So as the weather starts to change so my cook’s heart turns to soup. Turkey is a great soup-drinking nation after all and in many regions it is even served for breakfast. The soups here are ...
Blog
Barbunya Beans in Olive Oil – Zeytinyağlı Barbunya
If you like beans, you’re in the right place but you have to learn how to cook them and that’s not difficult! But they are so typically Turkish and so delicious, you’ll feel very ...
Purslane: A Vegetarian Dish
Purslane: the name in English always makes me think of leafy country lanes and Shakespeare. In Turkish it is semizotu. This lovely versatile vegetable is really a summer item but it is still ...
BBQ with Veggie Kebabs
'Komşu!' Neighbour! The garden gate creaked and I knew immediately that the arrival of Leyla from next door was imminent. It was the first day of bayram and we were back in our village. The ...
Poached Figs Stuffed with Walnuts and Clotted Cream
I confess I have been having a perfect figgy fest but here we are with my third and final fig recipe: today I am going to explain an authenticTurkish fig dessert, İncir Tatlısı, which is a complete ...
Beef Casserole with Figs
I have the feeling that the recipe that I am about to describe is destined to become my dinner party favourite this autumn. So perhaps I am mad to share - but I am so excited about it that it would be ...
Upside-down Figgy Cake
On my last day in the village,the island of Lesbos looked tantalizingly close, the killer humidity that has characterized this summer dissipated, and the sea a sparkling blue. On Sürreya’s roof ...
Ramazan Reflections
After a long hot day, the patience with which all fasting Moslems await the appointed hour for iftar, the meal which breaks the fast, to be annnounced from the local mosque or on the radio is ...
When is jam not jam? When it’s chutney, of course!
The light is different. The Greek island of Lesbos opposite is starting to emerge from its hazy summer shroud so we can see its beautiful silhouette once more. There is a change in the air, the nights ...