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[tarte tatin]

As you can tell from my username, food is a subject very dear to my heart. While I like Turkish food, I find it repetitive and therefore try to diversify at home. I don't expect all the ingredients I normally use to be found here.

HOWEVER, why in a country where you see cows being taken for a walk more often than dogs ,can you not find fresh cream or fresh milk (just the UHT stuff)???

I also expected to find lamb more easily and cheaply, the stuff I have found here is terrible quality. Another great disappointment is the lack of hoummous although you can find it in the neighbouring countries to the west and east. I can of course make my own, but it is a bit messy. I did find some in Carrefour but it is very far from where I live.

I can't find brown sugar either. Even the rice doesn't taste that great.

On the plus side the fruit and veg are tastier than at home and the bread is nice.

[Mike_2003]

I found the choice in the supermarkets very limited when I lived in Turkey. You could only really find stuff used in Turkish cooking, although I did seem to see a slight change in some of the large stores around the time I left.

I must say though, although Turkish food did get a little repetitive (as you mention) I really miss a few things now - manti, sarma beyti, durum, cig kofte, icli kofte...mmmm

Fortunately here in Romania the supermarkets are quite well stocked and you can find most things you need. Pork all over the place too!

Mike

[calsimsek]

tarte tatin:

[tararu]

As �alişmek said you can get Kaymak, which is clotted cream. Also, you buy whipping cream in cartons in probably all supermarkets. If you mean fresh cream straight from fresh milk, you may have a problem. Hummus can be bought in plastic punnets in nearly all supermarkets. If you go along to a deli, they usually have a selection of mezze, aswell.
I think that the lamb here is great. It almost has a gamey taste to it, and l don't think it is so expensive. Perhaps check out some butchers as they have cheaper prices than supermarkets.

You can buy milk in glass pint bottles from bakkals and supermarkets. This milk is supposed to be used in a day or so.

Brown sugar is also sold at most supermarkets. Carrefore will definitely have it or try migros.

Regarding the rice, are you talking about what you get when eating out?

Buy long grain rice. At home, put two turkish water glasses of rice into a bowl. Then, cover it with boiling hot water. Let the rice soak until the water is cold and then rinse the rice in sieve under the tap swishing it around.

Heat up a table spoon of butter or olive oil in a wide shallow bottomed saucepan until hot/melted. Then put in the rice and fry stirring for a couple of minutes (dont let it brown).

Add 3 and a half glasses of cold water and a teaspoon of salt, turned the heat down to low medium, put the lid on and leave it to cook for about 20 minutes. The rice is cooked when ther are steam holes in the rice and there isnt any water left. Turn the heat off and cover the rice with a teatowel or newspaper and put the the lid back on for about 20 minutes. Give it a stir and then serve. Most Turkish rice is meant for pilav. If you want a more Asian style, then buy Jasmin or Basmanti rice.

[scb222]

there is no brown sugar here. im tlaking of the brown sugar used to make caramel. you can get coffee sugar which has a brownish look to it, but that is NOT brown sugar as such.

there is no fresh cream, though you can get creme in uht little packets at most supermarkets. it's ok and does the job for cooking or whipping and tastes quite good.

the one thing you CANT get here that is a real disappointment is SOUR CREAM. im talking of sour cream as in sour cream with nachos etc. maybe some fancy mexican restuarant has it, though ive been to some and they just serve yoghurt. but you certainly cant buy sour cream in teh supermarkets.

too the hommus is horrible. dry and tasteless. compared to that in jordan and syria it's a real disappointment.

[scb222]

[quote="tararu"]Buy long grain rice. At home, put two turkish water glasses of rice into a bowl. Then, cover it with boiling hot water. Let the rice soak until the water is cold and then rinse the rice in sieve under the tap swishing it around. [quote]

sorry, but that sounds horrendous.

but youre right, yes, buy jasmine rice only!!!

[Baba Alex]

[scb222]

really???!!!! yikes!!!

i would think thatd end up more like congealed/curdled cream rather than sour cream. thanks for the thought though.

[justme]

I've found brown sugar at Migros-- it's not as good as cane brown sugar like at home, but it does the trick. It's a little expensive though.

I can't find basmati rice here, but my Migros is pretty lousy for foreign foods.

I gave up on hummous and just started making my own.

What I really miss is a variety of vegetables, like tomatoes that ren't red and exactly the same size, different types of peppers and cucumbers, different types of squash (that sakız kabak is revolting! Sometimes Migros has round zucchini, but it's pretty tasteless), different types of lettuce...

[lovelace]

I know some people answered my questions about limes before, but I need a lot of lime juice - what about lime juice in a bottle? I couldn't find it in my Migros. Do they sell it here?

[lovelace]

And yes, the hoummous is disgusting here, all gritty and horrible.

[justme]

Yeah, or all creamy like they put mayonaise in it...

[tararu]

Scb222, That's a great way to make pilav. You have to get as much gluten out of the rice as possible so that when cooked the grains dont stick together.
Yes, the brown sugar here has larger grains and it's not demira sugar or how ever you spell it, but you can still make caramel with it. You can make it with white sugar if you want.

I suppose if you don't like the hummus in the shops then you will have to make it at home. Syria does have lovely meze, but I can't say that they are superior to what Turkey has.

By fresh cream, do you mean what you get in plastic punnets? That's is how it is sold in Australia. However, my parents get a large bucket of milk from the dairy farm down the road every few days which after it settles has a layer of cream on top. We dont use it for cooking, but it is nice on cereal and the like.

[tarte tatin]

Thanks for the replies and tips everyone.

I live up on the Black Sea so not the same selection as some of you enjoy in Istanbul. The only cream I can find is expensive UHT cream in cartons and certainly no brown sugar, I have looked long and hard. My mother-in-law does make a sort of clotted cream from her cow which they eat for breakfast with honey, and I don't live near her anyway.

I am just sick of that packet krem santi stuff they use to decorate all cakes here.

I am sure in major cities the selection is a little better but hey a new shopping centre is due to open this weekend with a Migros and shock horror a McDonalds! Not that McDonalds is really my thing but it may herald the start of Samsun opening up to a more international lifestyle.

I shouldn't complain really because in one way I like how Samsun is culturally authentic and not the same as every other city in the world, but on the other hand variety is good too.

I have noticed that magazines are now including recipes for international foods but the ingredients required are unavailable here so the Black Sea housewife cannot try them.

[Vixter]

I sympathise.

However I use the cream in cartons, the UHT stuff. The best one and I think it's unsweetened is the Sek Krema Koc one. I don't like the Pinar or Tivelli (or however it's said/spelt) as both are sweetened. The Sek one is damned good with the lovely strawberries that have come from Antalya. Yum.

Good luck. I do miss having a variety of ingredients too.