Author: Zehra

tarhun

tarragon

Posted on by Zehra

There are two known types of this plant of Central Asian or maybe Siberian origin. The “French” tarragon is the tasteful one. Russian tarragon is easier to cultivate but is not favored for its taste and aroma. It is believed to have been brought from Central Asia to Persia and Anatolia by the Turks during their migration and carried to Europe during the Crusades. As the seeds of the plant rarely reproduce, it is usually grown by dividing the roots.

The old Hellenic name of tarragon is drakon, which is in fitting with the widespread belief that it cures snake bites and keeps off reptiles and dragons. It is interesting to note in Hittite and Assyrian chronicles between 1440 BC. to 600 BC. that the weather goddess was named Tarhun (tarragon in Turkish). It was believed that she was the one to bring fertility to the dry Anatolian lands by sending rain. The authority of the king was thus strengthened.

Tarragon was first discovered in the Middle Ages through its medicinal use.

Tarragon has a sweet aromatic anise taste that goes well with chicken, eggs, fish, lemon juice, parsley, seafood, mushrooms and tomato. Broccoli soup is a recipe that you should try with tarragon.

You may know of tarragon, which has a special place in French cuisine, from the famed Sauce Béarnaise. It is also an important element of spice mixtures like herbes de Provence, fines herbes and bouquet garni.

It's not that easy to find this herb at supermarkets. You may try to grow at home (link is in Izmir, Turkey).like I do.

Put a handful of fresh tarragon in a bottle. Fill the bottle with good quality white wine vinegar, if you can get it, or apple vinegar and close the bottle tightly. Keep in a dark place for 1 -2 weeks, or for a longer time, according to the strength you prefer. Drain and transfer the liquid into a clean bottle. You can use it in your salad dressings.

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kişniş

cilantro

Posted on by Zehra

Cilantro is supposed to be the most widely used herb in the world. It is known to have grown in the middle East, the Eastern Mediterranean and Greece since ancient times. Cilantro is a relative of parsley.

The leaves (cilantro) and seeds (coriander) have entirely different flavors. It was grown for a long time mostly for its seeds. Coriander seeds are mentioned in early Sanskrit manuscripts. They have also been encountered in Egyptian sarcophagi dated to 900 B.C.

Although this herb appeared originally in the Mediterranean region, it is widely used in Indian, Far Eastern, Chinese and Latin American cuisine. It has been available in Mediterranean and European markets only in the last five years. Getting used to the flavor of cilantro requires some time. Its taste is sometimes even described as “soapy”. It is also rumored that liking cilantro or not has a genetic root.

Guacamole is the Latin American recipe for which cilantro leaves are mostly used.

The root is only used in Thailand.

It is thought that the Turkish word of “kişniş” comes from the word “gishniz”, which was used in Central Iran. Coriander is mentioned in the old Testament as spiritual food.

As cilantro leaves quickly loose their flavor when heated, they are added when cooking is ended. It is mostly used in salads and in recipes that do not require cooking. Using cilantro in a dish with hot chili refreshes the palate.

I can still remember the taste of sugar coated coriander seeds that street vendors used to sell in front of my primary school. They are consumed in India to prevent bad breath.

Z If you are invited to a Passover dinner in a Jewish home and you remember to bring cilantro, your host will be very surprised. Your knowing that one of the bitter herbs eaten at Passover in ancient times was cilantro will certainly impress all the guests.

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.

şeker hikayesi

sugar story

Posted on by Zehra

Oğlumla bir donut paylaşırken yaptığımız sohbet üzerine giriştiğim araştırmayı sizlerle paylaşmak istedim. 🙂

A white substance, which includes carbon, oxygen and hydrogen in it's formation, that melts in water, is capable of fermenting, mostly sweet and extracted from stems and roots of sugar cane, sugar beet, potato, carrot, corn, and wheat is generally called "Sugar" which is a Persian word.

8000 BC - Sugar cane that grows in tropical and subtropical climates, is originally domesticated by New Guineans and than spread throughout Asia, Southern China and India.

800 BC - The first written acknowledgement of sugar cane is found in ancient Chinese tablets

500 BC - Indian farmers made carrying possible by using special bowls for shaping cold sugar syrup. English word candy, comes from khanda which is the name of this specific creation in India.

300 BC - Alexander The Great's soldiers returning from India brought sugar, which they called "honey powder", to Europe, but it took over a 1000 years for this newcomer to be accepted.

