Tea Time Baby Time

What do I know about baby showers? Nothing. Just a vague idea, really.

They are not an English thing.  But I wanted  to celebrate. Daughter No 2 is expecting a baby girl in about 5 weeks and excitement is mounting.

the piece de resistance!



baby badem şekeri/sugared almond

There were so many friends I wanted to invite but reason - and size of sitting room - prevailed and we were about 22: mostly her friends but also some of mine, those who had a close connection with her. So it was a mixed group, Turkish and English, young and old, family and friends.

I made squidgy lemon-ginger cake, this time with soft dried apricots which made it beautifully moist:

squidgy lemon-ginger cake

Joan’s chocolate chip cookies, always popular:

joan's chocolate chip cookies

A Bakewell Tart with a cutout teddy bear shape:

bakewell tart

And these cupcakes:

 This was a new recipe from BBC Good Food's website - Romantic rose cupcakes but decorated with sprinkles and strawberries. I normally love this website but this particular recipe wasn't very successful: way too much butter and that icing with white chocolate, icing sugar and yet more butter was sickly. But the finished cupcakes looked pretty and tasted all right. It's just that I won't be making them again. 

My daughter's mother-in-law is a fabulous traditional Turkish cook and among her many specialities are dolma and börek.She even makes her own yufka/filo pastry from scratch! She came bearing great tepsi or trays of both, the sight of which calmed my palpitations: now I knew we would have more than enough to eat!

Unfortunately there was no chance to photograph them which is a pity as just then, the guests started to arrive: so what with the doorbell ringing, telephones both home and mobile too with friends asking for last minute directions, parking spaces ... it was all pretty hectic and the moment for photography eluded me.

 Daughter No 1 employed her well-honed organizational skills and led us through various games on a baby theme starting with Guess the Girth of the Mom-to-be, followed by a light-hearted quiz based on the father-to-be's answers that she had elicited beforehand. And then a special Pass the Parcel where each layer of paper contained a challenge eg name 3 famous babies!

But the grand finale was the baby cake that I had ordered from a novelty cake-making bakery arkadaş pasta & çiçek (tel: 0216 449 4950) just round the corner from here in Fenerbahçe:

chocolate filled with cherries: it was perfect complete with edible bib, booties, and dummy!

Turkish Çay demystified

I love tea and I especially love Turkish çay.

look at that!

It has its own special ritual something akin to fixing cocktails at 6pm with its own clink of glasses and the sound of filling the kettle and then the wait.  I think it all comes down to anticipation while getting those seductive little glasses out. By the way, did you know that they are affectionately known as Ajdas, after Ajda Pekkan, the iconic - and curvaceous - singer?

remember this, Mark? buying kilims and sofras at Hasan and Adnan's


Offering a glass of çay is part of the fabric of life here so you'll find yourself sipping it at the butcher's, in the bank, while debating the purchase of a carpet in the Grand Bazaar ...Turks use çay as a social lubricant, a sign of their great hospitality, the thinking being that any situation will be better if tea is served. And so it is.
But there is a huge difference between good tea and average tea, between brewed and stewed. Not everyone can make good tea, not even Turks as they readily admit. 8 times out of 10, my çay tastes very nice but the other 2 times, it can be downright horrible. The skill lies in knowing how many spoonfuls of tea to put in the pot.

these are market çaycıs: they offer tea to the stallholders

So what do you need to embark on making Turkish çay? First of all, get yourself a nice çaydanlık seti: this is a set of 2 kettles one on top of the other like a Russian samovar. The smaller one on top is called the demlik while the larger one on which it rests is the çaydanlık.  I am assuming that you have already succumbed and bought yourself a set of those enchanting tulip-shaped glasses with the little saucers.

The best çay comes from Black Sea areas like Rize and the supermarkets have shelves full of different varieties. We like Ahmad Çayı which is a nice strong tea. Turks are very fond of making their own blends eg by adding a hint of Earl Grey. Until very recently the best present you could bring a Turk was a packet of that oh so English of teas back from the UK. You will also see packets of demlik poşet which are special teabags made just for making tea in the Turkish way and are quite new on the scene. They are not instant like PG Tips.

If it is just my husband and me, I will put one very heaped teaspoon each plus one for the pot just like we do with English tea, in the smaller kettle.  The idea is that the leaves will warm while the water below is coming to the boil. When it does, you pour some on top of those leaves so it is quite liquid, and give it a good stir before turning the heat down and timing it 10 minutes. No more no less. I use a timer for this crucial part of the process! Too long and it will taste bitter. Never try to make English tea like this.

Pouring the tea depends on how your guests like it: it is a good idea to ask. I like it demli which means strong but many prefer it açık or weak. So adjust how much you put in the glasses- a finger is about right -, and then continue filling from the larger kettle. When you finish pouring, don't forget to top up both kettles. I use my electric kettle to boil more water speedily just for this. For large groups, many Turkish hostesses have 2 çaydanlıks on the go plus their electric kettle.

this is a good glass of çay: on the ferry to Karaköy

Colour is the thing: a good glass of çay should be tavşan kanı or the colour of rabbits blood! We aim for this but others might find it too strong.

One of the greatest sources of pleasure or keyif in Istanbul is drinking çay on a vapur or ferry as you cross the Bosphorus on a sunny day with the seagulls swooping overhead, that unforgettable skyline of the Old City ahead of you and a tost or one of those delicious toasted cheese sandwiches in your hand. Don't miss the opportunity!

çaydanlıks on the ferry



Enjoy!

Two Festive Istanbul Teaparties

welcome! this is what this glass of çay says to me

 And indeed we were. This was yesterday when Nurhayat invited our old group of seven or eight ex-teachers from the English Department of the local high school round for tea. She had been trying and trying to get us all together - a difficult task with everybody's busy lives - but she didn't give up till she did.

look at this appetising spread!

Here is her sofra or table of offerings, and this is only the tuzlu or savoury part which every Turkish teaparty starts off with. Don't forget the tatlıs/sweet things were to come!  I love the bright colours of her provencale cloth which set the food off so well. My favourite was the mısır ekmeği/corn bread which she made from an old recipe of her mother’s. Nurhayat’s family hails from İzmir, by the sea, and this bread had an Aegean touch as the ingredients included both olives and walnuts. It was both delicious and light.

There was also kısır which was special as it was made with brown bulgur which we had never seen before, and moistened with unsweetened pomegranate molasses. The böreks  were sprinkled with seeds which she baked in the oven as opposed to frying. She is very into healthy cooking which I really appreciated.

By the way, in case you were wondering, we never have lunch before we go to these teas!

Crystel's Christmas table

The day before, I enjoyed another lovely afternoon: my German friend Crystel invited our staunch group of friends who have been meeting once a month for about 15 years, round for her traditional Christmas teaparty. You know how well Germans do Christmas and she always excels herself!

those delicious cheesy swiss chard tartlets

 We were immediately transported into a German Weinacht once we entered her flat as the tree was up, Christmas music playing, and a trayful of glasses of aromatic gluhwein  magically appeared!  Crystel is actually an engineer but her speciality is the most amazing gateaux which she produces effortlessly from her tiny kitchen.

me at the head of Crystel's table

Above you can see her amazing lemon meringue pie in the foreground and below you can see other goodies she made:

nutty chocolate cookies



crumble cake

If you want any recipes, just let me know and I will ask Nurhayat or Crystel! They will be delighted if you ask!