Welcome to my website. I’m Zerrin, a Turkish woman living in Eskişehir/Turkey and working as a teacher. I feel happy when I cook something to my family and friends. It’s a pleasure of me to watch people with their smile on their face while eating.
I certainly believe that there is a strong connection between people’s eating style and their characters. People who like eating and eat heartily are social, have no difficulty in communicating with others, cheerful, humorous and positive. But people who eat only to live just as a duty, and don’t see the miracle in each food are generally pessimistic and introverted. (Please do not get angry with me if you are that kind, this is just my observation.)
Here I’ll try to inform you about Turkish cuisine, which has a very large repertoire with its various kind of dishes. In this way, maybe I can succeed in changing the view of those pessimist people about food and contribute some more joy to positive people with my recipes.
Most women see each other as competitors and they don’t want to share their cooking experience. When they give a recipe to someone (some, even to their daughters), they hide a piece of secret to themselves. I don’t know if there are such women in other cultures.
Be sure that I’m not that kind beause I feel that you can multiply your hapiness by sharing. So I decided to share my recipes with everyone. I hope you will enjoy my website and recipes. It will be my pleasure to respond your questions and comments.
You can find me at http://www.facebook.com/GiveRecipe
You can follow me at https://twitter.com/giverecipe
You can reach me at zerrin@giverecipe.com
79 Comments on "Who am I"
Great site and love your sharing philosophy. I totally agree!! Thanks for the friend request!
Thanks for your comment. Glad you like my website and my philosophy. So you are the social, positive and optimist one
Thanks for the friend request! I am so thrilled. I was born in Ankara, and have been so lucky that my parents had good turkish friends while there and brought home tons of recipes. Yours is one of may favorite cuisines and I look forward to making some of your recipes!
Born in Ankara?? A very nice coincidence, I studied there. So you are familiar with Turkish cuicine. I’ll be glad to hear your comments or questions on my recipes.
Cheers from Turkey.
I totally agree to share recipes & ideas! thanks for your consistent feedback on my recipes! I do not know if you can bake the burgers without baking margarine or butter, but you can bake them in olive oil or canola oil or even grill them in a grill pan. Or you can bake them in the oven in a baking dish.
Thank you Sophie for stopping by. I think I’ll try to cook it in a baking dish in oven.
You have a great website. Thanks for sharing all these delicious recipes!
Natasha
Thank you so much Natasha. Glad you like it.
Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment on A Culinary Tour Around the World. It has been a lot of fun — maybe you’ll meet us at one of the destinations??
It would be so nice to meet. Thank you Joan.
Thanks for dropping by my page Zerrin… i’m looking forward to learning more about Turkish cuisine thru your site…
I love your philosophy and your food pictures looks amazing! Thanks for stopping by my blog
Hi Zerrin! Thanks for visiting my website. I’m going to parrot other comments and say how much I like your philosophy about food and sharing, which you express wonderfully here. I visited Turkey about eight or nine years ago and really fell in love with the food. I haven’t had the opportunity since then to rediscover Turkish cuisine, so your website is really nice to find. I look forward to trying out your recipes!
The Beancounter, Elina and David thank you all for your nice words and for visiting my website.
I LOVE your theory on eating and personality. I agree with you 100%. When I first meet someone (particularly women), I always disclose to them that I enjoy eating. That way, they don’t feel the need to be shy when it comes to food. Nothing is better than a great foodie gal pal!
Thanks for the friend invite on Food buzz! I’m adding your site to my favs… love the lay out, now I need to browse your recipes.
Reginalicious – As you said, my guests never feel shy and they don’t hesitate to ask some more.
Lisa – Thank you for stopping by and adding my website. I hope you enjoy my recipes.
Hope you enjoyed my site, though it’s really nothing that great compared to yours! Wow! You have so many recipes here and I hope that I would be able to try some out (but I’m not a very good cook, I just love to eat). I have been to Istanbul some 10 years back and I enjoyed myself there.
Answering your questions… yes we celebrate the New Year too (01 January) and we have countdowns on New Years’ Eve (31 December). The one I was writing about is the Chinese New Year celebrated by the Chinese. We also have Hari Raya (celebrated by the Malays)and lots of other holidays. You can say that we celebrate just about everything !
Happy to hear you like my website. And thank you for those information about Chinese celebration. Celebrating everything makes you cheerful people I think.
