"Most Undutch" Turkish Dish

"Among the things you served us tonight, this is the thing most undutch" Inge had told me while she, Hans, Johan and I were tasting my bulgur salad (called natively Kısır) in my place in Funenpark as part of a Ramadan Dinner in September 2007. (Bulgur is broken wheat, commonly used in Turkish cousine)

(The photo is from last week where I made kısır for the site commander of my military unit as well as for other officers in the unit.)

Then I have made it a couple of times for other dinners in my place and for parties we had at Funanpark roof. I remember how people liked it during my German neighbours' BBQ party. It was then when Sara asked me the recipe. "Your bulgur salad has been one of our favorite dishes" she told me later "I make it almost every week". She also published the recipe in an iranian blog. It is in persian, but the photos worth checking.

The original recipe is from a turkish cooking blog "Portakal Ağacı", meaning "Orange Tree".

So here is the recipe for those who want to taste this "most undutch" turkish dish:

Ingredients

• 5-6 spring onion
• half bunch of parsley
• 2-3 layers of iceberg salad (optional)
• 4 gloves of garlic
• 1 onion (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of red paprika paste (or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste if not available)
• 2 glasses of hot water
• 1 dessert-spoon of salt
• 2 glasses of fine-bulgur (Beware: it must be the fine version, can be found in turkish supermarkets)
• 1 tablespoon of dried mint
• half tablespoon of chilly pepper (can be 1, if you want it hotter)
• half tablespoon of black pepper
• half glass of lemon juice
• half glass of olive oil
• 2 tomatos (optional, for decoration purposes)
• a handful of fresh mint leaves or parsley leaves (optional, for decoration)

Preparation

1. Fınely chop onions, spring onions, parsley and iceberg salad. Put them together into a container and cover the top.
2. Fry the chopped garlics with the olive oil and tomato and paprika pastes
3. Put bulgur into a container and add the hot water on top of it. Add the salt and the mix with the mix in (2). Mix occasionally till bulgur sucks all the water and the mix looks homogenous. (10-15 mins)
4. Add the chopped vegetables of (1), lemon juice, and spices to (3). Mix till it gets to a homogenous mixture.
5. Decorate with tomotos sliced in half-circles and with the parsley and/or mint leaves.
6. Put into refrigerator for a while. It is better to eat it cold.
   

My first trial of Kısır in Amsterdam
It was again a Ramadan dinner where we fast during the day, and have dinner when it is getting dark. I had invited my turkish friends from Delft and the one from The Hague. When they tasted my kısır, one of them said "the taste is OK; but it would be better if you did not use coriander". I was shocked "what? What is that thing? I never used that thingy" was my reaction. "It is a vegetable similar to parsley" they told, and suddenly I got enlightened :D

I remembered how I felt while I was preparing the bulgur salad. The "parsleys" I got from turkish supermarket at Javastraat was somehow pale. And they had really a different strange smell while I was chopping them off. I thought: "probably those parsleys got deteriorated. But I have no time to buy new ones, and since I will mix many things, my guests will not get its bad taste anyway". That is, I never realized that it could be some other vegetable :D

So, since we do not have corianders in Turkey, I never knew that they were being sold in Holland, and they were so similar to parsley :)

Food Meme

Of four dutch-originated blogs I kind-of regularly follow, one is Kelly's. (The others are Isabella's, Tjeerd's and Nina's blogs). Kelly is a gibraltarian expat living in Almere, Holland. She has tagged my blog in her food-meme post. Here is the rule for the food meme:
List 7 items related to food or drink you love, also list 7 items you hate the most. Then tag 7 buddies and find out if your stomachs have something in common. Bon appetite!

I will make a small change and will list the liked/dislilked foods which are somehow linked to Holland.

DISLIKES

1. Drops: I already have written about how torturous was it for me to try even one. No way! I can't like them!
2. Sweet popcorn: Another terrible experience. It was my first weeks in Amsterdam; and I was very happy to see pre-popped corns sold in Albert Heijn one day (I love them); and I bought one bag. And guess what: I was home, and I opened the bag with a big enthusiasm, and threw few of them into my mouth. And, I was shocked! I never heard/tasted before pop-corns with sugar!. It was unbearable! I do not like throwing foods away, and It took more than a week to finish all of them :D
Later I realized they sell two versions in supermarkets: with salt and with sugar..
3. Peanut butter: Well, it is not my cup of tea. Daniel once told me that this was one of the three things he would take with him if he were to live alone in an island. This shows how Dutchmen love it. But i simply can't. Peanut butter on bread does not taste good at all for me.
4. Breads sold in Albert Heijn: There are so many different varieties of breads sold in AH. I tried a couple of them, and did not like any. Thanks God, the turkish neighbourhood was very close, and I could go there to buy turkish bread from Kardas Bakkerij in Javastraat in Indische buurt.
5. Soups I tried at the university canteen: They were all terrible. The soups may be OK in itself. But they add some kind of flavor to all soups which change the taste into an unbearable nature.
6. Mix-fruit juices sold in AH: This is getting common only recently in Turkey. When I was in Holland, it was the first time I saw mixed fruit juices. I tried some (peach-orange mix or apple-raspberry mix or things like this), and did not like any of them. I prefer pure juices.
7. Round three-color bell peppers sold in AH: They are unbelievably nice in appearance: red/green/yellow bell peppers sold together. The way we use bell peppers in turkish cuisine is by stuffing them with rice and then cooking. I tried this dish with those huge bell peppers sold in AH: they are so thick, which makes your mouth not comfortable :) . Then, I preferred to buy the turkish-style ones sold in the turkish neighbourhood at Javastraat.


