Classic Turkish Cooking
Last month saw I.B.Tauris reprint Ghillie Basan's landmark cookbook,
Classic Turkish Cookery
. In this classic and much-loved work
– shortlisted for the Glenfiddich Cookery Award – Ghillie Basan presents a unique collection of delicious traditional dishes from the Anatolian heartlands and sophisticated and classical recipes from the palace kitchens of the Ottoman sultans. To whet your appetite, here are some recipes for you to rustle up.
Balkabagi corbasi
Pumpkin Soup
Generally, pumpkins are turned into a nourishing, cinnamon-flavoured dessert, balkabagi tatlisi. This recipe is from the villages around Bursa that hug the lower slopes of Uludag, the ancient Mount Olympus, which is covered in snow in the winter. The soup can be topped with melted butter and kirmizi biber, or with yogurt and fried leeks.
Serves 4
2 onions, chopped
1 large leek, sliced (reserve a little of it for the garnish)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons clarified or ordinary butter
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
2lb/900g pumpkin flesh, cut into small pieces
2 pints/1.2 litres chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons thick creamy yoghurt
A little extra butter
In a deep pan, soften the onions, garlic and most of the leek in the butter. Stir in the spices, sugar and pumpkin, and pour in the stock. Bring the liquid to the boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for about 30-40 minutes until the pumpkin is soft.
Push the mixture through a sieve (or liquidise in an electric blender), and return to the pan. Heat it through, and season. In a small pan, melt a little butter and soften the remaining leek. Swirl the yoghurt into the soup and spoon the leek over the top.
Patates bastisi
Potato Casserole
Apart from cips (chips), two of the most popular potato dishes are patates bastisi and patates ezmesi. The latter, which is served as a meze dish, consists of potatoes mashed with crushed garlic, chopped onions and parsley, bound with olive oil and lemon juice. This version of patates bastisi comes from Ayvalik, known for its olives and olive oil factories, on the Egean coast.
Serves 4
1½lb/680g new potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 onions, halved and sliced
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crused with salt
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons black olives, stoned
4 tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
½ teaspoon roasted kirmizi biber
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Salt
2 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
Preheat oven to 400F/Mark 6/200C
In a shallow pan, fry the potatoes and onion int he oil until they take on a little colour. Stir in the garlic and cumin seeds and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, olives and sugar. Add the tomatoes, oregano, parsley and kirmizer biber. Season with salt.
Spoon the mixture into a shallow oven-proof dish and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle with the chopped hazelnuts and place in the oven for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Serve hot or cold with yoghurt.
Kizarmis biber
Grilled Peppers with Yoghurt
If you can, use the long, perfumed and slightly piquant pale-green carliston peppers for this dish. It also works well with the sweeter bell peppers, cut into halves or quarters.
Serves 2-3
12 carliston peppers, or 2 sweet bell peppers
4 tablespoons thick creamy yoghurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3-4 cloves, crushed with salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grill the peppers until soft and buckled. Mix the yoghurt with the lemon juice and garlic. Season to taste and spoon the cool yoghurt over the warm peppers. Eat while still warm.
Sarmisakli mantar
Spicy Garlic Mushrooms
In this tasty dish from central Anatolia the mushrooms are caramelised in the sweetness of their own juice and spied with garlic, coriander and allspice. The cooked mushrooms are then tossed in whateer pungent herbs are available, usually a mixture of wild oregano, parsley and mint. It is a recipe used for both cultivated and wild mushrooms, but works best with the small round ones.
Serves 2-3
8oz/225g mushrooms, cleaned and left whole
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil and a little butter
1 reaspoon allspice berries, crushed
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh oregano, marjoram, mint, basil or parsley, chopped
Put the mushrooms into a saucepan with the garlic, spices, olive oil and butter. Cook with the lid on over a high heat for about 10 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, allowing the liquid to froth up. Once the mushrooms begin to caramelize, remove the lid and cook for a further 4-5 minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated. Season to taste.
Spoon the mushrooms into a bowl and toss ina blend of fresh herbs. Serve hot or cold with wedges of lemon.
Nohutlu pilav
Chickpea pilaf
Every Friday when Mahmut Pasha, the famous Grand Vizier of Mehmet the Conqueror, invited his ministers to lunch he would serve an intriguing mound of rice and chickpeas pilaf as the climax to the meal. Intriguing, because dispersed amongst the chickpeas would be solid gold balls, moulded by his goldsmiths to resemble chickpeas, which would bring good fortune to the guests lucky enough to procure them in their spoons. Finely chopped leek or spinach can be added to this pilaf.
Serves 4
2oz/60g chickpeas, soaked for 6 hours or overnight (or 1 tin)
6oz/175g long-grain rice
1 onion, chopped
20g clarified or ordinary butter
1 pint/600ml water or chicken or beef stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Drain the chickpeas and cook in fresh water for about 45 minutes, until tender. Drain well. Wash the rice and soak if necessary.
Soften the onion in the fat. Stir in the chickpeas and the drained rice. Pour in the stock, season with the salt and pepper and bring the liquid to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook until almost all the liquid has been absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a dry dish-towel, and press the lid down tightly on top. Leave to steam for 15-20 minutes.
Fluff gently with a fork and serve.
Hunkar begendili kofte
Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Aubergine Purée
A classic Istanbul dish,a relic of the Ottoman Empire; literally translated as kofte with ‘Sultan’s Delight’. The begendi component is the aubergine puree, which can also be served with a number of other grilled meat and kofte dishes. The meatballs and sauce can be prepared ahead of time, but the begendi is best served fresh.
Serves 4-6
For the Kofte
1lb/450g minced beef
2 onions, grated
4 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
Small bunch of parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon kirmizi biber
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons plain flour for rolling sunflower oil for frying
For the sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed with salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
2 hot green peppers or 1 green chilli, kept whole
1 tablespoon sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the purée (Begendi)
4 aubergines
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon plain flour
½ pint/300ml mile
50g parmesan, grated
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Mix all the kofte ingredients ina bowl and knead well. Shape the mixture into tiny balls, roll them in the flour flour and put aside in the refrigerator or a cool place
To make the sauce, soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil. As they begin to colour add the tomatoes and peppers. Stir in the sugar and vinegar, and cook for 20-25 minutes. Add a little water if the tomatoes are not juicy
Balkabagi tatlisi
Pumpkin in Syrup
A nourishing winter dessert which turns a warm shade of golden when cooked. From November to the end of March the markets are full of large pumpkins expertly cut into cubes and rectangles ready to be made into this popular dessert. Invariably, chopped walnuts are the preferred topping in Istanbul, while the contrasting green pistachios are favoured in parts of Anatolia.
Serves 4
2/lb/900g pumpkin flesh
8oz/225g sugar
¼ pint/150ml water
Juice of ½ lemon
For the Top
2 tablespoons walnuts or pistachios, finely chopped or ground
Cut the pumpkin in rectangular or square blocks. Place the pieces in a wide, thick-based pan, sprinkle with the sugar and pour over the water and lemon juice. Cover the pan and poach gently for at least one hour, basting from time to time until the pumpkin is tender. Leave it to cool in the pan, then place the pumpkin pieces on a dish and spoon the syrup over them. Sprinkle with the nuts and serve.
For more information on Ghillie Basan, visit her website.