I agree with you- I think the best part of cooking and baking is sharing recipes! I can never understand why people don’t want to share! If I make something delicious, I want everyone else to experience it as well. I can’t wait to check out your recipes, and make sure to check out ours too. I’m sure we will have a lot of great pairings!
I always get curious to know who is behind the delicious recipes and scrumptious images and when i find it, it is a great pleasure!
glad you did an ‘about me’ page. Turkey is a heavenly place…..you’re lucky. I love turkish food. Great site Zerrin!
Thank you Tamanna for your nice words, you’re so kind. I hope you enjoy my recipes.
Hey I wasn’t sure of the best way to respond to your question. Agave syrup is made from the agave cactus. It tastes quite a bit like honey, but not quit as strong a flavor. So I think you could easily use honey. Grape molasses, I am not sure about because I don’t know what it tastes like (though I sure wish I did… I think I am going to a Turkish food site I know and see if I can order some). As for pomegrenate sauce, I would think it would change the flavor, but I think lemon and poegrenate would be yummy.
Hi Zerrin,
I am very excited of your recipes! Yhanl you a lot. and I would like to share my recipe also, if you don’t mind I think you will enjoy cooking this easy plov. I am from Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan, Osh city. So this is Osh plov:
Ash – Plov
Ingredients
2 kg (4.5 lbs) Red rice (or any if you can’t find it)
2 kg (4.5 lbs, 5 large carrots) Meat – lamb, beef or chicken
1 ½ kg (3 1/3 lbs) Carrots – yellow is the best
3 pieces, average sized Onion – any type
600 ml (2.5 cups) Vegetable oil – sunflower (you can use lamb fat also)
2 tbsp cumin seeds
About 3 L (3 quarts) Water or lamb broth
2-3 whole head of garlic
Directions
Sauté chopped onions in the oil until it gets red, then the meat (chopped into many medium pieces) is added. Meat is fried until a tender reddish crust appears. Add the carrots (shredded) and fry it for about 10 minutes. Pour water and stew it for 20 minutes. Add rice, put heat on high. Bring to a boil and tuck a bunch of unpeeled garlic cloves down into the rice. I use a whole head. Reduce heat a little to prevent burning, add cumin seeds, stir and watch it until the water has evaporated. Push the rice towards the center. Then poke holes in several places with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cover and simmer until meat, garlic and carrots are tender for 25 minutes and all the water has evaporated. Do not allow the plov to burn.
Serve rice on a plate and put the meat, garlic on top. Pop the garlic out of its skin to enjoy it. Salads with fresh or pickled vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers are good additions for enjoying plov.
Hi Jyldyz,
Happy to see someone from Kyrgyzstan in my blog, you know we have a lot in common in our history. And I have a strong interest in Central Asian dishes. It’s very kind of you to share this plov recipe here. I’ll definitely try it. But you say 2kg rice and 2kg meat, isn’t it too much? I think 1 cup rice and 1 cup diced meat will be enough for two or three people. What do you say?
my heartfelt congratulations.
very nice site. these recipes are very good.
i love them very much.
and my favorites :
cake with carrot and walnut (C.W.C.A.W)recipe.
I absolutely have to do.
long live (C.W.A.W)
long live http://www.giverecipe.com
BEST REGARDS
Selim – Thank you my friend for your nice words. I know you love that cake. I hope you can do it yourself or marry a woman who knows it lol…
dear my teacher your website is wonderfull:)neverthless ı cannot do thıs meals because ı m stundent and ı m not very skillful man.can you help me dear my teacher:))))
Fatih – Thank you my dear student. Maybe I open a cooking course in the future, then you can join it. I’m sure you’ll find it more exciting and enjoyable than learning English. ??
ok dear my teacher:ı look forward your cooking course and ı will joın:)
I can already tell I am going to be a frequent visitor here.
I would like to learn more about Turkish food and culture and I couldn’t agree more with your comments about sharing recipes. I can’t believe there are people who intentionally won’t tell everything that goes into a recipe or refuse to give a recipe at all, but I’ve seen it. To me, the more people who can enjoy it the better!
Hi, Teacher
Congratulations,
You have a great web-site.I really liked it.
Ozgur G.
Hey Zerrin, I really like your site. I had had a turkish girlfriend and i had lived in Istanbul for almost a year and I really miss it. Now I cook turksih meals for myself and my friends. Here in Budapest there are some turkish restaurants but they are not the same. Keep up the good work with your site.
And tesekkürler.
