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Popular Hacı Salih restaurant to reopen
Abdullah Movit, who inherited the restaurant from his father, Hacı Salih Movit, is keeping the Hacı Salih kitchen alive owing to Kıran, who has opened up a space in his shop. Movit has been preparing dishes for two years at the Gezi Patisserie in Taksim. He arrives at the kitchen in the early hours of the day and has the menu prepared by 11:00 a.m. If you're craving some Hacı Salih dishes, then you can find the same taste at Gezi. But the best news for old customers is that the Hacı Salih restaurant will reopen in its new location in Levent in September.
After hearing the good news, we went to the Gezi Patisserie shop in Taksim to speak with Movit. The construction of the restaurant which Kıran is opening is still under way. He shared with us his experiences, while preparing the meal of the day -- artichokes with chicken and stuffed eggplant. All eight members of the kitchen staff carefully listen to Movit's directions. Ingredients purchased daily are checked before they are used. For example, Movit didn't like the beans he wanted to use to prepare a meal of beans in olive oil and sent them back.
Movit is an expert at what he does. He both directs the workers and does the final checks. Everyone consults him and trusts his expertise. When his work is finished at Gezi he heads to the Lütfi Kırdar Borsa restaurant where he provides assistance to those in the kitchen. Rasim Özkanca, the owner of the Lütfi Kırdar Borsa restaurant, was also a loyal Haci Salih customer. “My father was Özkanca's teacher,” Movit said sharing details of their friendship.
Born in 1942, Movit has spent most of his life in kitchens. The cuts and bruises on his hands are evidence of this. “I have to see the artichokes in the market myself. I have to select them one by one and peel them myself. … Food tastes delicious when the happiness and joy of the family is brought into the kitchen. Perhaps this was my father's secret.”
To be a good cook one must be a good apprentice, according to Movit. An apprentice must know how to resolve any issue in the kitchen. If the sink is blocked he must know how to unblock it, if a light bulb burns out he must be able to change it immediately. He says with reproach, “Nowadays kids don't know how to screw in a light bulb,” and then goes on to provide a recipe for his chicken stuffed artichokes.
Chicken Artichoke recipe from Abdullah the cook
First carefully remove the outermost green leaves of the artichoke. But do not remove the stems. I never make food from artichokes sold in lemon juice because that causes the artichokes to lose their flavor. After you remove the outer leaves of the artichoke, pour water and some lemon into a saucepan and then add some flour. The color of the mixture should be like milk. Boil the artichokes in this mixture for 15 to 20 minutes. Once they are cooked carefully remove the stems. Make sure the artichokes don't crumble apart. You will see the strings come with the stems. If you had removed the stems and then cooked the artichokes you would not have been able to remove the strings.
Filling: cut chicken breast into cubes. Boil cubes and then drain. Place them aside to rest. Boil potatoes and carrots separately in the chicken broth. Determine how much potato and carrot you want according to your preference. Pour a small amount of olive oil in a pain. Chop one onion and sauté in pan. Cut one red pepper into cubes and add to pan. Then add chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots. Top with dill, salt and black pepper. Fill artichokes with this mixture.
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