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Turkish gastronomy
When talking about typical Turkish food, it should be noted that this country has contributed to the world one of the most popular preparations of fast cuisine: the döner kebap (or kebab) there are restaurants specializing in this traditional recipe, which is already known throughout the world.
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But, typical Turkish food goes much further, it can be said that Turkey can boast of having one of the most varied, rich and delicious cuisines on the planet.
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The reason is the history of this country, the influences received from other diverse civilizations and its geographical location. Turkey was and is a bridge between Europe (especially through the Mediterranean), the Far East (as a fundamental crossing point between Asia and the West) and most of the Islamic countries.
Among the most representative dishes of typical Turkish food, the baklava stand out. Sweets that are not exclusive to Turkey, since they can also be tasted in practically the entire Maghreb and which, of course, are irresistible for those with a sweet tooth.
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Döner kebap is the best known and most widespread preparation. The translation of its name is meat that turns on the grill. And that is in essence this dish.
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It is a meat preparation (lamb or chicken, in general), which is cooked over a fire, which is cut into thin slices and served inside a pita bread, accompanied by vegetables or lettuce and tomato-based sauces and yoghurt.
Meze: These are as appetizers of Turkish food, various salads, pickles, roasted vegetables such as aubergines or peppers, dressed with delicious sauces, as well as skewers of chicken and lamb meat and nuts
Börek: It is a type of pie or cake that is made with dough, type filo, which is filled with Turkish white cheese or feta, minced meat (or vegetables) and some vegetables
Pilav: It is the companion by definition of any Turkish meal. But there is not just one way to prepare it, but many. Because, in essence, what in Turkey is known as pilav are different rice recipes. Many with an oriental influence, seasoned with spices and vegetables. And each one uses a different variety.
Menemen: They are the typical scrambled eggs that are eaten for breakfast in many parts of the world. In this case, the eggs are accompanied with pieces of vegetables: tomato, onion, pepper ...
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion diced
3 red or green bell peppers, seeded and diced
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
4 large tomatoes, diced
5 eggs at room temperature
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Finely chopped parsley
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Place a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and butter. When the latter is melted, add the onion and peppers, a pinch of salt and the green chili flakes.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the onions and peppers have cooked through. Add the garlic and fry briefly. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have lost some, but not all of their liquid. Mix to integrate all the ingredients well.
Let cook for 15 minutes, depending on the juiciness of the tomatoes and how thick you want the final result to be.
While the tomato mixture is cooking, lightly beat the eggs in a bowl. Gradually add to the pan and stir carefully with the other ingredients. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the egg whites turn slightly opaque.
These will continue to cook when they are off the heat. It is important to remove the pan from the burner to prevent the mixture from drying out. Serve with bread and cheese.
TURKISH DOLMAS (STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES) INGREDIENTS:
20 grape leaves
2 lemons
400 grams of ground beef or lamb
2 dessert spoons of pine nuts
1 tablespoon pitted raisins
1 cup thick bulgur or basmati rice
1 piece of onion
1 clove garlic
1 handful of mint leaves
2 pinches of salt and ground black pepper to taste
Pour two cups of water into a saucepan.
Bring to a boil with a little salt and add the cup of bulgur, once the water is boiling. Stir and cover until ready, it will take about 15 minutes, but it depends on the thickness of the grain, if it is small it will take less.
Let the grape leaves soak so they are clean and hydrated. Meanwhile, grind the onion together with the mint leaves and the garlic clove; no need to over-mash.
Add the crushed ingredients to the minced meat and add the rest of the ingredients: raisins, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Stir the mixture so the flavors blend well. Drain the grape leaves and pass them through boiling water for 5 minutes will be enough.
Once the bulgur is cold, add it to the meat mixture and integrate everything again to form a homogeneous paste. Drain and dry the boiled grape leaves.
Roll up the Turkish dolmas! It is not complicated, but it requires some patience. Take a tablespoon of the ground beef mixture and place it on a fig leaf. This should be upside down so that the tail of the leaf is inwards and can be folded over the meat. In this way, roll with the ends inward as you wrap the meat and shape it into a cigarette.
Meanwhile, prepare a pot or steamer with a liter of water and bring it to a boil. Once you have all the meat wrapped with the leaves, introduce some lemon slices as thin as possible as the first layer before adding the dolmas. Place the dolmas without being piled up, if necessary do it in several batches. Cover the Turkish dolmas again with lemon wedges and cover, letting it cook for 30 minutes. Once this time has passed, remove the lemon slices and serve hot.
