It was around 2002-2003. My friend Reyhan and I would go out every Friday, we would go to a bar in Taksim / Istanbul (mostly Akdeniz or Gizli Bahce) to drink and to dance, with some other girl friends. Every Friday was a girls’ night out. Gee, I was young.
It was about 2 weeks before I came to Helsinki in 2010. I realised that I had absolutely no idea on how Finnish cuisine was. I made so much research about many aspects of my new home, but forgot the food part! I guess I thought that food ought not be a hard topic, that I could find something to eat after all. Of course I had in my mind the regular stereotypes, like, “oh, they eat reindeer there..”. But then, I checked wikipedia.
By now, if you have been following my blog, you must already know that I lived in Paris for a while years ago. Maybe because of that, or maybe because for some reason (that even I don’t really know about) I have always felt a connection with the “French”, I surely love trying French recipes regularly. My passion for experimenting on French cuisine got even bigger when I discovered (thanks to my friend Minni, otherwise I would never turn that TV on) the wonderful little show “Pieni Keittiö Pariisissa” (aka Little Kitchen in Paris) by witty and joyful Rachel Khoo. Ever since, she has become my idol!!
Ever heard of Dukan Diet? Well, I hadn’t, until about a little more than a year ago. I was trying hard to lose weight back then for a while, I was around 65 kilos (and I am 1.62cm in height) and I had never been so heavy before. A friend visiting Helsinki eventually introduced me Dukan and that changed my life. For the first time ever I was on a real diet, and oh my what a diet, but in the end I lost 15 kilos in 6 months.
The cultural and ethnic diversity in Turkey finds a reflection in my own family as well. My father, for instance, comes from an Ubykh family, related to Circassians. I’ve never known my grandparents who were both Ubykh and who unfortunately passed away before I was born, but my father always tells me how much I look like his mother. I am as white (rather pale), calm and quiet apparently.
Here is a rather quick omelette idea for a – let’s say – weekend morning. It is not the most interesting omelette in the world, I’m sure you can think of this yourself as well! :) I am just, hmm, reminding you…
Well, ok, this one’s hard. No, you’ll see that it is not actually hard to make this. Do it twice and it will be the easiest thing! But it is a bit hard to explain. Anyway, I’ll try!
As I was just learning how to properly and simply cook the Nordic fish in the oven, I decided to step up a bit further and try something bravely: what would happen if I put some salmon inside some pastry together with… mushrooms maybe? And which type of dough? which which hmm.. puff dough for sure.. Ok, I could do that.. And I could even find a friend that would be willing to taste it with me. So, I got into the business and I became intimate with salmon this time, with a very much hands-in experience!
When my friends invited me to a “Good Friday” breakfast the other day, I immediately started thinking what I should make to take with me as an addition to this nice breakfast. So I was in full speed baking last night until around 1 a.m. and I ended up baking some sweet cookies and a salty pastry. In this post I will give the recipe for the salty one, the cookie is yet for another post.
My experiments / experiences with Nordic fish continues. Today’s guest is Siika, aka Freshwater Whitefish.
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