Yaksamlar
Miklos
Miklos- Thank you for visiting my blog.So you learnt Turkish foods in Istanbul.How nice! I’m sure your friends love the foods you cook for them. Feel free to ask any questions if you need while cooking.
Sana da yaksamlar:)
Thanks for sharing your pilaf recipes. I can’t wait to try out more of your pilafs. I have made almost all of the ones you posted and each time they have turned out delicious. (The only substitution I make is peanut oil instead of olive oil)
Cheers!
tinypliny- How nice you tried and liked them. I always use natural olive oil in my dishes as it is known as the most healthy oil. I have no idea about peanut oil, we don’t have it here.
hiteacher.ı like your webside very much.ıts very nice like you.but in class while listening you ı never guessed that you are so talentede at cooking such delicious meals deserts…congratulationsss…at first time ı understood that you are a perfect teacher but now at the same time ı know that you are a perfect cooker.
Hello zerrin,i found ur site today it’s really great.I am very fond of cooking.I also want to join u on facebook plz do add me there.Also if u have the recepie of home made condenced milk&pineapple soofle plz give me.I’ll be waiting 4ur reply
Zerrin, I lived in Sinop for several years in the late 70′s. I think my experience with the foods of other cultures has helped to foster my love of cooking which has also resulted in my oldest son becoming a professional chef. Your site has brought back many memories and I will definitely be using your recipes in the future. Thank you.
Merhaba Zerrin, I feel so luckym to have found these great recipes from your site. i just started making frequent trips to Turkey and i can tell you I never had any disappointing meal anywhere. This site just brings me closer to be able to them at home. I love the art of cooking and it’s pleasure, will be visiting here frequently. Thank you for sharing
Nadiya- Thank you so much. I sent you a friend request on my facebook list, but I think you didn’t accept it yet. I also sent an email, but I think you didn’t receive it. Please contact me.
Michael- I’ve never been to Sinop, but I heard that it’s a beautiful city with its coast. How nice you’re a professional chef’s dad. I hope you’ll be happy with the results when you use my recipes.
Rachel- I’m lucky as well to have such a willing reader like you. Turkish cuisine has a wide variety of foods and I’m trying to make and share them with you. And I feel more encouraged to make more when I get such comments from the people visiting my site. I hope you’ll get happy when you try my recipes. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Hi Zerrin,
I really like your blog about Turkish cooking. I just discovered it and it is great. I myself have a blog about Turkish cuisine but in French. I found that Turkish food is not very well known abroad and that’s why I started my blog. Cheers
That is so true about ppl who eat to live. I have spent some time with these kinds of ppl and they lack passion and it is always a bore to be around these kind of people. I have yet to find someone close to me that has this passion for cooking and foods.I had Turkish Food once in France and I do not know if you would call it turkish as it was fast food but wow it was good. The flavours and everything were different but there were comforting and familiar….I need to read your old post to see what vegan dishes you may have or adaptable ones. I am so happy I found this site.
Tay
Caner was here..!
You have a great site. I hope you will get your pleasure abour food.
And I am a foodie.
CU on Lesson.
Aline- Thank you for stopping by. As you say, Turkish dishes are not known much around the world. And happy to hear that you’re telling about it in French. Hope we both succeed in introducing Turkish cuisine to the world.
Taymer- Thanks for stopping by. Even if it’s a kind of fast food, it must be tasty as it has Turkish special flavors in it. Hope you love the vegan dishes here.
Caner- Hi my dear new student, it’s nice to see you here. As we talked in the class, you’re absolutely a real foodie although you don’t want to accept it easily.
o my gosh! you are a life saver!
Hi Zerrin,
Nice website you have. As I’m interested in Turkey, it’s people and culture I especially enjoy the little pieces of information about customs and every day life you put in between your recipes.
Alwin
Hi Zerrin,
My mother sent me a link to your blog today and I was so delighted. I once lived for a year in Istanbul. I love your country and its food and your gorgeously photographed dishes brought back wonderful memories. Thank you. I look forward to exploring this rich and tasty blog!
Best,
Erika in San Francisco
Hi Zerrin, thanks for dropping by my blog. The world needs more generous and big-hearted people like you
You have a wonderful and beautiful blog! I have visited your lovely country. My favourite places were Izmir and Pammukkale. This was back in 1988, if I remember correctly, when I was just a teen. I hope to go back again some day 
Cheers from Singapore
Ju
hi Zerrin, you have a great blog ! I agree with your sharing policy. I love cooking and hosting ppl. I have just started a cooking blog to share recipes that i know and authentic recipes that are passed down to me by my elders.
