Tag Archives: Turkish

Spicy roast tomato and red onion bulgar wheat salad

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Spicy bulgar wheat salad

I’m always a little over-whelmed by the multitude of grains, rices and dried pulses at our local Turkish grocer. An aisle piled high with bags of different sizes and shapes seems to stretch as far as the eye can see. It’s like looking into the store house of Suleiman the Magnificant’s army.

All these exciting things to play with and what do I do? I reach for the cous cous or red lentils every time. Until about a year ago, in a fit of bravery, I branched out and grabbed a bag of coarse bulgar wheat. I’ve always enjoyed the creamy toothsome grains in restaurants but had assumed it would be a faff to cook. How wrong I was. Continue reading →

Antepliler: Lahmacun to remember

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Baclava

Islington isn’t the first place that comes to mind when talk turns to Turkish food. All that glistening grilled meat and multi-dish meze spreads is far more Dalston and Green Lanes, a natural habitat for great Anatolian food.

The N1 scene, such as it is, was dominated by the busy Gallipoli boys, all dancing on tables and tasty apple tea. But food that hardly sets my taste buds alight. So there was excitement when I saw Antepliler, one of Green Lanes’ best, open an upmarket joint on Upper Street. Continue reading →

Ozlem

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Grilled onions a Ozlem
Prince George Road, London, 020 7275 9974

You know when you have a box full of sweets but you’ve lost the key to the flavours? You dig a hand in and grab a couple of lurid foil wrapped choccies and the first one is one of those luscious caramels, but the next is a fruit cream tasting of detergent. It’s a horror we’ve all had.

That was what eating at Ozlem was like. Lurching from the good to the crap via the decidedly average, dinner at this Dalston Turkish joint threw up a really really mixed bag of a meal. Continue reading →

Baba ganoush, roast red pepper and hummus

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Baba Ganoush

In need of lunchtime inspiration I spent a good five minutes mentally cataloguing the contents of the fridge. A rather tired aubergine and red pepper were loitering in the vegetable drawer, a tub of greek yogurt and the remains of a jar of tahini sat in a shelf. Add a bulb of garlic and a couple of lemons from the vegetable bowl that sits atop the fridge, and the ever present pittas in the freezer, and I had the makings of a fairly decent meze lunch. It was either that or something more complex and slow cooked – but I had neither the time nor the inclination to spend too long over the meal. Continue reading →