LIKES

1. Vla: A traditional dutch yoghurt-vanillin mix. This, I discovered thanks to Ewoud. He brought a box of vla when he first visited my place for a dinner. I liked the taste a lot. The only thing is: one variety sold in AH includes a red colored flavor. I later preferred not to buy that variety since I found out that carmine is among its ingredients (carmine is an insect-derived coloring agent)
2. Stroopwafel (Syrup waffles): Also sold in AH, also traditional. Again, a goodbye present by Ewoud; that's why I came to know them. I liked the taste a lot.
3. Ice-tea: When I first tried ice-tea about 10 years ago, I found it not interesting at all,and did not try again. Till it was served to me while I was in Vahid-Sara's place for a dinner. Then suddenly I liked it a lot! It has turned out to be one of my most favourite drinks in the Netherlands. The peach- and lemon- flavoured ones are my favorites.
4. Cashew nuts: This, I discovered in Holland in AH since we did not have this type of nut in Turkey (only recently it has been gaining popularity). The taste is just amazing.
5. Appelstroop (apple syrup): I was told that this is what the pregnant dutch ladies prefer to eat to have a healthy baby. It was my favourite thingy during my lunches at UvA canteen.
6. Celebrations: Again an AH product, I discovered this thanks to Olja. She brought a box of Celebrations as a present when I invited her, Hans and Suzanne for a Ramadan dinner. It is a box of miniature-size versions of popular chocolate bars.
7. Falafel at Maoz: Falafel is a vegetarian meat-ball like middle-east food. The ones sold in Maoz are offered with unlimited salad. Since I preferred vegetarian food while eating outside, this was one of my favourites. At the end of an old post is a photo of the one of the branches in Amsterdam, a branch we had visited with Sara and Vahid (and also with Maikel and Alfonso during Queen's day in 2008).

TAGGING

I am supposed to tag 7 others as part of this food meme. However, there are only few blogs I kind-of regularly follow. So I can only tag 2 others:
1-Tjeerd: www.tjeerd.net
2-Nina: www.bellanina.nl

GREAT EXPAT BLOG AWARD BY "A TOUCH OF DUTCH"

Isabella, the owner/author/mother of the weblog "a touch of dutch" has awarded my blog, and a couple of others, with "Great Expat Blog" award.

Here is her related blog entry. "I want to thank you all with your expat blog and love reading what you have to share! You are making a positive contribution, and your contribution to expats is helpful!" she says in her blog entry. Isabella, just thanks for the award! (Actually, I am no longer an expat "physically" as I am in Turkey busy with my military service. But I keep this blog active as a virtual link between Holland and I.)

I already had written about her blog a while ago; it is really a great blog. I take it as an unofficial guide for living in Holland. And it is so comprehensive! Isabella, just thanks a lot for sparing your time for your blog, for your enthusiasm, and for making such a great help for people googling about Holland. This is really something to be greatly appreciated!

Seven awe-sum things

As part of the award, she says "List seven things about yourself that are awe-sum".

I will make a small change, and I will list seven things that are not only awesome but also related to Holland.

1- A with-minimized-prejudice guy: Compared to the people in my environment, I am noticeably free-minded and also free-of-prejudices. This, I owe to my living experience in Holland (and also in Denmark). The people I met from different countries as well as the general lifestyle in Holland are the main factors behind. The people in my military unit are aware of this, and they sometimes call me "the free-mind Willy"
2- A can-still-understand-some-dutch guy: I thought I already forgot all Dutch I know. But, checking some websites in dutch, I surprisingly noticed I can still understand quite dutch! (Isabella, your blog is of great help; you put some dutch sentences/phrases, which helps me to refresh my dutch :) )
3- A can-bike guy: I can bike, I can bike, I can bike!! This I learned at the age of 28, in Amsterdam :). I even managed to travel between two cities :)
4- A having-dutch-friends guy: Many expats say that dutch people, although they are very kind, are difficult to make friendship with. But I have managed to develop very nice friendships with dutch people in my work environment: I am still in contact with Maikel, Daniel, Suzanne, Tjeerd, and I am glad that this is the case..
5- A good-cook guy: I am very good at cooking some dishes from turkish kitchen. Lentil balls, bulgur salad (kısır), pepper with stuffed rice (dolma), lentil soup, yoghurt soup.. All of these, I learned in Holland while living alone in Funenpark. (I should also thank to all friends who joined me for dinners, BBQ parties)
6- A bird-fan guy: I am a bird-fan. This, I owe to different birds I came across in the canals and parks of Amsterdam & Utrecht (Moorhens, coots, geese, swans, jackdaws, magpies....). I use the word "different" since you do not see any of those birds in Istanbul, which is a quite urbanized city.
7- An awesome guy: My university building was just next to the zoo Artis, but I have never been there :( That's quite awesome considering that I am a nature-loving, animal-loving, zoo-loving guy :)

