Recipefiesta

In the months of May and June around the Fethiye area and beyond to places like Dalyan and Köyceğiz, a true wonder of nature begins to unfold…

Pomegranate Trees – The Magic Of Nature

Whilst holidaymakers and travellers are busy enjoying the sights and sounds of all that this corner of Turkey has to offer, local gardens and groves are coming to life with fiery orange blooms.

May and June are the months where the Muğla Province’s pomegranate trees awaken from their cyclical slumber and once more begin to tease us with what is to come.

The pomegranate tree first of all develops crimson blooms

Because when it comes to pomegranate trees, we have a waiting game on our hands. But it’s a wait of beauty.

After pollination, the blooms reduce and berries sprout

How magical to watch the trees burst into fiery springtime bloom. And then, as autumn approaches, be witness to those blooms reduce before morphing into huge jewel-filled fruits.

Eventually, the flowers reveal themselves to be juicy pomegranates

Pomegranate Season

By mid-to-late October, the branches of the pomegranate trees are brimming with fruit and it’s time to harvest them. And this is the time when we get to indulge in one of our favourite fruits.

The stalls of the local markets are abundant with the fruit. City street vendors push their carts, teetering under the weight of the pomegranates. And snack kiosks pile them high, ready for thirsty customers.

A street vendor in Istanbul selling nar suyu – pomegranate juice

At this time of year, you can stand atop the ruins of Kaunos in Dalyan and look down over the orchards and olive and citrus groves stretching away into the distance.

On your return to the town, you might catch some of the harvest and the roadsides will be filled with stalls offering freshly squeezed pomegranate juice (nar suyu) and homemade pomegranate molasses (nar ekşisi) for sale

Villagers harvest the fruit near Kaunos in Dalyan

Pomegranate Benefits

The pomegranate is part of the berry family and has been cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean. Even then, people recognised its benefits and used the fruit to fight disease.

So, the good news is, as we revel in the joy of pomegranate season, we’re actually doing good for ourselves, too. It’s no accident that the pomegranate earned the title of ‘super fruit.’

Whilst the skin isn’t eaten, the seeds and arils (the crunchy, juicy red casing around the seed) inside are packed with goodness. Just some of the pomegranate benefits are:

• It is packed with nutrients, especially Vitamin C and Vitamin K.
• It is packed with powerful plant compounds used to fight disease (the people of the ancient Mediterranean lands were clearly onto something).
• It has powerful anti-inflammatory properties.
• It may be useful in fighting some cancers – prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women.
• Studies show that it can lower blood pressure.
• Pomegranates may boost exercise performance.

Pomegranate (nar) season begins in autumn in Turkey

You can find more detailed information about pomegranate benefits, here. But the main message is, when you eat a pomegranate, you are eating one of the healthiest foods out there. So what are you waiting for?

How To Cut A Pomegranate

What are you waiting for? Well, if you’re from the UK, you could well have the same experience as us when it comes to pomegranates.

All those winter days as a kid spent with a half pomegranate in one hand and a pin in the other, painstakingly pulling out one little ruby jewel at a time. Pomegranate juice spraying hands, clothes, surrounding walls.

It’s Actually Quite Simple

When we moved to Turkey, all of that changed. We were in the village of Kayaköy one sunny autumn day enjoying a village breakfast with Turkish friends. One of them produced a couple of pomegranates and within a matter of minutes, the skin had been discarded and the ruby jewels emptied onto plates for the table.

Life is much easier when the seeds and arils are served in a bowl

First of all, if you’re eating pomegranates as they are, as in the photo above, you need to choose the most ripe ones. And when you’re looking for a perfectly ripe pomegranate, you need to choose the ‘ugly fruit.’

A pomegranate in its prime is not perfectly rounded. It should have a slightly lumpy appearance and be slightly hexagonal. And now, here’s how to cut a pomegranate to release all of those juicy seeds:

1. Tap it all over with the back of a teaspoon – this will loosen the seeds inside.
2. Using a sharp knife, carefully slice the top off the pomegranate.
3. Now you will be able to see all the separate sections and these sections line up with ridges on the skin.
4. Score down the ridges to the base of the fruit and now you can tease the pomegranate apart and empty the seeds into a bowl with minimal mess.

These pomegranates have been scored down the ridges and teased apart

Are You Sweet Or Sour?

If learning how to cut a pomegranate was a revelation for us when we moved to Turkey, so was the fact that there are two types of this fruit.

Are you sweet or sour?

We had always assumed that the paler coloured pomegranates we see on Fethiye market were just not quite ripe. Rather than the more common ruby red seeds, the seeds are pale pink.

If you see these, they are sweet. The deep red pomegranates are sour. We much prefer the flavour of the deep red, sour pomegranates. And it’s these sour pomegranates that are most often used in various Turkish recipes.

How Are Pomegranates Used In Turkey?

First of all, pomegranates are hugely symbolic in Turkey and are believed to bring luck and prosperity. We’ve spent many a New Year’s Eve in our local, Deep Blue Bar, where a friend has brought with them a pomegranate. At the stroke of midnight, the the fruit is produced and smashed onto the floor at the doorway.

So, as well as playing an integral role in Turkish cuisine, the pomegranate is also a lucky charm. But let’s get back to the food.

Simply enjoying pomegranates as they are is a hugely pleasurable foodie pastime, especially at the beginning of pomegranate season when you have been waiting for their autumn arrival. But what other pomegranate recipes are there in Turkey?

