Dreaming myself a month back, to Istanbul...
One of the great things we did and that I am so glad we signed up for, was a cooking class with Selin from Turkish Flavours.
Since I constantly cook for other people, I need to get some new inputs and ideas from time to time. And it´s also an inspiration to see how other people in the tourism business work.
Selin´s class turned out to be just perfect. She runs the cooking class from her authentic and stylish 1940´s home in the classy neighborhood of Nisantasi. It feels like a privilege simply to be able to visit her home - and she even gave us a tour of it.
Actually, from the first minute it felt more like cooking with a good friend, in good and fun company, rather than a formal class.
Selin has turned the dining room of her childhood home into a perfect kitchen/working space for her cooking classes. The first thing that made an impression on me was how well organized everything was - from the ready grated carrots and finely chopped onions (who needs to learn to do that) to the fact that each and one of us had our own chopping board and set of knives, a apron and even a small book with all the recipes.
And soon the wine bottles were opened!
Any foodies idea of Paradise is to cook while sipping an excellent wine - and here we had it. Selin had thought of everything!
On the menu was dolmades - swiss chard stuffed with minced meat (in Greece we normally stuff wine leaves), beans cooked with tomato and olive oil, spicy bulgur rice, carrot salad with yogurt, Turkish pies and apricots cooked in wine, filled with a creamy cheese and dipped in pistachio nuts...
A smart weight for the dolmades so they won´t open up while cooking.
I use a plate with some rocks on the top. Not quite that smart looking.
And then there was the beautifully set dining table...
The food tasted amazing, of course - so either Selin is a fantastic teacher or we were really good students. Or both!
There´s one word that summons it all up:
Heaven!
One of the great things we did and that I am so glad we signed up for, was a cooking class with Selin from Turkish Flavours.
Since I constantly cook for other people, I need to get some new inputs and ideas from time to time. And it´s also an inspiration to see how other people in the tourism business work.
Selin´s class turned out to be just perfect. She runs the cooking class from her authentic and stylish 1940´s home in the classy neighborhood of Nisantasi. It feels like a privilege simply to be able to visit her home - and she even gave us a tour of it.
Actually, from the first minute it felt more like cooking with a good friend, in good and fun company, rather than a formal class.
Selin has turned the dining room of her childhood home into a perfect kitchen/working space for her cooking classes. The first thing that made an impression on me was how well organized everything was - from the ready grated carrots and finely chopped onions (who needs to learn to do that) to the fact that each and one of us had our own chopping board and set of knives, a apron and even a small book with all the recipes.
And soon the wine bottles were opened!
Any foodies idea of Paradise is to cook while sipping an excellent wine - and here we had it. Selin had thought of everything!
On the menu was dolmades - swiss chard stuffed with minced meat (in Greece we normally stuff wine leaves), beans cooked with tomato and olive oil, spicy bulgur rice, carrot salad with yogurt, Turkish pies and apricots cooked in wine, filled with a creamy cheese and dipped in pistachio nuts...
A smart weight for the dolmades so they won´t open up while cooking.
I use a plate with some rocks on the top. Not quite that smart looking.
And then there was the beautifully set dining table...
Heaven!
Der skulle jeg gjerne ha vært, du! En fantastisk meny dere hadde. Og her jeg sitter og er bittelitt sulten så hadde det ikke vært av veien med dolmades eller andre godsaker... I min fantasi kan jeg tilogmed kjenne hvor godt det dufter...
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