Yogurt tarifini denemeye basladigimdan beri bayagi tutmadigi gunler olmadi degil. Hatta tarifi bu siteye yazdigimdan beri iki - uc defa daha evde yaptim ama bunlardan bir tanesi tutmadi. Yogurt gibi kokuyordu ama goruntusu oyle degildi.

O tutmayan seferinde yaptigim degisikler sunlardi: evde krema yoktu, onu ekleyemedim, firini baska bir yemegi pisirmek icin kullaniyordum ve yogurdu mayalamak icin pencere kenarini sectim, ama ne yazik ki gunesli olan hava 1 saat filan sonra bozdu ve o sicak ortam kayboldu. Belki de kullandigim yogurt mayasi iyi degildi, bilemiyorum. E, yogurdu da oynatmak, rahatsiz etmek istemedigim icin biraktim yerinde ve 4 - 5 saat sonra baktigimda goruntu aynen soyleydi:

Suyu uste toplanmis, asagisi yogurda benzer bir hal almisti. Bunu atmaya pek niyetim yoktu, ne de olsa onca sut, yogurt koydum icine. Durum boyle olunca, bu karisimi doktum bir tencereye ve isitmaya basladim. Isindikca tanelesmeler olmaya, ayrismaya basladi. Kaynatmadim ama bayagi bir isittim. Sonra da onu bizim yogurt suzmek icin kullandigimiz beze doktum (tulbent, ya da benzeri bir bez isinizi gorur), suzulmesini bekledim. Sonucta elime gecen, yukarida fotografi olan yumru yumru peynirciklerdi. Cokelek olsa gerek bu. Ona tuz, kekik ve pul biber ekledim kararinca ve bir cam kAseye bastirdim. Ondan sonraki bir kac gun kahvaltida afiyetle yendi. Simdi dusunuyordum da bu tuz, kekik ve pul biber, belki suzulurken icine konursa daha homojen bir sekilde karisabilir. Bundan onceki bir kac denemem bozuldugunda yaptigim bu cokelekle pogaca ici de hazirlamistim.

Umarim sizler de yogurt yapiminda basarili sonuclar alirsiniz, olmazsa da onu atmayip boyle degerlendirirsiniz.

You might have heard of the “Turkish coffee”; it is quite different than the drip coffee that you usually get in the nowadays coffee shops. It is not the coffee beans that are Turkish, rather, it is the way to prepare it. They are roasted and then finely ground before preparing. Throughout Middle East and eastern Europe, it is prepared more of less the same way.

It is a part of the Turkish culture, definitely! One of the proverbs say “Bir kahvenin kirk yil hatiri vardir” which can roughly be translated into “A cup of coffee obligates one to forty years of friendship.”

Before a couple gets married, groom to be’s parents pay a visit to the girl’s parents and ask for their permission for this marriage. In this visit, they are expected to be served Turkish coffee by the bride to be. Legend says that if the girl puts salt in the coffee instead of sugar, it is a quite good hint that she is not willing to go with this marriage. I, personally, have never heard that system being used to convey the message.

Some people like it sweet, some prefer bitter. It is a matter of taste and you specify how you’d like it before it is prepared. The commonly used words are:

• sade = no sugar
• orta = medium amount of sugar
• şekerli (shekerli) = a lot of sugar

Assuming you are not familiar with how it is prepared, I will start introducing the gadgets for this process:

Coffee Mill: This is a traditional coffee mill that sometimes can also be used as a spice mill as well. The top part is where you put the coffee, and the bottom part is where the grounds fall as you turn the handle. Very very labour intense project but at the end, you really deserve this coffee!

Coffee Pot (cezve): A little pot where the coffee is “cooked.” Has a spout to help pour it easily. This one is copper, looks like the authentic ones. These days you can also find them made in stainless steel and enamel.

Coffee Cup (fincan): Similar to espresso cups, these are the tiny cups coffee is served in. Usually it has the same volume as the 1/4 American measure cup. Having the saucer is important; we’ll soon see the reason why.

Ok, that’s it! Now, you may ask “do I need all these to make Turkish coffee”? No, certainly not. You can buy ground Turkish coffee (look for it in Middle Eastern stores or online Turkish stores) and use one of your small pots to make it in. Any old cup would also be used to drink from, too. Having said that, I’d suggest not to make a full mug worth of Turkish coffee — it might be quite heavy.

Here is how to make it:

From now on, “a cup” will be referred to the “coffee cup” mentioned above, which is usually about 1/4 American measure cup

1. Measure one cup of water and pour it into the pot
2. Measure 1 1/2 - 2tsp Turkish coffee in to the pot
3. Add sugar to taste (for starters, I’d suggest 1 tsp or more)
4. While heating the pot in a medium low heat, stir it well
5. When it starts to foam at the top, pour some of the froth over to the cup, put the pot back to burner. Be careful, it might boil over
6. As the coffee raises again, pour into the cup some more and put the pot back to the burner. Do this one or two more times, until all the coffee is poured into the cup
7. You are done!

These will make a cup of coffee, just multiply it when you need to serve more

Probably it is still hot; be careful, do not burn yourself.

While drinking, you might notice the taste of the coffee grounds in your month. All those grounds that you put in to cook are now in that cup! So, if you are into it, I’d suggest stirring it up every now and then while drinking to enjoy every piece. But, hardly anybody drinks the whole thing. Usually, you sip every now and then but finish it before it gets cold. At the end, you’d see a “mud” of grounds at the bottom of your cup. Now that’s an important part if you believe in fortune and you know someone that can read fortune by reading your coffee grounds.

When you are done with your cofee (grounds at the bottom and some liquid is still there) you can now use the saucer to close the top of your cup and make sure to hold on to the bottom of the cup and the saucer (which is now on top of the cup) and swirl it around couple of times while making a wish, asking a question etc — whatever the fortune teller is telling you to do. Leave the cup on the table, this time saucer down, hence the cup upside down.

Until the bottom of the cup (which is on top now) is cooled down, you do not touch the cup. And later you ask someone to read your coffee grounds to tell your fortune!

I wish I had that much imagination to make up stories by looking at the shapes grounds have made. I am not gifted that way…

Fotograflar konusuyor!

Uzun bir is gununden sonra eve gelip de, bu guzelliklerin sizi karsiladiginizi goruyorsunuz. Daha ne istersiniz!

Guzelim bitkilerini paylastigin icin saGol Louise.

Bu Ciceklerin Turkcesinden emin degilim, Ingilizce’den direkt ceviri yaptim. Süsen ya da meneviş olabilecegini de saniyorum. Bir bilen varsa, yazarsa sevinirim. Emel ve Tijen’e, bu cicegin adini bulmama yardimci olduklari icin tesekkur ederim! Zambak daha farkli diye bilirdim ama ciceklerin turlerini akilda tutmak bir beceri istiyor, bende de halA yok ozellik! Ilginenlere, bir dilbilimcinin yazisi ÇİÇEK VE RENK ADLARINA DAİR