• If the seasons match , when it’s time for aşure or Noah’s Pudding, neighbours who present you with a bowl of aşure will often sprinkle some pomegranate seeds over the top. No doubt the symbolism of the pomegranate plays a role, here.

Pomegranate is sprinkled over aşure

• Pomegranate is one of the ingredients in the Turkish dessert, güllaç. Güllaç is a dish commonly eaten during Ramazan.
• Pomegranate juice (nar suyu) – One of our favourite running events in Turkey is the Dalyan Caretta Run. As it takes place in pomegranate season, and as Dalyan is a major producer of the fruit, runners are sometimes rewarded with a cup of pomegranate juice at the end. In Fethiye, we love to sit at Iksirci Tezcan on the harbour and drink a freshly squeezed mix of orange and pomegranate juice.

A refreshing freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice

Nar Ekşisi – Pomegranate Molasses

And surely, this is the joy of seasonal food. A glut of produce that mustn’t go to waste. Just as the end-of-summer tomatoes and peppers are used to make pastes and sauces like salça and kahvaltılık sos (a perfect homemade ketchup) so the pomegranate is used to make nar ekşisi.

We would be very surprised if you went into a Turkish household and there wasn’t at least one bottle of nar ekşisi – pomegranate molasses – in the kitchen store cupboard. Our house is certainly never without it.

Wonderfully tangy, the pomegranate arils are simmered right down in a huge pot until they become a sour syrup.

A village stall near Sakiıkent with nar ekşisi and other products

This is then bottled up and stored for use in the kitchen or sold. The Fethiye Friday market is a great place to source homemade pomegranate molasses but you can look out for it on roadside stalls and small, independent grocers’ stores.

But don’t be expecting pretty, decorative bottles. We’re talking plastic water bottles from any brand of famous fizzy drink. And why not? More economical and reuse before you recycle.

Uses For Pomegranate Molasses (Nar Ekşisi)

So, what are some of the uses for pomegranate molasses or nar ekşisi? It’s distinctive flavour makes it useful as a dressing and also as a cooking ingredient in various Turkish recipes.

With Bulgur Wheat

Bulgur wheat and nar ekşisi are a perfect match and two well known dishes that best demonstrate this are çiğ köfte and the Turkish bulgur wheat salad, kısır.

Kısır would not be the same without a good drizzle of nar ekşisi

With Fish

If you’re in a Turkish seafood restaurant then the pomegranate molasses are never very far away. Order simply fried or grilled fish – especially a sea bass or a bream – and nar ekşisi or a dressing with nar ekşisi as the main ingredient – will be delivered to your table.

Drizzle this over your fish and accompanying rocket leaves. Divine! If you’re in the Çalış area and you just want a quick and tasty balık ekmek fix, the fishermen’s cooperative give their fish sandwich offering a boost with the addition of pomegranate molasses and sumac mixed into the salad.

In Dips & Salads

And now we head to the cuisine of southeast Turkey where pomegranate molasses feature in various dishes.

Muhammara dip is a real treat

Nar ekşisi is paired with walnuts and both are an essential ingredient in the indulgent dip, muhammara and the tangy salad, Gavurdağı Salatası.

In Cooking

Also from the southeast of Turkey, in the Gaziantep province, pomegranate molasses are used in cooking to give a sweet and sour flavour to Yeni Dünya Kebab.

Nar ekşisi is drizzled over the kebab before it goes into the oven

For us, personally, we use pomegranate molasses as a dressing for most of our salads. In cooking, I also drizzle it into the frying pan with local honey to make a sticky coating for sweet and sour chicken or beef.

Buying Pomegranate Molasses

If you want to buy pomegranate molasses (nar ekşisi in Turkish) and you’re not in Turkey, there are various products out there of all different prices and quality. ‘Ekşi’ means ‘sour’ and that’s how the sauce should taste. Lots of manufactured products have sugar added to make it sweet as well as other additives.

If possible, check the ingredients before you buy and go for the product that has the least amount of sugar and the highest pomegranate content.

And if you are in Turkey, it’s easy to support local and buy from the villagers when they have it available.

The post A Season In The Life Of The Pomegranate appeared first on Turkey's For Life.

What’s not to love about homemade fish cakes? They’ve always been a regular in our house, usually if we have leftover fish from another meal. Fish cakes are perfect for using up those leftovers and creating another satisfying dish.

However, recently something has changed. No longer are our fish cakes merely a vessel for using up leftovers. They’ve become a celebration of two main ingredients…

Sweet Potato Fish Cakes With Smoked Trout

A bit of experimentation in the kitchen and we’ve stumbled across the foodie treat that is sweet potato fish cakes with trout! Not just any old trout. This is local smoked trout and we love it!

Our homemade fish cakes with sweet potato and smoked trout

When we lived in the UK, we loved to cook with sweet potato. But, when we came to Turkey, for reasons unknown, it was impossible to get your hands on any.

Two New Ingredients

Fortunately, over the last few years, that has started to change. And, whilst they’re certainly not in abundance, we are now able to buy sweet potatoes in the supermarkets.

We look forward to the day when local market stalls are stacked high with them because they certainly seem like a root vegetable that should grow easily, here.

And what about the smoked trout? We love all the fresh fish at Fethiye’s fish market but we also love smoked fish, too.

