Turkish recipes: Ezo the bride's soup, cokelek and revani

This week’s recipes from Turkey are for a salad, a soup and a cake. Cokelek salatası is a tasty crumbled white cheese salad that is a typical breakfast dish from Antakya in southern Turkey. Cokelek is a local fresh whey cheese that has cumin, paprika, oregano and sumac mixed in when it is made. I have used cow’s milk feta cheese instead and added the herbs and spices to it with success. Serve the salad with bread and olives for a Turkish breakfast or for brunch or a lovely light lunch. I also think it goes well with grilled lamb cutlets or kebabs.

Ezo gelin corbasi or "Ezo the bride’s soup" is a nourishing red lentil and bulgur (burghul) soup seasoned with paprika and dried mint. The soup is named for Ezo, a beautiful young woman from South East Turkey, who was born in 1909. She suffered during her life with two unhappy marriages. She bore nine children, and died of tuberculosis in the 1950s. Her life has become a Turkish legend and she is remembered in folk songs and films. Today in Turkey, Ezo’s soup is given to brides just before their wedding to fortify them for what may lie ahead. You can read more about Ezo and her story (Dilek Barlow, 2010) on the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University website.

Revani is a semolina and yoghurt cake that is deliciously drenched with lemon-flavoured syrup. It is handy for entertaining because it is easy to make and improves with keeping for one or two days. I like to serve Revani with whipped cream and yoghurt mixed together.

Cokelek salatası (crumbled feta salad)

I use an Australian cow’s milk feta-style cheese for this salad. If you can’t find sumac, add more lemon juice instead. Add a handful of lightly toasted walnuts at serving time if you like.

Serves 4

200g feta cheese, crumbled
4-6 spring onions, sliced, or ½ red onion, chopped and rinsed
1 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet paprika flakes or sweet paprika
1 tsp sumac
3 or 4 (500g) tomatoes cut into 1cm cubes
1 Lebanese cucumber, peeled or part-peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
¼ red pepper, finely diced (optional)
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 small handful mint leaves, torn or cut (optional)
freshly ground black pepper
½ to 1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Place the crumbled feta in a bowl and add the spring onions or red onion. Mix the oregano, cumin, paprika flakes or paprika and sumac together and then sprinkle over the feta and onion. Set aside. Prepare the cucumber, tomatoes and the red pepper (if using) and leave to drain in a strainer until needed. This is to avoid a watery salad. At serving time combine the cubed vegetables and chopped herbs with the feta, onion and spices. Dress with lemon juice and olive oil and add a generous grinding of black pepper. Taste and make any adjustments that are needed. Serve with fresh pide or toasted pita bread.

Ezo gelin corbasi (Ezo the bride’s soup)

Some recipes for this soup also include an equal amount of rice to the bulgur.

Serves 6

1¼ cups (225g) red lentils, washed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp butter (optional)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large tomato, peeled, deseeded and chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp sweet paprika
¼ to ½ tsp hot paprika (optional)
6-7 cups of water and 2 vegetable stock cubes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup coarse bulgur (burghul)
3 tsp dried mint

Garnish (optional)

1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp dried mint and pinch of sweet or hot paprika

To serve

sprigs of fresh mint (optional)
1 lemon cut into wedges
pide or pita bread

Pick over the lentils and rinse several times until the water is clear. Heat the olive oil and butter (if using) in a large saucepan with the chopped onion and garlic. Cook gently for 10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomato paste and a minute later the chopped tomato and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the lentils, paprika, black pepper and six cups of stock or water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer partly covered for about 30 minutes. Add a teaspoon of salt and the bulgur and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the bulgur is cooked. Add the dried mint and a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and correct the seasoning and flavouring to your liking. For the optional garnish, melt the butter with the dried mint and paprika in a small pan. Using a teaspoon, add a swirl of the butter to each bowl of soup. Add a sprig of fresh mint too if you wish. Serve the soup with lemon wedges and Turkish pide bread or toasted pita bread.

Revani (semolina and yoghurt cake)

Syrup

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
juice of 1 lemon

Cake

grated zest of 1 lemon
1¼ cups (140g) fine semolina
½ cup (85g) plain flour
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 free-range eggs
⅔ cup (140g) castor sugar
150ml sunflower oil or vegetable oil
1 cup whole-milk yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract or 3 tsp orange-blossom water

To serve

⅓ cup pistachios or hazelnuts, very lightly toasted and finely chopped
plain yoghurt and whipped cream

Grate the lemon zest first and set aside for the cake. Then make the syrup so it can cool while the cake is baking. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan on medium heat and stir to dissolve. Add the lemon juice and boil for 10 minutes until syrupy. Cool. The syrup will keep in the fridge for about a month.

Preheat the oven to 170C fan, 190C regular. Oil a 23-centimetre square or similar-sized rectangular cake tin or ovenproof dish. Place the semolina in a large bowl and sift in the plain flour, salt and baking powder and mix.

In another bowl, thoroughly beat the eggs with the sugar and mix in the oil, yoghurt, lemon zest and the vanilla or orange blossom water. Add the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Tip into the baking pan or dish and spread out evenly. Tap the pan on the bench and give it a shake to disperse the air bubbles. Bake the cake in the centre of the oven for about 35 minutes or until firm in the middle and golden.

Rest the cake in the tin and on a rack for five minutes. Then poke holes in it with a fine skewer to enable the syrup to penetrate more easily and evenly. Gradually pour the cold syrup all over the hot cake and leave it to cool in the tin. Revani can be served when the cake has cooled and the syrup absorbed, but is much nicer after a day or two.

Cut the revani into 16 squares or diamond shapes. Decorate each piece on top with a little pile of chopped pistachios or hazelnuts. Enjoy the cake with tea or coffee at any time of the day. It will keep for quite a few days in the fridge. Serve with yoghurt and whipped cream mixed together.

Diana Lampe is a Canberra writer.