Tip: You can also prepare these stuffed grape leaves without meat and only with rice. In that case, you can enjoy them cold. Prepare a sauce to accompany the Turkish dolma rolls, we are sure you will love trying it with a delicate yogurt or sour cream sauce.
Tip: You can buy canned grape leaves as well if you don't find them natural .
TYPICAL TURKEY KEBAB - INGREDIENTS
750 gr of leg of lamb. - 6 large onions. - 1 clove garlic. - 2 dl of sour cream.
2 dl of oil. - 10 gr of peppercorns. - 2 lemons. - Parsley. - Salt.
1.- Peel 5 of the onions and the garlic clove, and grind them into a paste.
2.- Place this pasta in a clay pot and mix it with the sour cream. Add the laurel, broken by hand, and the peppercorns, previously ground.
3.- Wash, dry and cut the meat into pieces of about 3 cm, and put them in the marinade. They have to rest for about 3 hours, well covered in the casserole.
4.- Thread the meat on skewers and put them on the oven grill with the gratin function on. Leave it there for about 5 minutes, turning from time to time until golden brown.
5.- Squeeze the 2 lemons.
6.- Peel the remaining onion, grate it and add a few drops of lemon and a pinch of salt. Then pour in the oil and beat everything until it looks like mayonnaise.
TZATZIKI
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125 grams of natural yogurt
1 unit of small cucumber
1 clove garlic
1/2 unit of Lemon
1 branch of fresh dill
1 pinch of Salt and Pepper
Making this Greek yogurt sauce is very easy, the most important thing is to mix the ingredients correctly. To do this, start by peeling and grating the cucumber finely. You will see that the cucumber releases a lot of water, it keeps the pulp and the liquid separately.
Also finely chop the garlic and squeeze the lemon, taking care not to leave any seeds or pulp in the liquid.
Then make a mixture with all the ingredients except the cucumber water. Add this little by little as you see it necessary. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper.
Argentine Creole Locro
Ingredients
300 gr of broken white corn
100 gr of white pallares beans
150 gr of fat tripe
100 gr of bacon
100 gr of Creole chorizo
100 gr of red chorizo
100 gr of pork breast
100 gr of white onion
300 gr of pumpkin
The hot sauce
100 g green onion, chopped
100 cc of oil
Paprika and ground chili to taste
Preparation
Soak the beans and white corn 24 hours before preparing the stew (store in a container with water in the refrigerator).
Cut all the ingredients into cubes. Put all the meats already cut to a boil to defat
Boil the beans in another container until they soften.
Cook the corn in a separate saucepan along with the pumpkin and onion. When the corn is cooked (soft) add all the meats and beans.
Cook all the preparation over a low heat - stirring with a wooden spoon every 15 '- until it turns into a cream.
The hot sauce. Mix these ingredients to form the sauce.
Serve the locro very hot in a clay pot and the hot sauce in a separate container to incorporate to taste
SHRIMP STUFFED IN BECHAMEL SAUCE WITH MUSHROOMS
Ingredients:
1 kg of medium shrimp
2 packages of bacon
200 g of manchego cheese
Bechamel: (Sauce)
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
60g butter
60 g plain wheat flour
800 ml whole milk
Salt and black pepper
Nutmeg
Process:
Cut shrimp in half, fill with cheese, wrap in bacon and fry.
For the bechamel sauce, melt butter, fry mushrooms and pour in flour, stir until golden brown. Add milk little by little while stirring with a balloon. Boil until thick, season.
Serve the shrimp with the sauce
KÖFTE
1 kg of minced beef - 1 clove of garlic - 3 medium onions - 2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt - 50 grams of breadcrumbs - 1 teaspoon of curry - 1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon oregano - Cayenne pepper to taste - Ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste - Chopped fresh parsley
The first thing we do is chop the onions and the garlic clove into very small pieces, we can even crush it if we want it to be finer, and place it in a large bowl. Add the chopped parsley, the veal, the breadcrumbs, the two egg yolks, the Greek yogurt, a little Picual extra virgin olive oil and the cumin, curry, oregano and cayenne pepper. Add a little salt and ground black pepper and mix it well with your hands until all the ingredients are well integrated.
We cover the bowl with transparent paper and take it to the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 3 hours, since the longer it macerates, the more flavor the meat will take.