These days, we have a local fishmonger who sells lots of smoked and cured fish – the whole smoked trout, whilst not looking too pretty, is so tasty and really reasonably priced.

So, relatively recent, but now very regular ingredients in the house. And our healthy smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes recipe was born.

Smoked Trout And Sweet Potato Fish Cakes Recipe

The smoked trout we use here is quite strong in flavour, but, because we’re making sweet potato fish cakes, the sweetness prevents the trout from becoming overpowering.

And we love an added bonus when we’re cooking up tasty dishes. If you’re making sweet potato fish cakes rather than using regular potatoes, you’ll get the added health benefits.

Our smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes recipe

In Turkey, trout is usually farmed and doesn’t grow to a large size. Mountain and riverside restaurants advertise their ‘canlı alabalık’ (live trout) so you know you are eating it super fresh!

At places like Kırkpınar Restaurant, up in the mountains above the village of Üzümlü, you can even see your trout being fished from the water – look away if you’re squeamish.

Fresh trout being taken from the water in Kırkpınar

The trout is often served simply grilled with a side salad and homemade chips. One trout restaurant that we visited in Erciş in East Turkey, however, had trout cooked in various ways. All were sampled!

Average-Sized Trout

For our smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes, we use two whole trout of the average size you find here in Turkey. Once the fish has been removed from the bones, there’s around 250g of fish chunks.

If, like us, you’re using whole smoked trout, the filleting is a really simple process. The skin is tough because the fish has been smoked so this peels away easily.

Remove The Fish From The Bones

In the collage photo above, you can see a straight line running along the length of the trout. Once the skin has been removed, you can run your thumb along this line and it will part your fish flesh.

Then you can just gently tease the fish away from the bone, giving you two narrow fillets from each side of the fish – four fillets in all.

Repeat the process with your second trout and you should have 8 narrow fillets. Give them a quick check for any small bones that might have come away from the carcass – nobody wants to eat a homemade fish cakes full of bones.

Create Your Sweet Potato Fish Cakes Mixture

Now, we’re just going to break the smoked trout up into chunks and add them to a mixing bowl. We like to add some extras, too.

For this sweet potato fish cakes recipe, we’re using finely chopped spring onion, parsley, dill and a squeeze of lemon juice. And some smashed sweet potato, too, of course.

We Also Need A Dip For Our Fish Cakes

We like a sweet chilli tomato relish with our fish cakes

And what are homemade fish cakes without a relish or a dip? There are lots of ideas you can play around with, here, for your sweet potato fishcakes.

We like a bit of a kick so this sweet and spicy chilli tomato relish is perfect for us. Some finely chopped spring onion sprinkled over the top for some extra crunch.

Other dips that would work well here are a mustard mayonnaise, or, if you want to go Turkish, a chilli yoghurt dip would provide some contrast to the sweetness of the potato.

Smoked Trout & Sweet Potato Fish Cakes Recipe – Ingredients And Method

Okay, let’s make smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes.

Smoked Trout And Sweet Potato Fish Cakes Recipe

 

Author:

Turkey's For Life

Recipe type: Seafood

Cuisine: International

Serves: 12

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 35 mins

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This smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes recipe is both healthy and tasty. Serve with a salad for a lunch or an evening meal.

Ingredients

• 5 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 smoked trout (around 250g) filleted and broken into chunks
• 1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
• 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ bunch flat leaf parsley or coriander, stems removed and finely chopped
• ½ bunch dill, stems removed and roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper to season
• 3 tbsp corn flour or galeta unu (see notes below) for coating
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

1. Add your sweet potatoes to a pan of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes before draining and allowing to cool.
2. Meanwhile, add all other ingredients, except the oil and flour, to a mixing bowl and mix together, being careful not to let your smoked trout break down into flakes.
3. When your sweet potato has cooked, smash it into a rough mash and add to your mixture.
4. Stir everything together so that you have an even mix.
5. Now take golf ball sized pieces of mixture and roll into a ball in your hands before patting flat to form your fish cakes.
6. Keep going until you have used all the mixture and you have all your fish cakes.
7. Now coat your fish cakes in the corn flour or galeta unu. You can do this by sprinkling it over each side of your fish cakes on a large serving plate or by dipping them individually into the flour.
8. Heat your sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
9. Now fry your fish cakes in batches leaving them to fry for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden and crisp.
10. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.

Notes

Our smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes recipe makes 12 small to medium-sized fish cakes. Feel free to make them bigger if you like so that you have fewer fish cakes.
We used the Beauregards sweet potato with the purple-coloured skin and orange flesh. These are more moist than other sweet potato varieties so that's why egg isn't necessary for the coating.
In Turkey, it is possible to buy Galeta Unu. Although this translates as bread crumbs, 'un' is the Turkish word for flour. Galeta Unu resembles a coarse flour and is perfect for giving foods a crispy coating when fried. You can use corn flour if you can't get Galeta Unu.
When you are frying your fish cakes, try to leave them in place before you flip them over so that they don't break up or lose their coating.
If you want to make your sweet potato fish cakes ahead of time, you can leave them in the fridge and even cook them the following day.

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Serve your fish cakes with a dip and a salad

On this occasion, we served our sweet potato fish cakes with a rocket, spring onion and semizotu garnish. Other perfect pairings would be a semizotu salatası (you can use watercress if you can’t find purslane) or a light and crunchy çoban salatası.

