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.

The Common Fish and Other Seafoods Sold in Turkish Supermarkets

 

I’ve been posting about fırında balık (oven baked fish) yesterday after our holiday dinner. Luckily we got those fishes for a really cheap price at the market yesterday because of the Zafer Bayramı (Victory Day) holiday. Actually, the çipura or çupra (Gilthead Sea Bream) in this season are supposedly sold at 14.90 TL (Turkish Lira) per kilogram with each fish weighing at about 200-400 grams. But since its holiday yesterday, their prices drop from 14.90 per kilogram to just 9.99 TL (that's just about $5)! Well that’s pretty damn cheap, so l guess it only makes sense to get a few more fishes to take home and use the freezer to store them for consumption in the next couple of days (perhaps for a different menu).

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.

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!