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Ravioli

Gobbled on December 13, 2012 by tartepink

Do you know the most common dish to the kitchens all around the world? Not hard to guess for a foodie: It is filled dumplings! In Poland pierogi, in China wonton or jiaozi, in Japan pot stickers, in Ukraine varenyky, in Korea mandu, here in Turkey manti, in Syberia pelmeni, Jews has kreplach, in Czech Republic knedlíky, and in Italy they have ravioli.

There are differences, of course. Filled with chicken, beef, pork, cheese or vegetables; some of them are big, some small (for example, in Turkey, they are really small, traditionally there has to be 40 of them in a tablespoon, go figure!); boiled, steamed, fried, some served with a sauce but some just plain… But at the end of the day, they are cooked balls of dough; international comfort foods that bring warmth, coziness, laughs and happy calories to our homes.

Dig in!… →

Posted in Italian, Main Courses, Pastas | 3 Comments

Tavukgogsu

Gobbled on December 7, 2012 by tartepink

Early this year I saw an article about world`s strangest deserts on Travel and Leisure magazine. Without reading, I knew Turkey must be in the list with this desert. As I was going through the list, I thought other deserts were not as weird as ours! So get this, if you are ever asked the question about the world`s strangest desert on Trivial Pursuit or something, remember, Turkey makes the weirdest desert on earth. It is called Tavukgogsu! It means chicken breast in Turkish. And, yes, it has real chicken breast in it, that is why it is weird! Tastes like chicken? Of course not, you’d hardly know it. Its history goes back to the kitchen of Ottoman Empire. How on earth did they come up with such a desert? My guess, just dumb luck . Otherwise, I do not think even the most experimentalist, fusionist chef would not try such an odd combination. It must have been a mistake! But ladies and gentlemen, what a delicious mistake!!

Dig in!… →

Posted in Deserts, Turkish | Leave a comment

Vanilla Extract

Gobbled on November 21, 2012 by tartepink

There is love story behind the nectar of the gods, second most expensive spice after saffron. According to the legend, in El Tajin, Mexico, Tenitzli and his wife were blessed with a daughter so incredibly beautiful that they couldn’t bear the thought of giving her away in marriage to a mere mortal. They dedicated her life as a pious offering to the cult of Tonoacayohua, the goddess of crops and subsistence, a powerful goddess who affected their very life and survival. Their daughter, Princess Xanath, devoted her time at the temple, bringing offerings of foods and flowers to the goddess.

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Posted in Condiments, sauce, etc | Leave a comment

Pomegranate Sorbet

Gobbled on November 14, 2012 by tartepink

Recently, after all these years of resistance, internet bug bit my father. Now, he wants to skype everyday, sometimes twice a day; he likes at facebook; tries to find his high school friends; and is planning to move on to twitter- no idea what he wants to tweet about. He constantly calls me-borderlining to harassment- and asks stuff about web and all the e-disturbance.

Then he called me and asked how to google about pomegranates to see if his are ready to be picked!! I told him to pick them as he did for the last ten years. But hell no, he has to ask google first.