Break into your fish cake and savour the flavours

The great thing about homemade fish cakes is that once you get to the frying stage, you know everything is cooked. All we’re doing with the frying pan and the oil is creating a crisp coating.

And when it comes to the eating of your fish cakes, breaking through that coating with your fork and savouring all those flavours inside – bliss.

Afiyet Olsun!

• If you follow this blog regularly, you’ll know we often share Turkish recipes. We do, however, also cook lots of dishes from all around the world.
• This smoked trout and sweet potato fish cakes recipe is not Turkish so you can find it, along with other dishes, in our section on International Recipes.
• If you want to, you can prepare your sweet potato fish cakes ahead of time and place them in the fridge before frying. We left some of ours in the fridge and cooked them up for lunch the following day.
• Smoked trout is also tasty on its own with a salad or as part of a potato salad.

The post Quick And Easy Smoked Trout And Sweet Potato Fish Cakes Recipe appeared first on Turkey's For Life.

Are you looking for a tasty recipe for poached eggs? There are lots of wonderfully creative ways in which Turkish cuisine uses eggs. Obviously, if you’re having a full Turkish breakfast, they make an appearance on the table in some form or other.

Turkish Poached Eggs – Çılbır

For this recipe, however, as with the more famous menemen or sucuklu yumurta, we’re using eggs as a standalone breakfast or brunch dish.

In menemen, the eggs are scrambled. When they’re with sucuk, they’re fried. So now, it’s time to do a Turkish poached eggs recipe. This is çılbır…

How To Pronounce Çılbır

Before we continue, if you’ve never heard the word before, you might be wondering how to pronounce çılbır. It does help to know the name of the dish you are making, doesn’t it? It’s very easy.

It is pronounced, chil-bir. All you need to know is that the Turkish ‘ı’ is roughly the same sound as the ‘i’ in the English word, ‘bird’ – rather than the ‘i’ in ‘bin’ for example.

What Is Çılbır?

Now we know how to pronounce it, we need to know what is it we are making. The çılbır recipe is a delicious mix of Turkish poached eggs where the eggs are served on a bed of thick, creamy garlic yoghurt. And there’s a few little tasty additions, too.

Turkish poached eggs with garlic yoghurt – çılbır

And if that is seeming like a strange mix of ingredients at the moment, trust us when we tell you that we and millions of Turkish people around the world, love a serving of this famous dish.

It’s not a dish that tops the list of Turkish food favourites for many visitors to Turkey – but that’s not because çılbır is unloved.

In fact, these Turkish poached eggs have been enjoyed since as far back as the 15th Century when the Ottoman Sultans were delighting in the textures and flavours. It just that the dish doesn’t feature on many restaurant menus so people don’t get the opportunity to try it.

Çılbır Recipe – Turkish Poached Eggs With Garlic Yoghurt

Çılbır is as much a yoghurt recipe as it is a poached eggs recipe – both feature equally.

We’re going to be making enough for two people with two poached eggs per person. We’ll be doing our poached eggs in a pan. And if you’re unsure about how to poach an egg, or even four eggs at the same time, don’t worry, we have some tips for you.

Prepare Your Yoghurt

But first, you need to prepare your yoghurt. We use Turkish süzme yoghurt but if you can’t get that, Greek yoghurt is fine.

Peel a clove or garlic and grate that into 400-500 grams of yoghurt. Then you can add a pinch of salt and some fresh herbs to taste. As with the Turkish garlic yoghurt with carrots meze, fresh dill is a common herb used in çılbır.

For us, on this occasion, we went with a pinch of salt, a couple of teaspoons of dried mint and a teaspoon of paprika.

Divide your yoghurt mixture between two plates

Divide your yoghurt mixture between two plates and swirl a spoon it to spread it out and make a well in the centre. Then leave the yoghurt to sit at room temperature. Çılbır is not a dish to be served ice cold.

How To Poach An Egg

Because we’re doing poached eggs in a pan, poaching four at the same time – whilst also prepping your other ingredients – can seem tricky.

However, this is where time has been well spent lounging on the sofa every Saturday morning watching chef James Martin share his culinary knowledge with us. He gets full credit for this tip for easy poached eggs.

• Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice cubes.
• Crack each of your eggs onto a small plate (if you have a Turkish çay set, the saucers from this are perfect, but any small plate will suffice).
• Bring a saucepan of water and vinegar to the boil and then swirl the solution with a whisk. Add just one egg to the centre of the swirl and leave it to poach for 2 to 3 minutes, depending on how soft you want your yolk to be.
• Then you’re going to remove that egg with a slotted spoon and place it carefully into your iced water to prevent further cooking.
• Swirl your boiling water again and add your next egg. Repeat the process until all four poached eggs are sitting in your iced water.

Prepare The Rest Of Your Çılbır Recipe Ingredients

Whilst your poached eggs are sitting in the iced water, leave the pan of water on a rolling simmer and start to toast some wedges of crusty bread.

We’re also going to prepare our sauce to drizzle over the top of our poached eggs and yoghurt. Gently mix a knob of butter with chilli flakes in a small, shallow pan over a low heat. Once the butter is bubbling and the the chilli has infused, remove from the heat.

Place your eggs back into the simmering water for 30 seconds – they can all go into the pan together – and now it’s time to serve.

Çılbır Recipe – Ingredients & Method

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Çılbır - A Turkish Poached Eggs Recipe

 

Author:

Turkey's For Life

Recipe type: Breakfast

Cuisine: Turkish

Serves: 2

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 15 mins

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Çılbır is a Turkish poached eggs recipe that is perfect for breakfast or a light lunch.

