Last night I joined our friend Sheila Kaufman as she
presented a Turkish feast based on her cookbook, THE TURKISH COOKBOOK,
which is her 26th cookbook published to date.
The event was
held at the Fourth Estate here in DC at the National Press Club and as
we arrived Barkan Israeli Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon were being
offered with some tasty tidbits:
Cheesy Fried Eggplants
(Kizarmis Peynirli Patlican, Istanbul)-I will give the dishes name in
Turkish as well as which region it comes from.
which I adored even though I am not an eggplant fan! The feta cheese was the magic key to these tasty fried treats.
Chicken Kebabs (Tarcinla Tavuk Kebabi, Istanbul) were moist and juicy
Chickpea
patties with Garlic Yogurt Mint dipping sauce(Nohut Koftesi Yogurtlu
Havuc) were awesome fried chickpea patties and remember I am not a mint
fan, but the sauce was spectacular
Walnut & Red Pepper
Spread (Muhammara, Gaziantep) was a tasty sauce broiled on slices of
bread which I could have eaten all night....but more was to come.
As
we sat down I was thrilled to be at Sheila's table and little did I
know how much she knows. It seems she was a history teacher and this has
spread to her cooking knowledge which was clear when she spoke so
eloquently before and during the dinner. She was introduced and the
catch phrase used for her cuisine was "easy, elegant and fuss-less." I
have the cookbook, so we shall see....
First came Green Bean
Soup with Green Lentils & Bulgur (Fasulye Corbasi, Sivas-Central
Antalya)which had a bit of spice, which Sheila usually doesn't like, so I
was quite surprised. The beans were cooked perfectly and crispy thanks
to the amazing team of Chef Susan Delbert.
Vermentino 2013
from Argiolas Costamolino in Sardegna (Italy) was a crisp dry wine with
lots of textures that was amazing with the soup thank to the work of The
Wine Guy, Ron Brooks.
Next was the Salad which
was supposed to be Grandmother's Purslane (Semizotu Salatasi,
Gaziantep-Antalya) but was replaced here with celery, radicchio,
parsley, sumac and more. The wine was a Regaleali Bianci 20102 from
Tasca in Sicily which might just be my new go to salad wine!
I
used my knife and was a bit disturbed when the server placed it (dirty)
on the table for me to reuse with the fish. This is really not good for
fine dining.
Moorenko Green Apple and Mango Sorbets came next for a palate cleanser.
The
fish course was Baked Grouper with Mediterranean Flavors (Akdeniz Usulu
Laos Baligi, Mersin) which was topped with a tapenade like sauce made
of garlic, shallot, cubanelle peppers, tomato, mushroom, spices and
more. On the table was a bowl of Hot red pepper sauce which I added for a
bit more spice and the grouper was simply divine. The wine was a
Vinkara Reserve Kalecik Karasi 2001 from Ankara which has to be my first
Turkish wine. The Kalecik karasi Grape is novel to me for sure and
according to Ron sits between Pinot Noir & Nebbiolo...okay--we all
loved the wine and the pairing.
The entrée was
Lamb Shanks with Romaine Lettuce & Scallions served with fingerling
potatoes and root veggies. On a cold night, this is a super dish I will
be ready to try at home. It's earthy flavors and spices went amazingly
well with the Anima Negra 2012 from AN/2 in Falanis on the Spanish
island of Majorca, another new awesome wine place for me! The grapes are
Caillette and Montenegro and they leave a hint of spice on the back of
the throat; the wines are also all natural and organic, always a plus.
We
were getting full but dessert arrived in the form of Nightingale's Nest
(Bulbul Yuvasi, Gaziantep) which is a phyllo pastry filled with walnut a
la baklava but here rolled into a cylinder and formed into a coil
bird's nest shape and sprinkled with pistachio. The sccop of vanilla ice
cream was welcome as the dish was very rich and quite overdosed in the
phyllo zone for me. We had a choice of Raki(arrack) from Yeni in Turkey
or the Moscato d'Asti house wine, which I chose. Those that tasted the
raki made awful faces saying it was way too strong and very
licoricey....NOT FOR ME!
I saw the hot pepper
sauce on the table and asked if I could take it home and a lady opposite
me asked to have her leftover lamb to go; they refused. I called the
chef over and she made an exception. I could not believe the Fourth
Estate sneers on doggie bags!
Well, that said, the dinner was a
success and the book is staring at me here begging for me to try
something...maybe this weekend!
