ABOUT

Hello everybody! 

Welcome to my blog! 

This is a blog about good food made in my kitchen. If you are located in Turkey, and if you want to discover the Turkish home cooking, I think this blog will be helpful for you! Or if you are in Turkey, and you want to get a bit of international hints, I think you will enjoy this blog as well! 

My name is Ceren and I currently I live in Istanbul, Turkey. I say ‘currently’ because my husband and I have moved from Ghent (Belgium) to Istanbul back in 2010 as my husband was assigned to a new position here as an expat. Our life as an expat family in Istanbul has been quite smooth so far. We do not feel like aliens here. This is mainly thanks to the fact that I am from Istanbul myself: I was born in Istanbul and I spent my entire life in this beautiful city until I graduated from the university. I met my husband here, a Belgian tourist in Istanbul back then, in the warm and beautiful summer of 2003. Madly in love, I moved to Belgium to be together with him.

Over the years, the geographies that I’ve been to might have changed, but one thing remained the same: the love and passion for cooking good food and sharing it with the people who are dear to me! 

I have been lucky to discover various ingredients and recipes from all over the world over the years. Especially, the years in Belgium have been quite informative and inspiring for this young Turkish girl. It is in Belgium that I was acquainted with cuisine of all sorts and ingredients (vegetables, fruits, spices…all you want) from all over the world. In Flanders, people are quite modest to think that there is nothing so special about their kitchen (they’d usually say “what is there else than steak and fries?”) but I believe that they are underestimating their appreciation to good food and even gourmet food! The restaurants in Belgium will never disappoint you (okay, you may think that I am talking in big words here; but I can’t really think one that was disappointing) with how they combine various ingredients and how they serve and of course how the food tastes. 

And to talk about Turkey, we have a very long and mixed tradition of food here. I am disappointed in a sense to see that the Turkish kitchen is popularized with the kebabs and sorts but there is much more to taste! As there is much to discover (and especially vegetarian!), the Turkish kitchen as I know it is also quite simple but efficient. I am talking about the Anatolian country style home cooking though. 

There are sometimes differences in the consumption and in the way of preparation in Turkey than in Europe: The consumption is of the seasonal products that are produced locally. When you go to the bazaar in the summer, you might not find oranges - but don’t you worry, because you will be amazed how rich this land is! The imported vegetables and fruits are seldom to see as these that were imported back in the day could also be produced locally (such as kiwis). 

The preparation is usually so simple without much acrobatics in the kitchen that you almost think it is nothing special. Personally I think it is in a way that the nature has spoiled us: the vegetables, the fruit, and the grains,… – they are so tasty that you don’t have to put much effort to make them tasty!

My aim with this blog is not necessarily to try and prepare very difficult dishes of which you don’t know where to get the ingredients from or for which you have to spend hours in the kitchen. I love good food but I also like to keep it simple and efficient in my own kitchen. Therefore, the recipes I’ll post here will be food I’ve prepared at home for myself and my husband, for my friends or family. The recipes I usually get to learn from cooking books, magazines, from my family, from friends, from a restaurant that I’ve been to. It is not rare that I also change the recipes to my own liking; I never got anybody complaining so far so I trust the inspiration and creativity I have in the kitchen as well!

 

I hope you enjoy and I hope I could be any help for you to enjoy what you made for yourself and/or for your beloved ones!

Hugs and giggles,

Ceren