Ingredients

• 300-440g natural yoghurt
• 4 large free range eggs
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and grated
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2-3 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tsp dried mint or fresh chopped dill
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• Splash of vinegar for poaching pan
• Pinch of salt to season

Instructions

1. Bring a saucepan of water with a splash of vinegar to the boil.
2. Meanwhile, mix your yoghurt with the garlic, mint, paprika and salt and divide between two plates.
3. Swirl a spoon in the centre of the yoghurt to spread it out and leave a well in the centre.
4. Crack your eggs one at a time onto a small plate, taking care not to bread the yolk.
5. Stir your boiling water with a whisk so that it starts to swirl.
6. Whilst the water is swirling, carefully pour one egg into the centre of the swirl and poach for 2-3 minutes.
7. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and place into the iced water. repeat the process for the remaining three eggs.
8. Leave the boiling water on the heat.
9. If you are having your çılbır with toasted bread, start to toast it now.
10. Meanwhile, gently heat your butter and chilli flakes over a low heat and stir until the chilli has infused and the butter is starting to bubble. Remove from the heat.
11. Now place all four poached eggs back into the simmering water for 30 seconds to reheat. The eggs can all go into the water together.
12. Remove each one carefully with a slotted spoon and drain before placing two eggs into the centre of each yoghurt well on your plates.
13. Drizzle the melted chill butter over the poached eggs and yoghurt and serve immediately with your hot, toasted bread.

Notes

As with other recipes, the calories for our çılbır recipe are meant as a rough guide. We have not taken bread into consideration.
Although it is traditional to use butter in this recipe, some people opt to use olive oil, instead.
Poach your eggs for 2-3 minutes, depending on how soft you would like the yolk to be. We used large eggs for our çılbır and poached them for just over 2 minutes before adding them to the iced water.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Calories: 450

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Perfect poached eggs for your çılbır recipe

Serve immediately and enjoy with hot toasted bread.

And that’s our çılbır recipe. Turkish poached eggs with garlic and herb yoghurt, drizzled in hot chilli butter. If you’re looking for breakfast with poached eggs that has a bit of a twist, give çılbır a go. It’s delicious.

We have put our çılbır recipe in the breakfast section of our Turkish recipes collection but, of course, Turkish poached eggs can be enjoyed at any time of day!

Afiyet Olsun!

The post How To Make Çılbır – Turkish Poached Eggs On A Bed Of Garlic Yoghurt appeared first on Turkey's For Life.

It’s usually around mid-June when the time comes to start craving a mid-morning Greek-style frappe. When we linger over that first one of the year, that’s when we know summer is here and we’ll be drinking frappe most days until the end of September, at least.

We love a Turkish coffee – but that’s hot. We love iced coffee – so many cafes and bars to choose from in Fethiye that do a great iced coffee. We can go to town with those. Ice cream, different flavourings.

But, at home, it’s about memories – taking ourselves back to a bit of Greek island life and refreshing ourselves with an ice cold Greek frappe.

An ice cold frappé on the Greek island of Meis

One favourite Greek frappé memory is from the island of Meis. We’d been to  a friend’s wedding the day before, stayed on the island overnight and somehow managed to wake up early to climb the cliff steps to the Monastery of St. George of Vouni.

All of that, of course, was thirsty work. It was still early morning when we got back down to the harbour and it was just the perfect setting to sit outside one of the cafes and order a frappe. The chatter of the islanders, the lapping of the sea against the harbour wall…

What Is In A Frappe?

Before Barry started making his own frappé, we always assumed they would be difficult to do. Surely the frappé we had had in Greece were made with filter coffee or Greek coffee. And surely you would need a frappé machine or mixer to get the required texture?

But no, that is not the case. What differentiates a Greek frappe from a simple iced coffee is the thick, creamy froth that forms as you make it.

Barry’s homemade Greek frappé, unstirred

And for the history of the Greek frappé, we don’t have to go back to some far away time. Just as far back as the 1950s, in fact.

According to this article, the Greek frappe came about in 1957 when a rep for a very famous brand of instant coffee was at a trade fair in Thessaloniki. That rep was Dimitris Vakondios and he wanted his usual hot drink.

On being unable to find hot water, he apparently mixed his instant coffee with ice, sugar and cold water and shook it all up in a shaker. He loved the result and, since that time, the Greek frappé has played a central role in Greek cafe culture.

So, that’s the next important thing to remember if you want to make a Greek frappé – instant coffee, rather than filtered! It just gets easier and easier.

How To Make Greek Frappe

And the next thing to remember is, if you haven’t got a frappé machine or mixer, no problem! You can make Greek frappé with a cocktail shaker. Or, simply do what we do and use a jar with a lid. Just make sure that lid is tight-fitting!

We have individual jars and drink our frappé straight from those.

First of all, achieve the froth

First of all, we need to achieve that thick, creamy froth. This is done by adding your coffee, sugar and a splash of water to each of your jars.

Place the lid on the jar and shake up and down for around 30 seconds. You will both hear and feel the mixture start to change consistency as you shake. Eventually, you will have your thick foam in the bottom of the jar.

Then you just need to add lots of ice and decide if you prefer your Greek frappé with milk and water or with water only. We make ours with a mix of milk and water.

