• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pantry Fun

  • Home
  • Soups
  • Mezes
  • Börek
  • Turkish Salad
  • Main Meals
    • Turkish Meat Recipes
    • Fish
    • Vegetable Dishes
  • Sweet Treats
  • Drinks
  • About
    • About Lulu Witt
    • Awards
    • Ottolenghi
    • Contact Us

Erişte

19th October 2018 By Lulu Witt Leave a Comment

I was very lucky to be invited to Arzu’s house to see how she made erişte. She had set aside her Sunday to work with her sister making enough erişte to last her through the winter. I had not met her sister before but there was absolutely no doubt that they were related as you will see in the photos!

Making erişte

This is how Arzu greeted me, sitting on the floor, hard at work. Her husband opened the door and ushered me in. No wonder she couldn’t answer the phone when I checked she was in!

She starts off by throwing a pre-rolled ball of dough onto the little table on the floor.

Making erişte

How she can sit cross legged like that for hours at a time is beyond me.

Erişte is a very popular pasta. The dough is made with flour, water, eggs and salt. She bought a 5kg pack of plain flour. (There is only plain flour to be found here. No such thing as strong flour or cake flour etc.)

Making erişte

She stretches it out as thinly as she can. A few holes in it will not matter at all.

Making erişte

Her sister is working on a side table they have set up. They are both concentrating heavily. This is the first time I have ever seen a European style rolling pin at work in a Turkish kitchen. I have no idea where they got it from.After the dough has been mixed well to a strong consistency (there is nothing soft about this dough) it is rolled out into very fine sheets. As each one is rolled out, it is gently carried to a room where sheets have been laid out and they wait a few hours for it to dry a bit. Sunday was a 35C degree day so 2 to 3 hours sufficed.

Making erişte

Very carefully she transports it through to their living room that is cloaked in clean sheets.

Making erişte

Then the erişte was sliced. This erişte here would be considered on the slightly thick side and often it would not be greater than 1/4″ or around 7mm.

Making erişte

Arzu’s husband took these two photos. He was thrilled I was going to include them in the blog!

Making erişte

This is freshly cut.

Making erişte

It is laid out to dry and regularly turned until it snaps when you break it. This will probably take around 2 to 3 days.

Making erişte

Making erişte

Arzu admiring her handiwork. It was an all-day event.

Erişte can be eaten as pasta, boiled until al dente, which takes about the same time as commercial pasta. Butter will then be dropped in it and it will be tossed. Possibly adding some salt and pepper too.

The most popular thing to do with erişte however is to add it to a soup which more often than not, will include green lentils.

Making erişte

It is always a pleasure to be welcomed into their home. Their daughter also had a go at rolling out the pastry and hence she was told to cover her hair. Arzu took a break from it all and came to the door to see me off. Thank you Arzu for another fascinating visit!

Making erişte

I was invited to some eat with some friends on the beach and they set up what they considered a simple meal. It was just delicious. One very interesting thing was the dish of erişte that was served. I was advised during the meal to take a mouthful of erişte and then immediately follow it with a mouthful of the stewed plums. It was certainly different.

When the pasta is completely dried, it will be stored in ‘tulum’ – cotton bags that are breathable so that should it still retain any moisture at all, it will not go mouldy.

There are many famous recipes for soup with erişte and two are listed here.

Dulavrat Soup/Çorbası: a wonderful hearty Turkish soup from Adana

Çatal Aşı Çorbası: a hearty soup from the depths of Anatolia

Here is a popular dish in some villages too.

Köy Eriştesi/Village Egg Noodles with Sage, Walnuts and White Cheese

 

 

 

 

 

Related

Filed Under: General blog, Pasta

Previous Post: « Jujubes, Chinese Dates or Custard Apples
Next Post: Tarhana – A Labour of Love »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

GET  YOUR  RECIPE  UPDATES

VIA  EMAIL

Popular Posts

  • Classic Potato Börek/ Pat... I never thought I would make a potato börek and yet...
  • Cooking New Istanbul Style ‘Cooking New Istanbul Sty... Claudia the founder of Seasonal Cook in Turkey recently...
  • Bread-making in a Turkish... Yesterday was a very interesting day. It marked the...
  • Liver on a bed of red onions Spicy Turkish Liver in th... Albanian liver  Arnavut ciğeri [pron:jee/air], in t...
  • Piyaz Antalyan Way Piyaz – The Antalya... If you find yourself in the region of Antalya then most...
  • Dough rising Village Bread As many of you know, bread is a main staple in Turkey a...
  • Borekita I Learn How to Make Borek... I had such a wonderful Saturday afternoon: it was l...

Copyright©2021 Pantryfun.com • Back to Top •Contact US • Privacy Policy