I am an indian from singapore, now residing in US.
I have tasted and cooked dishes of different culture. I hope to share the joy of cooking these dishes in my blog.
Zerrin, I wanted to wish you and yours a very Happy New Year and happy blogging in 2010. Please don’t hesitate to visit my site again and leave a comment or two. Be safe!
Funny! Your comments about how people who love good food are social and optimistic and the ones who only eat to live are introverts who are pessimist and a bit anti-social: well I used to think exactly the same thing! I worked in restaurants and bakeries and met many chefs and noticed that while they have a big ego they are also generous and social creatures in general.
Great recipes. I have a friend from Ankara. Chef Enzo aka. Carlo Sexy Foods Blog.
Hi, Zerrin. Thanks for the comment! I’m not very familiar with Turkish cuisine so I’m really enjoying your site.
I feel the same way about sharing recipes. Yeah, sometimes it’s nice if you’re the only one who can make it *perfect*, but then everyone else isn’t as happy so it’s kind of defeating the point of giving them the recipe, since they want to make what made them happy.
Hi Zerrin, I’m so happy i ran into your blog. I love Turkish cuisine and was looking for a cheese and spinach pie recipe, maybe you know what I’m talking about. I don’t know exactly how much is needed but in few words i can explain the way to make it
a ball of dough (yeast is one of the ingredients) is divided into 3 smaller balls and each ball is flatten with a rolling pin like a yufka sheet, after you flatten all 3 sheets you pour oil (i think) over the first one, lay the second sheet on the 1st sheet and cover if with crumbled cheese and chopped spinach and cover with the third sheet and then wrap it, leave it to rise at room temperature and bake it.
Is that a Turkish pie or I’m completely wrong?
Thanks for your time
GreenGirl
Hi GreenGirl,
I think you are talking about a kind of borek(that is how we call it). To make borek, I generally use phyllo sheets (yufka) that we can buy from yufka shops here. But if you want to make it from scratch here is the method. I don’t use yeast for this dough:
Ingredients for the dough:
2 eggs
4 cups flour
½ cup sunflower oil
1 cup yogurt
1 cup milk
2tsp salt
Put flour on the counter, break the eggs in the middle of it, add oil, yogurt, milk and salt on eggs. Combine all these with your hands. Add some more flour if needed to have a hard dough. Divide the dough into 4 balls. Roll them out. Lay the first yufka in the oven tray, spread some oil on it. Lay the second one on it. Spread little oil on it and then spread the filling. Lay the third yufka, spread oil, then the last yufka on it. Beat one egg with a little(1tbsp) oil and spread it on the top. Cut it in squares and then bake it in oven for about 40 minutes.
Or if you want them in rolls, lay the first yufka on the counter, put the filling, wrap it and put it in the tray in a spiral shape. Then do the same for the second and wrap it around the first spiral. And repeat the same steps for the other yufkas. Finally, spread egg-oil mixture on them and cut after it’s baked.
For the filling, chop spinach and 1 onion and combine it with 1 cup of feta cheese. You can also add some other herbs like parsley, basil, scallions into it.Drizzle a little olive oil in it and it’s ready.
Hope I understood you right and this is helpful for you. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.
Hi Zerrin,
I’m really impressed with your site! I love how you have a story for each recipe,great pictures and lots of recipes I grew up with back home in Constanta,where we had some Turkish friends, or people that my parents knew. Every year, my mom would talk to her friends and they will bring the delicious Baklava, and something we would call bananas, but I found out they are called Tulumbe, so good! Anyway I was wondering if you know a recipe for Halva with sunflower seeds and rose water or is it rum ? Thanks , really enjoy your site!
Hi Zerrin……..I just found your Blog and I really like it. You have some great recipes. I’m married to a Turk from Izmir but has been living in Canada 25 years…….I love Turkish food. I learned to cook Turksih food through the years and I learn new recipes when I visit Izmir or Istanbul where his family lives……I see lots of recipes that I can make fro m here. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, my english isnt ideal but I feel by regulary visits of one’s blog it will likely be far better in the next time. You have a beneficial wrting style which is quick to understand and can helps persons like me to learn english. I will be now a regulary visitor of your blog.