Serve your Greek frappé immediately and enjoy

Greek-Style Frappé Recipe

So, in these, the blazing hot days of summer, let’s cool ourselves down with an ice cold milky frappé. Here’s our Greek frappé recipe:

Greek-Style Frappe Recipe

 

Author:

Turkey's For Life

Recipe type: Drinks

Cuisine: Greek

Serves: 1

Prep time: 5 mins

Total time: 5 mins

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This Greek-style frappé recipe will both cool and soothe in the hot summer months.

Ingredients

• 3 tsp instant coffee
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 225 mls milk
• Ice cubes
• Splash of cold water

Instructions

1. Add your coffee and sugar to a jar.
2. Now add enough cold water to just cover the coffee and sugar.
3. Place the lid (tightly!) on the jar and shake rigorously for around 30 seconds. You will be able to feel the solution change in texture.
4. When you have a creamy, frothy consistency, remove the lid.
5. Add lots of ice cubes (we add one full tray - 18 cubes - between two frappes).
6. Now add water and milk (if using) to taste.

Notes

As with all of our recipes, the calorie content in our Greek frappé recipe is approximate. It depends on how you prefer to drink your frappe.
Instant coffee is used over filter because this helps to create the froth.
The sugar and the coffee together create the creamy froth so if you have a sugar-free frappe, you won't get a thick, creamy froth.
For reference, the jars we use for our frappé are 450 mls. We fill them around half way with milk and water and let the froth reach the top of the jar.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 Calories: 150

3.5.3251

A summer brunch time glass never fails to hit the spot. So cooling and so satisfying.

Frappe finished – for now…

But, all good things must come to an end – until the morning after when we can once again indulge our love of a Greek frappe…

The post How To Make Greek Frappé – A Refreshing Taste Of Summer appeared first on Turkey's For Life.

When Fethiye’s new town square (Beşkaza Meydanı) and adjoining Uğur Mumcu Park were being built, that also meant a bit of a facelift for that stretch of the harbour, too. We got benches framed with vibrant bougainvillea, a feature bridge, new paving stones – and a row of little kiosks that would serve snacks and refreshments to passers by.

Mezgit Cafe, Fethiye

That row of kiosks, along with all of those other facilities, is now a firmly embedded feature of Fethiye. Places where you can sit, eat and drink by the water’s edge in unpretentious surroundings whilst watching the world go by – fishing boats, yachts and gülets, fishermen, those just out for a stroll.

Mezgit Cafe sits on the corner of Fethiye harbour

Sitting right on the corner of the harbour at the opposite side of the park to Cafe Park Teras, one of those kiosks is called Mezgit Cafe.

What Is Mezgit?

Mezgit is the Turkish word for Whiting and this is the sort of fish that is often battered and served betwixt fresh, crusty bread in the Fethiye area.

Mezgit Cafe is slightly different to the other kiosks along this row in that their main focus is a small menu of seafood treats.

It’s the mezgit balık ekmek that drew us to the cafe. The tasty Turkish street food that, when you’re in the mood for it, nothing else will suffice. When it comes to favourite Turkish foods…

Mezgit Cafe serves up a rather decent – and substantial – mezgit balık ekmek! We’d seen customers eating them as we passed by and it always looked so tempting. So it was time to see for ourselves if it would match our hopes and expectations.

Sit under the shade of the trees at Mezgit Cafe

Shaded Seating

Whichever seafood snack you choose at Mezgit Cafe, you can either sit along the harbour or you can enjoy the dappled shade of the trees at the side of the cafe.

All of the little kiosks along this stretch of harbour are serving up a mezgit balık ekmek and Mezgit Cafe’s offering is actually slightly more expensive than the others.

But there are reasons why we like to come here: the views, a bit of nostalgia and, of course, the tasty treats!.

The views of the harbour from Mezgit Cafe are uninterrupted

Views And A Bit Of Nostalgia

The views from Mezgit Cafe are uninterrupted. If you’re going to enjoy a fish sandwich or other seafood snack, you might as well enjoy it alongside views of the sea.

And those of you that have known Fethiye for some years will recognise this scene.

Just to the right of this shot, tucked away in the corner of the harbour, is what used to be Popeye’s boat. The place where everyone used to go to bob about on the water whilst devouring their supreme balık ekmek.

For us, sitting at Mezgit Cafe is the next best thing. The location is almost the same – it’s just that we’re on terra firma rather than Mediterranean waters.

And the presentation is slightly more upmarket, too.

Mezgit balık ekmek with a view

Whiting fish, deep fried in a light crunchy batter, is served in warm, crusty bread with rocket and onion. On your plate is extra rocket to nibble on, a wedge of fresh lemon to squeeze into your sandwich and a side of pickled red cabbage and gherkins.

A bottle of ‘fish sauce’ is brought to your table, too. A diluted nar ekşisi (sour pomegranate sauce) and lemon sauce – which is a perfect compliment to any fish dish.

Time To Eat

It’s street food, kiosk-style. And with views like this to compliment your balık ekmek, what’s not to love?

Enjoy vistas of the harbour if you sit in the side garden

Pick up your sandwich. A sprinkle of salt. A squeeze of lemon juice. A drizzle of sauce. Place a gherkin or two between the bread.

Bite into your sandwich and savour the textures and combination of flavours. A nibble of fresh rocket and red cabbage.

And repeat the process. Mezgit balık ekmek bliss!

