lavaş ekmeği

lavash flatbread

Artun Ünsal, in his book "Nimet geldi ekine" (Blessed is the crop) says that a type of yeasted phyllo bread called "lavash" came from Persia because they call a bread that resembles our pide but a little thinner and longer with the same name.

The famous Turkish pilgrim Evliya Çelebi mentions the word lavash in his book "Seyahatname".

In Azeri lavash means flat bread. This bread is also consumed in Azerbaycan, Kirghizistan, Kazakhstan and Iran on a daily basis. These countries together with Turkey asked for UNESCO recognition for "The culture of making and sharing of flat breads: Lavaş, Jupka, Kartırma and Yufka". Unesco accepted and added this request to the list of humanity's intangible cultural heritage. Armenian flatbread is registered separately with a different cooking technique. Lavash (Flat Bread) is not just a common bread, but it is also a symbol of Anatolian cultures from the past to date.

If flat bread is made just with white flour it is tough, that's why my recipe is more on the whole wheat flour side. You have to cook this bread on high heat, otherwise it dries out.

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laz böreği

laz böreği

The name is börek, but it's sweet like dessert. They think it has a 200 year history. It is a challenging dessert made for special days in Rize & Artvin region. Even though it cannot replace the hand rolled phyllo dough, today's ready made phyllo dough makes everything much easier.

Bu tarif her zaman olduğu gibi benim yorumum. 🙂

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ekşi maya

sourdough starter

For thousands of years, an inseparable part of the human diet was bread and in the past it was only made with sourdough starter. In 1859 Louis Pasteur found how the yeast works. 10 years later Fleischmann's yeast (baker's yeast) was found and the modern bakery started. During 1940 again Fleischmann found a yeast that did not have to be refrigerated and called it active dry yeast and marketed it. In 1960s again after various lab research they found instant yeast which rises 50% faster than active dry yeast. As a result speed and cost gained importance, and industrial production of bread started where the taste and the texture became less important.

If you want to use dry yeast then their replacement ratios are as such:

100% bakers' yeast = 40-50% active dry yeast = 33% instant dry yeast.

When yeast starts feeding on flour, changes its natural grain sugar and starch into carbon dioxide, which raises the dough with bubbles. Other than that sourdough starter by using lactobacilli bacteria changes proteins like gluten into lactic acid, facilitates digestion and creates a taste of its own. Commercial, specifically dry yeast, feeds on sugar rather than the flour itself, shortens the fermentation process, it does not affect the proteins in the grain and complicates digestion. Authorities claim that the increase in the number of gluten intolerant people is mainly due to industrial breads and the use of dry yeast. If you really want to read a long and detailed article on this subject click on this and get to NewYorker's October 2014 issue.

Fermantasyon süresinin uzunluğuna, yabani bir maya ile çalışıyor olmanın belirsizliğine ve mayanın bakım ihtiyacına alışmak gerekiyorsa da faydaları saymakla bitmez. Ben Peter Reinhart’ın tarifi ile hazırladığım ekşi mayamı 3 senedir yaşatıyorum, darısı başınıza. 🙂

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çabuk ekmek

soda bread

Vaktim yok! Hamur ile aram yok! “Kulak memesi” kıvamını ve “aldığı kadar” unu anlayamıyorum bir türlü! ?

I just wanted to share a bread recipe that would put an end to all the excuses above.

This type of bread made with baking soda, specially known as the Irish soda bread, got into our literature and kitchen, after the invention of baking soda and its wide use in England in 1830s. Before baking soda pearl ash was used for the same purpose as a rising agent in making bread.

Biz kekmek adını taktık, bakalım siz ne diyeceksiniz… ?

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İspanyol bademli kek

Spanish almond cake

Our Spanish cousin was staying with us and we were invited to a Passover celebration. We did not want to go empty handed. The cousin who is an excellent cook, proposed this cake. We had 3 out of 4 ingredients, no almond flour but we had almonds. Used the blender to get rid of larger pieces, and sifted the rest and used it. Our hostess and all other guests loved the cake.

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bulgur çiğ köfte

bulgur tartare

Its story goes 4000 years back, all the way to Saint Abraham. The popular southeastern Anatolian beef tartare of centuries, in line with the regulations of the European Community, became a tartare with no beef but bulgur. Reasonable prices and a shop at each corner made everybody love the bulgur tartare.

It is easy to make at home, because it can be made with what we already have in our kitchens. And if you have bits of missing ingredients you can always find something to use instead.

İlk defa denediğim ve bizim keyifle yediğimiz bu tarifi hazır evdeyken yapın derim. 🙂

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kekik

thyme

Posted on by Zehra

Thyme (kekik) is the generic name given in Turkish to a large plant family. Oregano, marjoram and savory are the different types of thyme known and used in the world.

Thyme may have the leading role in the use of spices, or have a supporting role, as it harmonizes easily with other spices and herbs.

“Thymol” is a powerful oil which gives thyme its character. Moreover, thyme types are sometimes classified according to the proportion of the oil content. Thyme oil has anti-bacterial properties due to thymol and is also used in skin creams and mouthwash preparations.

Thyme is one of the rare plants that retain their aroma and taste when it is dried.

It is native to the Mediterranean.

It has been used since prehistoric ages both for its flavour and its medicinal properties. The Egyptians used it for mummification. It was burned as incense in old Hellenic temples. The Romans dedicated this plant to Venus. During the Middle Ages, it was widely believed that thyme gave courage to man.

Its old Hellenic name thymon comes from the same root as the words for “soul” and “smoke”.

Thyme is often encountered in recipes containing mutton, pork and duck because thyme facilitates the digestion of fatty foods.

The scent of thyme is at its best when the plant flowers.

I came across lemon thyme in Assos and bought a pack or two whenever I visited. This year I was so happy to find it as a plant in Zeytinburnu Tıbbi Bitkiler Bahçesi. It goes beautifully with salad sauces, it adds a light lemony taste. It also is very good company for chicken and fish dishes. I suggest you add it at the end of the cooking process, as it immediately loses its taste as soon as it is cooked.

taze otlu fougasse

fougasse with fresh herbs

French fougasse is type of a flattish bread like the Italian focaccia or the Spanish hogaza or the Balkan pogaca.

This simple bread type, was being baked 3000 years ago in ancient Rome with the name of panis focacius. In the old days the baking duration of this bread helped the bakers in measuring the temperature of the wood oven.

This "easy to make at home" bread can turn out to be a pre meal pleasure when served warm with cheese and olive oil.

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beze

meringue

What we call beze is what the French call meringue, and the first use of the word is by François Massialot, the Chef of Louis 14th, in his cookbook published in 1692. Who found and developed meringue is still debatable, but by looking at the tools and the ingredients used for making it, we definitely know that it emerged during mid 16th century.

There are three different ways of making meringue, namely French, Swiss and Italian. French way is whisking egg white, salt and lemon juice until it thickens slightly, sugar is whisked in spoon by spoon, and lastly aroma is added. Swiss method is what I use. And the most difficult way is the Italian application where hot sugar syrup is whisked into egg white. In professional kitchens all methods are used for bringing different products to perfection.

Lemon curd yaptığınızda artan yumurta aklarını değerlendirmek için beze yapmanızı öneririm. 🙂

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