Merhaba Zerrin, yabancı bi arkadaşıma Türk mutfağından bahsediyordum , tarif vermekte güçlük çekiyordum açıkçası, sağı solu ararken burayı buldum
… Beni büyük bir dertten kurtardın .. Kopyalayıp yolluyorum arkadaşıma. BU arada tam olarak incelemedim. fakat Büryan Kebabı Kokoreç çiğ köfte , ve karadeniz mutfağından karalahana hamsi buğulama gibi belli başlı yemekleri de ekleyeceğini umuyorum . tekrar teşekkürler emeğine sağlık 
Hi Zerrin!
Thanks for dropping by my blog and commenting!
Yes, there are still such women who don’t like to share recipes with others in this world, and it’s great that you’re not one of them and are willing to share the recipes of all the wonderful turkish dishes that you’ve made in this website! I’ll be glad to try some of the recipes one day =)
Frena.
Great to meet you, Zerrin. My love language is food as well as yours. Great to link with you through Food Buzz!
hi! thanks for dropping by my blog!
you have a great site! kinda reminds me of the several turkish friends i made last yr. (:
Hi Zerrin –
Nice to meet you! I love Turkish cuisine and your philosophy. Especially about spreading Joy through good recipes. I never saw the point in not sharing recipes. That used to be a big tradition in American culture, but I’m happy to say it’s dissipating. I look forward to trying your recipes.
Happy 2011!
Stacey
Hi Zerrin.
Found your web page yesterday can not wait to try some of your fantastic recipes. İ have been looking how to make rolled bitter orange peel in sugar syrup.looking foward to your reply as the bitter oranges will be ready soon.
Best wishes Heather.
Heather, glad to hear that you love my recipes. I’ve been planning to post how to make bitter orange jam for some time. After seeing your comment, I decided to write about it today. I already have a jar from last year, mom made it for us. So I will get the recipe from her and post it as soon as I take its photo too.
What an impressive website. delicious recipes, good photos, easy to read… thumbs up, thumbs up…
I have a Turkish Restaurant in San Francisco CA. I sometimes search to see if I find anything new to add to my menu. Being in food business even I found it informative. I wish you the best.
Hi Zerrin! I have been looking all over the Internet for an ezme recipe. If you need any ideas for future blog posts and it is something you like… think about it! Congratulations on your great blog!
merhaba Zerrin,
tastespotting de rastladim pide tarifine, fotografin neyi cagristiriyor diye dusunurken eskisehirli oldugunu okudum, tamam dedim….
yarin benim icinde eskisehirde biraz gez, tanidik yerlere bir de benim icin goz at,
artik takipteyim.
I have been looking for Turkish recipes to make since I have found a local Turkish restaurant in NY and NJ. Thanks!
Hi Zerrin, I really enjoy your sharing. What is New year cuisine in Turkey ? how to make it ?
Thank you.
Merhaba
Yabancı dilde böyle bir çalışma yapmış olmanız gerçekten tebrike değer.Türk mutfağının tanınması için herkes bir şeyler söylerken siz böyle bir çalışma yapmışsınız. Ne güzel.
Marhaba Zerrin!
I am a Lebanese lady who loves food like you do. I came across your blog while looking for a Turkish recipe. Your posts are a pleasure to the eyes and i am sure a pleasure to taste, i will be trying those.
I am a man who loves food like you do. Your posts are a pleasure to the eyes and i am sure a pleasure to taste. Thanks for the recipes
Hello, I found you when I searched for what my grandfather called “Tourshou”. I guess that means “pickled” any veggie, right? My mother and I wanted a recipe Grandpa made with Green Tomatos. Thank you for what you do to share knowledge and culture. Love, Kate in Salt Lake City, Utah
Welcome to my website and thank you for leaving a comment! We call it “turshu”, almost the same as what your grandfather called. Almost all kinds of veggies (or even fruits) could be pickled, they are almost eaqually appetizing. But my favorites are pickled gherkins, cucumber, white cabbge, beetroot and yes green tomatoes. We eat them just like a salad to pair with a main dish. Love from Turkey!
Kate, I make something like this stuffing green tomatoes with shredded cabbage (kupus) and spices. I can it in a pickling brine of salt, water, vinegar usually with a pice of green pepper, red dried chile, garlic, and a chunk of fresh horseradish. I leave in the processed(water bath) glass canning jars for 6 months or longer to develope the flavour.
Hi,
You have really beautiful blog.came across your blog while finding borek made from whole wheat flour. I am going to try out.
Nice destination for turkish recipes.
TC
humi