100 AD - Europe imported sugar for medicinal purposes only.

400 - Indians preferred to use honey as sweetener even though they produced ample amounts of sugar. During the Gupta Empire of the 5th century, Indian sugar cane growers, with the help of a boiling method, found a way to refine sugar to produce crystals. After the application of this new method, mainly due to easy transportation sugar became the number one tradable good in India.

5 AD - Sugar was brought to China by Buddhist monks traveling to neighboring countries and by Indian sailors to countries beyond the Indian Ocean.

600 - China planted large sugar cane fields using techniques taken from India.

9th & 10th centuries - During the Arab Agricultural Revolution, Asian & Middle Eastern muslim countries which were growing canes by way of using the Indian techniques, introduced sugar to Europe. Southern Asia, Middle East and China started using ample amounts of sugar in main courses and desserts.

11th - 13th centuries - British and French soldiers of the Crusades took this new spice they called sweet salt back home. Venetian and Mediterranean commercial fleets flourished with sugar trading, and brought back home new technologies and tools which triggered The Renaissance and The Golden Age of Inventions.

1319 - Sugar known as white gold was selling for a price of USD 110 / KG in London, and was seen as a luxury item to be consumed only by the rich.

1330 - The first recipe of a dessert very similar to Baklava was found in a cook book of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty. Baklava as we know today was created in the kitchens of Topkapı Palace in İstanbul later on.

1493 - Christopher Columbus took sugar cane plant seedlings to the Caribbean Islands during his second trip to the new world, and the suitable climate helped forming the sugar cane industry.

16th century - Europeans used the locals at first and then the African slaves as labor in Central & Southern America and the Caribbeans. Millions of slaves lost their lives due to lack of medical care, inhumane working conditions and attempted escapes.

1600 beg. - French Expert on agriculture Olivier de Serres found the process of crystalizing sugar beets.

1700 - In developed countries annual sugar consumption per person was 1 kilogram 800 grams for that time period.

1747 - Sugar beet that can be planted in temperate climates was named as the main source of sugar and pulled the prices down.

18th century - Because of the large labor force of the African slaves working for North and Middle American sugar cane plantations, sugar transformed from an expensive commodity to a popular food item.

1800 - In developed countries annual sugar consumption per person was 8 kilograms for that time period.

1801 - Because of the first European sugar beet plant created by Franz Karl Achard in Germany sugar became even more popular and reachable. Today one fifth of the world sugar production is from sugar beets.

1843 - Township of Dacice, located in today's Czech Republic, was where a manager of a sugar plant, Jakub Krystof Rad found a way to make sugar cubes, got a 5 year patent and started production.

19th century - Sugar was no more just a popular item, but it became a necessity. The booming slave market started diminishing after the American Civil war

1900 - in developed countries annual sugar consumption per person was 45 kilograms and still increasing with a fast rate.

1926 - First Turkish sugar plant was established in Kırklareli as Alpullu Şeker Fabrikası.

1957 - High fructose corn syrup, developed by Richard O.Marshall and Earl P.Kool, is being used in all sorts of food products and specially in soft and carbonated drinks.

20th century - Sugar became an ingredient used by everybody on a regular basis.

2000s - in developed countries annual sugar consumption per person was 45 kilograms We reach this high amount of 125 grams per day, with sugar consumed from food and drinks within our knowledge and plus the sugar and high fructose corn syrup consumed in all processed food without knowing.

2015 – British authorities say our daily sugar consumption should not exceed 25 grams (95 kcal), where the American authorities think 50 grams (190 kcal) is acceptable. In other words what they say is that our daily sugar consumption should stay in a range of 5-10% of our total daily usage of calories.

I try to minimize the usage of processed goods as much as I can in my kitchen, in order to keep our daily sugar consumption within acceptable limits.

 

 

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süt

milk

Posted on by Zehra

We think that boiling raw milk at high heat and cooling it on the work bench is pasteurizing it. But when we go through this process, we do not only kill the harmful bacteria but also the useful bacteria, that leaves us with milk that is very low on nutritive values.

Warm the milk to 72°C and cook for a minute or to 63°C and cook for 30 minutes. Take it from the stove and put into an ice filled large cup. Cool the milk to your usage need or whatever is good for the fridge in a speedy manner. The milk pasteurized as such lives a week in the fridge. You can consume raw milk without pasteurizing and use it for cheese making. What is really important, is that you have to find natural milk from animals who are fed with natural feed, kept in places with necessary hygiene conditions and are subject to regular health check ups. If you buy your milk, off the streets or at market places, not subject to a cold chain treatment of some sort, and all year and all day round staying at medium temperatures, without any knowledge of raising and feeding conditions of the animals, and again without the knowledge of the type of medicinal applications on weak animals, you can boil your milk for a long time at high heat it still would be threatening your health.

