Balık Ekmek - One of Istanbul's popular street foods.

It’s finally summer and a perfectly warm weather for me means going out and eating out. After the cold winter months and wet spring in Istanbul, I think its just time to really get some sea breeze.  So I decided to go sightseeing and spend a lazy Sunday with my family in Eminönü, one of the busiest districts of Istanbul's Europe side.  My son wanted to get on a ferry boat ride from Kadikoy to Eminönü so we got on a local ferryboat from Kadikoy to Eminönü.

Yufka - Turkish Unleavened Flour Dough (Filo or Phyllo)

If you had been in Turkey, or at least if you had been introduced to Turkish Cuisine, then you probably know what is yufka. And if you do, then you also probably realized that most of Turkey’s so-called beş çayı (tea time) menus are usually made with yufka. While in most of the puff pastry recipes I’ve been posting usually involve yufka, most of the tea time recipes that I will be posting in the future will mostly include yufka, too.

Filizler Köftecisi in Tuzla, Istanbul - Food & Restaurant Review

Summer’s a good time to dine outdoors and looking for some nice cozy restaurant where you can sit down, relax and enjoy a good meal while overlooking wonderful views of outdoors (perhaps with a garden, pool, or sea views) without having to go to beach resorts or spending too much from your pocket - would be a great break after a long and busy week.

Menemen - Turkish breakfast of scrambled eggs

I have always loved making menemen for breakfast.  And even though I’m trying so hard not to have eggs everyday for my early morning meal, I still make menemen once in a while (at least once in a week) to satisfy my appetite for this delicious Turkish-style scrambled eggs.  If you’ll ask me why, its because in making a single serving of menemen, you just don’t consume one whole egg but at least 2-3 more.  Now I don’t want to have too much eggs in my diet, so I have to stick to my rule that I should only have menemen once or at most twice a week.  And most of the time,  I do prefer to have menemen on my breakfast table during a lazy weekend.  

Fried Horse Mackerel - Istavrit balığı kızartması

The horse mackerel, also known in Turkey as istavrit is one of my favorite fishes to deep fry or just pan fry in winter. They are mostly at its best during the winter months when they are usually fat which makes them even more delicious. Besides that, they are mostly abundant in winter, especially within the early days of December to late January. And because they are at its peak, their abundance makes them very affordable when sold in the markets by the kilo. And unlike hamsi or anchovies which are typically small even when they are fat, the horse mackerel may come much bigger and fatter than the anchovies. More to that, you can buy more plentiful and cook more flavorful horse mackerel if you buy them in anytime between January to early February.

Kestane şekeri - Candied chestnut, a traditional Turkish sweet

Turkey has a wide range of traditional sweets. And one of these that I love the most is kestane şekeri or candied chestnut that’s usually prepared by cooking chestnuts in sweet sugar syrup.

Turkish Beyti Kebab

A single serving of  beyti kebap.

In Turkey, kebabs can be found everywhere. And of these many delicious varieties of kebabs you’ll find everywhere in restaurants big or small, it’s the beyti kebab that is among my favorites and usually stays on my top list.

How to Make Kabak Tatlısı – Turkish Pumpkin Dessert Recipe

I have to say that I have never tried making kabak tatlısı or pumpkin/butternut squash dessert before on my own.  Though as much as I’ve tried eating it several times before (my family and friends always make it), I can easily tell anyone who wonders how it tastes like that kabak tatlısı or Turkish pumpkin dessert is so delicous!

Ballı Çerez - Turkish honey appetizer in a jar

This Turkish honey appetizer more locally known as ballı çerez (honey appetizer) in Turkey is a festive-looking jar filled with multiple appetizing, energizing, and healthy goodies such as nuts (in many varieties) and honey syrup.  Its very complexly-arranged ingredients makes this confectionery item look more like a sweet treat or a flavorful dessert in a jar than just the usual honey-in-jars you'll see elsewhere.  Yet it has the same deliciously sweet honey flavor oozing  out of the comb - but with a rich nutty taste.  To me, it's something more like those who have an appetite for candies and sweets just can't turn their backs on the moment they'll see it... and just can't let go of it once they taste it!

Güllaç - Turkish traditional holiday dessert

When it comes to any major religious holidays in Turkey such as the Kurban Bayramı or during the month of Ramadan, güllaç is the most popular milk dessert that's commonly served right after the iftar dinners.  Pronounced as "gu-lach" in Turkish, this traditional dessert is quite easy to make.  Its made mainly with milk, sugar, rose water, pomegranate seeds, a special kind of flaky pastry for güllaç, and finely grated pistachios.  The güllaç pastry made especially just for this dessert can easily be bought right at the local grocery stores and supermarkets in Turkey.

Turkish Pilaki - Delicious bean starters and side dish

Pilaki, a kind of Turkish starter or side dish (known in Turkey as meze) is usually cooked in thick sauce made mainly with olive oil, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.

Pilaki dishes made with white beans (fasulye pilaki) and borlotti beans (barbunya pilaki) are the most commonly cooked in Turkish kitchens.  Pilaki dishes may be served warm or cold - depending on individual preferences and are usually garnished with parsley or drizzled with fresh lemon juice.

Bulgur Pilavi - Nutritious Bulgur Pilaf Recipe

Bulgur pilaf, also called bulgur pilavi in Turkish is a very nutritious pilaf made from wheat and is one of the many pilaf varieties in Turkish cuisine.  It is usually served with meat dishes such as kofte (meat balls), kebap (kebab), izgara (grilled meats) and casserole dishes. Usually, red tomatoes, onions, green peppers, olive oil, and other spices are usually added in making bulgur pilaf to make delicious and healthy side dish.

Baklava, a world-renowned dessert of the Turkish Cuisine.

Baklava is not just any dessert.  It's almost like a symbol of the Turks' love for sweets.

This layered flaky delicacy is usually made of extremely thin sheets of pastry and brushed with melted butter. As the layers of thin pastry are stacked, it is then filled with either chopped pistachios (called antep fıstıklığı baklava in Turkish) or with chopped walnuts (cevizliği baklava) - also sometimes referred to as ev baklavası, meaning homemade baklava. Its then baked in the oven and soaked in warm lemony and sweet syrup.

Throughout the years, many variations of making baklava has been made. There are baklavas made with very thin phyllo sheets usually available in the markets so people can easily prepare baklava at home. Some baklavas are filled with hazelnuts or a combination of pistachios and walnuts and or filled with heavy cream.



No matter which way baklava is made or what it consist of, its mouth-watering sweetness and its gentle slight crunch to every bite has long become not just a favorite to the Turkish people but also a common favorite to most of the tourists visiting Turkey.

In Turkey, the city of Gaziantep is popularly known to be the native home of baklava. This is where the Turkish patent office registered a geographical indication certificate for Antep Baklava in 2008.