Other Seafood Treats At Mezgit Cafe

Mezgit Cafe serves up more than chunks of battered whiting between bread – but this is probably their most popular offering. If you’re really hungry, you can order a portion of fries to go with it. Or you can order a plate of fish and chips.

If you’re not so hungry and feel like something lighter, you can order a fish salad – a salad bowl featuring battered goujons of that from which the cafe takes its name; mezgit (whiting). Fish burgers are there, too.

Barry loved the hamsi ekmek

Hamsi (fried anchovies) and midye tava (fried mussels) also feature on the menu. We love fried mussels.

For one of our visits to Mezgit Cafe, Barry was more in the mood for hamsi on his sandwich rather than whiting. This is served with the same accompaniments and is another winner.

Flour-coated anchovies plunged into hot oil to give a crisp coating. Rocket, onion and tomato complete the sandwich.

But for me, on this occasion, I was curious. I just had to order the fried mussels; midye tava.

The midye tava was memorable for all the right reasons

Five wooden skewers with four large battered mussels on each skewer. Sooo tasty. 4 little pieces of hot griddled bread with which to make baby mussel sandwiches. One mussel per slice.

And as for the rest of the mussels, they were simply enjoyed, dipped into the sauce and savoured.

These are Mezgit Cafe’s most expensive offering, but, on this particular day, plate after plate of them was making its way to the busy tables. They’re popular and they’re a must.

Not A Seafood Lover?

If the flavours of the sea are not your thing, you could always opt for a (cheese) burger or some good old köfte. Other than that, it’s a portion of chips. Like we said, seafood street food is the main focus at Mezgit Cafe.

After the sad demise of Popeye’s boat, we struggled for some time to find a balık ekmek that did the trick for us. Now, when we’re in Çalış, we love to sit by the canal and enjoy our ekmek at the Fishermen’s Place.

And in Fethiye, we can once more sit by the sea, take in the views from Mezgit Cafe and know we’re going to enjoy what is put before us.

Mezgit Cafe – Useful Information

• Mezgit Cafe is on the corner of Fethiye harbour, opposite the entrance to the Tuesday Market.
• The cafe is open daily, year round.
• Mezgit Cafe is a small kiosk and is very popular. As all food is cooked to order, there could be a bit of a wait at busy times.
• All the sandwiches on the menu can be ordered alone, with a side of chips or as a plate meal.
• Prices are reasonable. Mezgit balık ekmek will set you back 17 TL which is just over £2. Hamsi ekmek is 15 TL (Summer 2020).
• Midye tava is the big treat at 40TL. The fried mussels can also be ordered as a sandwich for 15TL. 
• Soft drinks, çay, Turkish coffee and ayran are available.
• Along with other eateries and bars, Mezgit Cafe is listed in our places to eat and drink around Fethiye.

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The simit. We challenge anyone to visit Turkey and not come across this (arguably) most famous and loved of Turkish snacks. The simit bread and the simit seller (see-meet-chee) are, to many, symbols of the country.

We’ll hold our hands up, here, and admit that it took us quite some time to get with the love of simit bread. In our early days, whilst we loved to see the local simitçi walking along the harbour of Fethiye calling out, “Taze simit. Sıcak simit. Gevrekçi,” and expertly balancing a tray piled with simits on his head, we never felt the urge to buy one.

The happy sight of the simitçi in Fethiye

And when we did succumb to Turkish-friend-peer-pressure and buy one, it was a while before we would buy one again. Where was the attraction in strolling along the harbour, chewing your way through a ring of dry bread?

Many years down the line into our Turkish life, and, of course, all of that has changed.

The simit bread can be both humble street food – a perfect snack for those on the go at any time of day – and a much anticipated addition to the Turkish breakfast table.

We love simit!

What Is Simit Bread?

We all have these little bugbears in life. If you follow this blog regularly, you might know that my bugbear is the fact that, despite Turkish cuisine being ranked amongst the top 3 in the world, various Turkish foods always seem to lose a bit of footing in the international arena.

They lose their individuality and identity by being compared to the foods of other countries.

What Is Simit Not?

So, just as a pide is not a Turkish pizza; mantı is not Turkish ravioli, menemen is not Turkish omelette; gözleme is not a Turkish pancake (I could go on); a simit is not a Turkish bagel. It’s, quite simply, a simit.

So, now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s celebrate all that is simit.

Sesame seeds coat the crisp outer of the Turkish simit

Taze Simit, Sıcak Simit

Because what is not to love? Archives show that these tasty Turkish sesame bread rings have been baked in Istanbul since the 1500s. Their price became standardised by the end of the 1500s and the simit became a part of the fabric of society.

If you’re fortunate enough to stay anywhere near a bakery that specialises in making simit, heading out early in the morning, or stopping the simitçi as he trundles by, bag yourself a hot, fresh simit. That is breakfast heaven.

In busy areas, simits will be baked throughout the day, not just in the morning. As your simitiçi pounds the streets calling out, “See-meet-chee,” if those simits are fresh from the oven, his call will also include, “Taze simit,” (fresh simit) and “Sıcak simit.” (Hot simit.)

Motorised Simit

As this is the 21st century, here in Fethiye, we’ve sometimes seen the simitçi on his moped. All his fresh, hot simits balance in a cardboard box at the back of the moped as he hurtles up and down the harbour beeping his horn and crying out, “Sıcak simit.”

Well, that’s one way to reach as large a customer base as possible and sell those simits whilst they’re hot!

