The endless Turkish kitchen

The young chef, who is a prominent representative of the modern Turkish kitchen, changes the appearance of traditional foods, but not their tastes. It is for this reason that he is applauded in Turkey and throughout the world. He brings traditional Turkish dishes to tables with a new, original and elegant character. Sevinç, who represents Turkey on international platforms with the foods he creates, has compiled his recipes in a book titled “Sonsuz Türk Mutfağı” (Endless Turkish Kitchen). The most important aspect of his book, which comprises traditional Turkish recipes, is the modern and unique presentation of the foods. For example, he wrapped tabouli in leaf beet, presenting it like Japanese sushi. It’s a pleasant and different look. Here are a few samples from the book, which contains 202 different recipes.

Stuffed peach with string cheese

Ingredients: 4 peaches, 200 grams of string cheese, 16 pieces of dried apricot, 2 tablespoons of vinegar, 4 tablespoons of walnuts, 1 Turkish tea cup of olive oil, half a bundle of Mediterranean greens, 2 onions.

Preparation: Peel the peaches and cut into two. Remove the seed and hollow out the center. Finely chop the dried apricots, onions and string cheese. Place in a bowl and add the olive oil, chopped walnuts and vinegar. Mix the ingredients together. Fill the peaches with the mixture and pace on a tray. Place in the oven and bake for five minutes at 150 degrees Celsius. Remove from the oven. After the peaches cool down, decorate them with Mediterranean greens.

Creamy pumpkin soup

Ingredients: 250 grams of peeled pumpkin, 1 onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1.5 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, 1 cup of cream, 1 chicken bone, half a carrot, a handful of celery leaves, a pinch of fresh oregano, 30 grams of fresh goat cheese, half a teaspoon of salt.

Preparation: Chop the celery leaves. Chop the carrot into discs. Place 2 liters of water in a saucepan. Add the chicken bone, celery leaves, carrot and salt and bring to the boil. Cut the pumpkin into small pieces. Melt butter in another saucepan. Add chopped onion and garlic and sauté until light brown. Add the pumpkin pieces to the sauté mix. Then add the sifted flower, chicken broth and cream. After the ingredients come to the boil, blend them with a mixer and drain into another saucepan. Roll the goat cheese into balls the size of marbles and add to the soup when serving.

Tushi (tabouli wrapped in leaf beet and lettuce)

Ingredients: 2 bundles of leaf beet, 2 pieces of lettuce, 500 grams of fine bulgur, 100 grams of tomato paste, 2 cloves of garlic, 20 grams of black paper, half a bundle of parsley, half a bundle of fresh mint, 350 milliliters of hot water, 2 lemons, 2 tomatoes, 1 bunch of dill, 10 grams of red pepper flakes, 1 onion.

Preparation: Place the bulgur in a deep bowl and add hot water. Cover the top of the bowl and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Then add the spices. Finely chop the onion and garlic and add to the bulgur along with the tomato paste. Mix the ingredients together. Finely chop the mint, parsley, dill and tomatoes and add them to the bowl. Knead the ingredients and let them rest for 10 minutes. Place lettuce and leaf beet in boiling water for one minute. Remove from the water and place in a bowl of icy water to prevent their color from darkening. Place the leaf beet on a sushi rolling mat and the lettuce on another sushi rolling mat. Place tabouli inside and then roll. Cut the Tushi with a sharp knife and place on a plate. Decorate with lemon slices (optional).

Meat roll made with phyllo dough

Ingredients: 600 grams of ground meat, 3 onions, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 bundle of parsley, half a teaspoon of black pepper, one teaspoon of salt, 2 teaspoons hamburger spice (allspice, cumin), 300 grams of flour, 3 eggs, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 10 grams of salt, 150 milliliters water, 300 grams of yogurt.

Preparation: First grate one onion. Put the ground meat, spices, garlic, two eggs and half a bunch of finely chopped parsley into a bowl and mix together. In a separate bowl, add flour, an egg, water, salt and sugar and knead until the dough until it is a little firm. Roll out the dough as thinly as possible with a rolling pin. Place the meat on top of the dough and wrap into a roll. Cut the rolled pieces 2 centimeters in width and cook both sides on a grill. Make a salad with remaining onion and parsley and serve the meat roll with yogurt and the onion salad.

Enveloped rice with vegetables

Ingredients: 500 grams of rice, 500 grams of chopped carrots, 500 grams of fresh squash, 200 grams of mushrooms, 200 grams of bell pepper, 100 grams of pine nuts, 500 grams of blackcurrants, 30 grams of salt, 10 grams of black pepper, 5 grams of cinnamon, 10 grams of allspice, 700 milliliters of filtered chicken broth, 100 milliliters of vegetable oil.

Dough ingredients: 600 grams of flour, 2 eggs, 100 grams of butter, 10 grams of salt, 10 grams of sugar and 10 milliliters of molasses.

Preparation: Put chopped vegetables into a saucepan and sauté. Wash and drain the rice and add to the saucepan and sauté. Meanwhile, place blackcurrants in hot water. Add salt, black pepper and allspice to the rice. Add the chicken broth, blackcurrants and water to the saucepan. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cover the top of the saucepan. Let it rest for 20 minutes. Mix flour, eggs, 50 grams of butter, salt and sugar and knead until the dough until it is firm. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Mix together 50 grams of butter and 10 grams of molasses. Spread the mixture in four bowls. Add some pine nuts to the bowls. Roll out the dough without creating cracks and then line the bowls with it. Let the dough flow over the top of the bowl and three centimeters down the sides. Lightly stir the rice a couple of times. Fill the bowls with rice, leaving some room at the top. Cover the top of the bowls with the edges of the dough and cook for 45 minutes in preheated oven at 185 degrees Celsius. Put the cooked enveloped rice onto a plate and serve with Mediterranean greens.