After that time, we take small portions of meat and give them an oval shape, the traditional shape of Turkish meatballs. We insert them on a skewer stick.
We put a frying pan on the fire with a little Picual extra virgin olive oil and, when it is hot, we fry the meatballs over medium heat. We go around them so that they do well on all sides.
Once they are well browned, remove the Turkish meatballs or köfte and serve them with rice or a salad.
Leek Cake
Ingredients: 200 gr flour- 80 gr butter- 1 egg- teaspoon of salt- milk or water, (the necessary to unite the dough)
Filling: 1 kg leeks- 50gr butter- 1 clove of garlic- 150 gr sliced ham- 100 gr grated parmesan cheese- 100 gr cream- teaspoon ita of salt.
First you are going to make the dough: Place the flour in a bowl and salt, add the cold butter and crumble it.
Add the egg and the necessary milk (it can be water) until it forms a soft dough,
let rest 20 min. Spread with a stick on the floured table to 4 mm thick. Cover the 26 cm mold .. even the edges with the help of a knife
Filling: Wash the leeks, cut them into thin slices. Heat the butter in a pan and sauté the leeks, add the minced garlic, salt and pepper, cook until tender. Cut the ham into cubes and add to the preparation. Mix the cream together with the eggs and cheese in a bowl. Fill the dough with the preparation and pour the cream with the eggs and cheese on top. Bake in a moderate oven for approximately 40 min and serve
KÖFTE
1 kg of minced beef - 1 clove of garlic - 3 medium onions - 2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons of Greek yogurt - 50 grams of breadcrumbs - 1 teaspoon of curry - 1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon oregano - Cayenne pepper to taste - Ground black pepper to taste
Salt to taste - Chopped fresh parsley
The first thing we do is chop the onions and the garlic clove into very small pieces, we can even crush it if we want it to be finer, and place it in a large bowl. Add the chopped parsley, the veal, the breadcrumbs, the two egg yolks, the Greek yogurt, a little Picual extra virgin olive oil and the cumin, curry, oregano and cayenne pepper. Add a little salt and ground black pepper and mix it well with your hands until all the ingredients are well integrated.
We cover the bowl with transparent paper and take it to the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 3 hours, since the longer it macerates, the more flavor the meat will take.
After that time, we take small portions of meat and give them an oval shape, the traditional shape of Turkish meatballs. We insert them on a skewer stick.
We put a frying pan on the fire with a little Picual extra virgin olive oil and, when it is hot, we fry the meatballs over medium heat. We go around them so that they do well on all sides.
Once they are well browned, remove the Turkish meatballs or köfte and serve them with rice or a salad.
CALDO MICHI
INGREDIENTES
Sal al gusto
Puré de tomate, al gusto,
2 Dientes de ajo
La mitad de un manojo de cilantro
2 Zanahorias
Unas ramitas de orégano fresco, o media cucharadita seco
3 Tomates salados
2 Hojas de laurel
600 gr de Bagre (este caldo se hace con pescado de agua dulce,
pero lo he sustituido con el que tenga a la mano y queda muy rico)
2 Calabacitas
1/2 Cebolla
2 Chiles güeros, le puedes poner mas si gustas
1 Chayote pelado
PREPARACION
Cocinar con una olla con agua caliente jitomates y cebolla cortados en cubos pequeños hasta hervir.
Agregar ajos cortados por la mitad, chiles en rodajas, orégano, cilantro y laurel.
Agregar a la mitad de la cocción zanahorias cortadas de manera sesgada y pescado, continuar cocinando.
Agregar casi para terminar el chayote cortado en cubos grandes, calabaza en rodajas gruesas y puré de tomate, sazonar y cocinar por 10 minutos mas.
Es una receta muy sencilla, pero les aseguro que les va a gustar, pruébenla
CEVICHE DE MANGO
+ 1/2 cebolla roja picada
+1/4 pimentón rojo + 1/4 pimentón amarillo
+ 1 mango mediano verde o maduro picado en cubos
+ 4 cdas de salsa de tomate + Pimienta al gusto
+ Zumo de 2 limones
+2 cdas de salsa de soya
+3 cdas de vinagre blanco
+ 1/2 cdta de pimienta roja o algún
picante de tu gusto + 1 tomate licuado sin cáscara con 1/3
de taza de agua.
+ 1/4 de taza de cilantro picado +Mezclas y listo!