely fell in love with the city and the people. The conveniences of a big city with a friendly, slow-pace-of-life atmosphere is all found between the mountains and the sea. What’s not to love? So, after my year of adventure, I knew I wanted to come back to Izmir to live.

Positioned on the perch of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Turkey is both a mix of cultures, and a unique culture all its own. The more I learn, the more I want to learn, and this desire to learn is what drives me to write. As a pretty quiet person, I write to learn, to discover, and to process. As someone who grew up in a cross-cultural context, Turkey’s diversity and mix of cultures is something I personally relate to. Plus, if you’ve ever tasted Turkish food, you know that it is definitely something to write home about. I’m really grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the Funks’ blog and to grow and learn in the process.

Turkish Summers + Chocolate Chip Cookies

July 22, 2020July 22, 20202020, EXPAT, FOOD, TURKEY Nia McRay

For me, summer is the season for picnics and potlucks, marked by evenings of snacks and çay watching the sun paint the sky as it sinks into the Aegean. In Izmir, the bay is always lined with families and friends enjoying the sea breeze. In the summers when the sun doesn’t set until well after 8 pm, it can be hard to find a place to put down a blanket to sit and watch the sunset. But when you do find a space to spread out with your friends, few things are more of a crowd-pleaser than these chocolate chip cookies. They travel well, require no utensils or plates, and go perfectly with a cup of çay.

This cookie has a caramelly complexity from browned butter, brown sugar, ground oats and cinnamon, a solid crunch with a structured crumb and chopped walnuts, yet all the gooey chocolate you could possibly desire. It is the combination of my favorite aspects of a few different recipes. I wanted a cookie that would give a crunch on the outside and hold together well, but with a soft interior, a bit of saltiness to keep it from being overly sweet, and the complexity of different textures and flavors.

This recipe is a bit time consuming as it requires for melted browned butter to come to room temperature, so I like to double the recipe ahead of time and keep pre-scooped dough in my freezer. That way, I can bake as few as two cookies for myself in the toaster oven, or a full dozen when friends or neighbors drop by unannounced. It’s a lovely feeling to know you are no more than 20 minutes away from a plate of warm, gooey and crunchy chocolate chip cookies that go perfectly with a cup of tea or coffee. The doubled recipe was enough for me to bring to 4 events.