Living abroad, there are certain Turkish food, especially the Turkish street food, places (and of course, people) that I dearly miss – and I am sure it is the same for many of you, who live outside of your homeland. Once settled down at your “new home”, the feeling of missing replaces itself with “how to recreate these treats in your new home phase”.
Take the boreks; one of my favorite parts of Turkish cuisine, the stuffed, filled pastries. Traditionally, we would use the fresh, paper thin sheets of pastry, yufka, widely available at home. Living in England, I cannot get yufka, but the filo pastry sheets you can get at the supermarkets work as a good substitution to make boreks.
One thing to bear in mind that they can get dry easily, and that you need to keep them moist with a damp cloth over them, while working. We use different kinds of fillings for our boreks; some with leek and cheese, some with potato, cheese and parsley, onion and ground meat and many more. You can bake these pastries using filo pastry sheets ahead of time, and leftovers can be frozen successfully. My children love these boreks; if frozen, grease a baking tray and place them on the tray. Then reheat in the oven at 180C/350 F for about 15-20 minutes. They magically appear on the table and are gone very quickly!
Simit, the sesame seeded bread rings are another favorite. With a cup of cay -Turkish tea-, sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese by the side, they are the ultimate Turkish breakfast for me. And yes, you can bake your own sesame encrusted, golden rings, simit, easier than you think.
Balik & ekmek, Turkish grilled (or lighly fried) fish sandwich is another delicious street food at home. Fisherman prepare the catch of the day in their boats; a simple grill with salad, slices of onion on a fresh loaf of bread; just wonderful.
I re-created my version of balik ekmek with a delicious, refreshing piyaz salad with sumac, onion rings, parsley and tomatoes by the side.
All I need to do is to I close my eyes and visualize myself to be by the Bosphorus in Istanbul!
Afiyet olsun & happy travels to you all,
Özlem (Ozlem’s Turkish Table)
(This article was published as part of the cooperation between Balkon3 and Ozlem Turkish Table)
Comments
Loading ...