"Pasteurization" is applied by the French scientist Louis Pasteur for the first time in 1860s and is named after him, where the process is based on killing the microorganisms with heat.

Industrial milk, heated for a longer duration at low heat (63°C – 65°C for 30 minutes) or for a shorter duration at high heat (71°C -74°C 40-45 seconds) is cooled immediately after taking off heat and pasteurized. Because this process does not kill all the microorganisms but just the ones harmful to human health, it has a brief shelf life and is transported in a cold chain and kept in fridges. Pasteurization decreases the soluble calcium and phosphate by 5%, thiamine and vitamin B by 10% and vitamin C by 20% .

Thermal applications exceeding 101 degrees celsius or higher, also need pressure, and is called sterilization. This process makes all vegetative cells, spores and enzymes fully inactive. Long life milk (UHT Sterilized) reaching around 135°C-150°C, are sterilized under pressure from 2 to 5 seconds. Various research show that UHT process destroys close to all of the soluble vitamins and all of vitamin B12. Absorption and obtainability of calcium practically disappears. This milk also decreases the functionality of probiotics in our systems and harms them. Therefore the UHT milk we drink for health reasons does more harm than good. You can not even make yogurt with this milk.

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biberiye

rosemary

Posted on by Zehra

This is a Mediterranean plant, it grows in temperate climates and at low altitudes, it does however not like the seashore! It is an evergreen perennial plant with dense and needle-like leaves reminiscent of pine leaves. It is a member of the mint family.

It has been used for medicinal purposes since antique times to our day. According to a popular belief, rosemary bloosoms were white until the Virgin Mary covered them with her blue mantle. It was grown in monastery gardens during the Middle Ages.

It has a name similar to Ros marinum, Latin for “the dew of the sea”, in many European countries.

Unlike many plant leaves, rosemary can withstand lengthy cooking. The fresh leaves have a purer aroma than the dry ones and should be chosen whenever available. Do not however forget that as rosemary dries, it becomes much richer in iron, calcium and vitamin B6.

Its lavender-blue or white blossoms attract bees which thus produce the very tasty rosemary honey.

Rosemary has always been believed to improve the memory. Even today it is used in Europe at marriage and funeral ceremonies as a symbol of remembrance. It is added to the bride’s bouquet or strewn on her path. At funerals, it is placed on the coffin or thrown into the grave.

Fresh rosemary branches can be used as skewers. You can cook meat over a charcoal fire, especially lamb, chicken or vegetables by stringing them on a rosemary stalk.

Put a few rosemary leaves in the milk you boil to prepare a dessert, set aside for 15 minutes. Remove the leaves. You will soon realize that your desserts have a very different taste.

the flavor bible

the flavor bible

Posted on by Zehra

flavor_bible_cabbageI have been buying cookbooks with a never ending curiosity and pleasure for the past 25 years. My culinary library probably exceeds 500 books. With all the facilities of the web, even though it is less compared to the old days, I am still buying. With every new book I buy, I check from the first to the last page and mark the recipes I want to try. Of course, though rarely, I run into books with no interesting or 1-2 tried recipes and never read more than once. And then I have those books concentrating on specific subjects and specific kitchens, which I always check when searching. In addition to all that, I specially try to buy my favorite chefs' books. I have special reference books that I use for searching and deeper learning purposes, and my 3-4 books often used on my kitchen shelves.

A book I bought in November 2008, The Flavor Bible is one of my kitchen books. A couple, Karen Page ve Andrew Dornenburg, created a magnificent taste combination map on paper. Whenever I want something different or a way to enhance the ingredients that I have at hand, specially when with a recipe that I really know, I pick their book up. For example, adding turmeric to baked caulifloweris a detail I got from that book.

If taste combinations is of interest to you, interactive style of The Flavor Connection Map (lezzet ilişkileri haritası) çok ilginç ve eğlenceli bir kaynak. 🙂

muskat

nutmeg

Posted on by Zehra

Nutmeg, known as small Indian nut in Turkish, is believed to have developed first on the Banda Islands east of the Malaysia peninsula. Nutmegs are native to Indonesia and are extensively grown in tropical Asia and America.

It is said that massaging with nutmeg oil relieves rheumatic pains.

It is supposed to have been an expensive and highly esteemed spice in the cuisine of the Middle Ages. It was very popular from the 15th to the 19th century. It was generally carried in wooden or silver boxes with an in-built grate.

Dutch merchants held the nutmeg trade in their hands for a very long time. However their monopoly was broken when spices were smuggled out of the Islands and grown elsewhere.

