Turkish Tuesday, pt. I

Dear all,
I have decided to start a new "column" on my blog to feature the delights of eating (and potential struggles of creating) Turkish cuisine.

Once I get home, you all can beg me to cook your favorites! :-)

Since it's the first installment, and because I love mezzes, I decided to begin this cooking adventure with starters.  The first was a new dish for me to cook, but one that I always love getting at meyhanes (raki and appetizer restaurants).   I never knew the name of this dish, but according to Binnur at http://www.turkishcookbook.com/, my favorite savory, tomato-y eggplant mezze is called Lutuka.  My end result (featured oh-so-elegantly here) was a bit vinegar-y-er and chunkier than I'd hoped, but it was actually pretty good. I'd never roasted an eggplant or tried to skin peppers before, either, so this was a great new cooking skills experience.

My second dish was, I admit, a bit of a cop out: I made a mint yogurt dip.  Ok, ok, so I've made this side lots of times, and it does only involve a bit of stirring and adding two ingredients (mint and sugar) to plain yogurt, BUT! in, my defense, I really like eating mint yogurt and I did add a bit of black pepper this time to see if I liked a nit of harsh spice contrasting with the sweet. I did.

Also, in my own defense, this was probably the most quintessential Turkish dish that I could have made. Turks love yogurt.  They eat it with everything! --Raviloi? Sure!  --Doner? Absolutely! --Bread? Veggies? Of course! --In soup? Yum.  According to some very reputable sites that I've just looked up, too, mint yogurt dips are served throughout the country with varying ingredients (the key ingredient being yogurt).  Also accompanying my dinner, was another oh-so-Turkish treat, a dozen super salty black olives.

Now I'm full and ready to do some writing assessment. Happy eating from the land of magnificent mezzes and dangerously delicious bread!