Simit carts are easy to spot in Istanbul

We’re fortunate in Fethiye to still have a few simitçi pounding the streets with the traditional circular tray expertly balanced on their heads.

In larger cities, however, you’re more likely to find simit carts dotted around the neighbourhoods.

You can see what a popular street food snack the simit is by the sheer number of sesame bread rings stacked high in this cart. Again, the earlier you can get to these guys, the better.

When we stayed in an apartment in the Galata neighbourhood of Istanbul a while back, our morning simit from this cart was just one of the many highlights of our days.

Regional Variations Of Simit Bread

Didn’t we just say above that a simit is quite simply a simit? Well it is, and it isn’t. Not all simits are the same and where there are regional differences, of course the people of that region think their simit variation is the best.

Here in Fethiye, we tend to get a mix – çıtır simit or gevrek – these are the crisp ones. Or there are softer, more ‘bready’ simits, depending on where you buy them from.

We much prefer the crisp simits. A compact, heavy, yet soft dough centre with a crisp outer, covered in tasty sesame seeds. The crispness comes from the dough ring being dipped in molasses and then sesame seeds before being slid into a red hot wood fired brick oven.

Imagine those aromas emanating from the local bakery each morning.

The Istanbul simit is known for its crisp outer and soft centre.

The Gevrek

In Izmir, the simit is the gevrek

As is the simit of Izmir.

Except in Izmir, you won’t get very far if you are looking for the street simit cart. In this city, the simit is known as the gevrek. And, rather than hunt out the local simitçi, you need to be looking for the gevrekçi.

They do things differently in Izmir.

‘Gevrek’ means crispy and, for us, the gevrek of Izmir are our favourites. When we stayed in the city in an Alsancak apartment, again, the gevrek was a breakfast treat. As with the Istanbul simit, it’s a crisp outer and compact, soft centre.

But there’s a bit more to the Izmir gevrek. A thicker bread ring that offers a bit more substance and satisfaction – in our opinion.

The Muğla Simit

And then there is the simit of Muğla. When we mentioned to Turkish friends a few years ago that we were going to Muğla, one of them immediately replied, “Oh, please bring me a simit.”

The traditional Muğla simit is substantially larger in circumference

You can see the regular-sized simit just to the left of these traditional and larger Muğla simits. Whilst these would be a real treat on a family table when bought fresh and hot from the bakery, this photo was taken at around 3am in the otogar after we had been to see Duman in concert.

Fresh, hot simit becomes cold and chewy simit. A reheat in the oven was needed to return these to some sort of simit crispness.

There are lots of other regional simit variations around Turkey. In Black Sea areas, for example, the simit is made without the sesame seeds. We won’t judge until we’ve tried one but a simit without the sesame – difficult to imagine.

What Do You Eat With Simit Bread?

But let’s get to the best part of the simit story – eating it!

Street Food

The simit is Turkey’s ultimate grab-and-go street food. And, when it’s fresh, it’s tasty enough to eat on its own. Held in a paper serviette or a simple piece of paper, it’s cheap and mess-free.

Simit and ayran make a great combination

Some simit sellers will also have cartons of the salty yoghurt drink ayran for sale alongside their simit. A perfect combination.

And, for the street food eater looking for a bit more variation, a lot of simit carts will also sell triangles of soft cheese spread. Whilst this can make life a little more difficult if you’re eating your simit on the go, soft cheese and simit do make a perfect partnership.

Street Food Simit Bread

Not all is what it appears, here. Rather than a sesame encrusted ring, we’re eating simit bread.

Kaşarlı simit is perfect picnic food. We ate this particular kaşarlı simit whilst sitting at the ancient theatre at the ruins of Letoon. Not a bad setting for a traditional snack.

Tucking into kaşarlı simit amongst ancient ruins

The simit bread in this case is formed into a wide canoe shape and the hollow filled with kaşar cheese which is then melted. If you’re lucky, you might find one with a few black olives thrown into the mix, too.

A Sit Down Snack

Cafes around Turkey are often filled with customers eating simit and washing it down with glasses of hot çay. In Fethiye, sitting by the sea at Hello Büfe doing just that – bliss.

National chains like Simit Sarayı (Simit Palace) also give the customer the opportunity to sit down with their simit and enjoy it with fillings such as beyaz peynir (white cheese like feta) and sliced tomato.

A cheese and tomato filling at Simit Sarayı

The simit is sliced through the middle and the filling added. If you’re in Fethiye, you can again enjoy your snack at a seaside setting. Simit Sarayı is next door to Boğaziçi Restaurant along the harbour.

At home, you can tear or slice your simit into chunks and dip it into a deliciously rich mix of tahini and pekmez. Chocolate hazelnut spread or local honey are also ideal for spreading and drizzling onto bite-sized chunks before popping it into your mouth.

A topping of jam and labne is a favourite

Quarter your simit and then slice through the middle of each piece. Have all your fillings laid out on the table and savour each different flavour. A favourite topping for me is strawberry jam topped with labne. A mini simit cheesecake!

And if you want to go the hot and savoury route, you can get really inventive. Slice your simit through the middle so that you have two rings. Add some kaşar cheese (or a cheese that melts easily) between the slices and place back together.

Place the simit in a frying pan or on an oven tray and crack an egg into the centre. Throw in some pieces of sucuk and you have yourself sucuklu yumurta inside a simit – with hot cheese oozing from the edges. To be eaten with knife and fork, of course.

Sound good?

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