It is rumoured that the single ingestion of a large quantity of nutmegs may cause hallucinations, that it is a hallucinogen. Such a large quantity of the spice is also poisonous.

Indonesia and Granada, whose flag bears the image of the nutmeg are leaders in nutmeg production. The first harvest to be obtained from a nutmeg tree requires 7-9 years after it is planted and reaches its full production in 20 years.

Nutmeg is the essential spice for sauce bechamél. It also goes very well with spinach. It is sprinkled on hot or cold eggnog as an ornament.

I suggest you buy nutmeg whole. Prick a needle into it to check that it is fresh. A droplet of oil should appear on its surface. Grate the required quantity indicated in the recipe. Nutmeg powder very quickly loses its aroma and taste.

zencefil

ginger

Posted on by Zehra

Ginger is one of the oldest known spices, maybe the oldest. Like its other relatives of the ginger family (galingale, curcuma, turmeric), ginger cannot be obtained from seeds but only by dividing its roots, which shows that it has been cultivated under the control of man for a time long enough to make it lose its basic characteristic as a wild plant. It was domesticated somewhere in Southern Asia in prehistoric times. The fact that the nomads brought this spice with them is that this plant was different from the natural vegetation in places where it grew. This is quite understable as ginger is a spice, a herb and a medicine at the same time. It is believed to have gone from Southern China to the Philippines and to the Spice Islands, from where it spread east and westward.

Starting from the early Roman Empire doctors to the Hellenic, Arabic and Persian pharmacists, ginger was known for its warming and stomachic characteristics, as an appetizer and an antidote for various poisons. It was also considered a must in its birthplace China at that time in what is known today as Cantonese cuisine.

It is known that the Spaniards were engaged in the ginger trade between Jamaica and continental Europe in the 16th century. It was one of the major spices in Europe during the Middle Ages. Gingerbread goes back to that period. Ginger beer and ginger ale originated in the 19th century when British publicans sprinkled ginger into their beverages.

Ginger rightfully still keeps its place in traditional medicine. It is found in various forms all over the world. Large quantities come from Jamaica, India, Africa and China in this order. Jamaican ginger is considered to be the best ginger. As it usually grows in tropical climates, it is mostly known in powder form, as a preserve or for its ripe, aged root. The major producers of powdered ginger are India and China. Young roots found in tropical markets have a very thin shell. They can easily be grated, sliced and even squeezed to extract their juice.

Be sure that the skin of the ginger root you buy is unblemished. A wrinkled skin proves the root is dry and that it is too late to use it. It has to have a fresh and aromatic fragrance. You can keep it tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for 3 weeks without peeling it, and 6 months in the freezer. You can also peel it, place it in a closed jar topped with dry wine and keep it in the refrigerator for 3 months.

Add 1/4 cup thinly sliced ginger to 1/2 cup honey that you warmed through in a bain marie and let it macerate for a week. Add 1-2 tbsp of this concoction and 1-2 tbsp lemon juice to 1 cup boiling water to remedy cold. You can also use it to sweeten lemonade in summertime.

kimyon

cumin

Posted on by Zehra

Cumin, already mentioned in 14th century B.C. Mycenaean tablets, is a spice often used in Middle Eastern, Latin American, North African and Asian cuisine. It was also used in Europe during the times of the Hellenic civilisation and the Roman Empire, but disappeared during the Middle Ages except in Spain and Malta. It is even said that the ancient Greeks, like Turks do, serve cumin in its special container at meal times. It is thought that Latin America got acquainted with cumin through the Spanish colonizers.

Cumin, mentioned in the Old Testament, is a plant of the parsley family. According to the New Testament, it is a spice used in soups and the production of bread.

The plant is native of Eastern Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. The cumin flower, known as cumin grains, may be light colored or black. As compared to the light colored seeds, the black cumin seeds have a more complex, peppery taste.

One of the main components of known as chili powder, curry and North African spice blend ras-el hanout is cumin.

While Persia was historically the main supplier of cumin, India, Syria, Pakistan and Turkey are known today as the major sources of the spice.

Aromasını daha uzun süre koruduğu için tohum olarak almanızı tavsiye ederim. Kullanacağınız zaman yağsız tavada, kokusu çıkıncaya kadar ısıtıp değirmende öğütebilir veya havanda dövebilirsiniz.

To make cumin tea, add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds to 1 cup of water and bring to the boil. Remove from burner, let it rest for 10 minutes and drain. Enjoy this tea, said to act as a diuretic and tranquilizer.

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