A Smile in Photo: A Must for Dutch Driving License

Yeah, quite surprising...

I take driving lessons nowadays due to my attempt here to get a driving license. I take the lessons usually on the road which is just in front of the military complex. So, the SFH (our Soldier From Holland, abbreviated) watches my driving attempts when he has guarding duty at the gate of the complex.

Yesterday I had a short chat with him after my driving lesson was over. "Commander, I got a license here in Turkey,and also one in Holland" he said. "I got 100 from the exam in Turkey, and only 80 from the one in Holland, after my second attempt to pass" he said. I had already heard once from my German class teacher that many "experienced" turkish drivers had to take extra lessons when they wanted to make the license valid in Germany. So, it looks it is noticeably more difficult to get a driving license in Germany, or in Holland as the SFH told me.

The funny part is just coming: the SFH says that in Holland they turned down the photo he submitted for the driving license: "it must be a smiling one" the authorities had told him. How surprising!.. "Are you serious???!!" was my reaction. "Yes Commander, that was also the case for the passport photo" he replied.

One of the things I admired in Holland was to see everybody smiling in streets, in hospitals, at information desks, in restaurants etc.. But, I did not know that this was "kind-of" a policy they wanted somehow every citizen "to obey"; which is really to be appreciated I guess..

I must ask my dutch friends if they are familiar with this "smiling photo" policy :)

Somebody from Hoorn in my Military Unit ..

Yeahh, it was totally surprising for me.. To meet a soldier from Holland..

It happened few weeks ago. I heard that there was a new soldier from Holland. Ugh.. Somehow I feel Holland as my second home. That was why I really felt excited to hear about somebody from 'my second country'.

Then, I met him. Well, of course he is of turkish origin. He told me that he was born in Holland and he is from Hoorn. It was such a nice feeling to talk about Albert Heijn, drops (he loves them !, he is not a typical turkish guy anymore :) ), trains, Alkmaar, football teams (he is a professional football player), Blokker ...

Then, I went to uncle Wiki since it was the first time i heard "Hoorn". I have learned that it is somewhere close to Alkmaar, on the coast of Markermeer, and it is really a nice historical city! Weird that I did not hear about it when I was in Holland..

Blokker
"Do you know Blokker", he asked me, "the store chain". "Of course" I said. I was there almost every week. I usually went to the one in Javastraat, next to the turkish supermarket I went for shopping. There was also one on the other side of Rietlandpark station of tram 26. (And I remember how I was surprised when Vahid and Sara told me that they do not know about Blokker :D)

But, the weird point is, I never questioned the meaning of the name! Of many such things I discussed with Maikel, Daniel or Suzanne, this never became an issue. I guess the main reason was that I thought it came from the word "blocks". :), which makes some sense when you think of what is sold in these stores..

Who would guess that I would learn the origin of this name in Turkey, in the military complex, from someone in turkish military clothes ... This is life :) It is so unpredictable :D

Yeah, this "soldier from Hoorn" told me that Blokker was indeed the name of a village in Hoorn area. " "They even have a football team, and I played there some time ago" he said.

Height standards of World's tallest people: A case study

I had e-mailed a photo of mine to Daniel in which I show up in my official military clothes (as I mentioned in the previous entry).

I called Maikel few weeks ago from the military complex, and we chatted for a while. He told me that he could not recognize me when Daniel showed him the photo.

"Well, first, you look completely different in those clothes. I looked at the photo, I knew I had to see something, but I could not get you" he said. And the funny part was his second reasoning on why he could not get me:

"When Daniel told me that you were in the photo, I was very much surprised since I expected to see somebody who is about 15-20 cm shorter than the other people around" he said, laughing; "But all the people in the photo were of the same height!".

"Then" he continued, "I realized that you were shorter than dutch people!, and I immediately thought that probably your height was just an average height in Turkey".. We laughed a lot on the phone :-)

Terrific Happy-Sugarfest Gift !!!

Today is the first day of our Ramadan fest, also known as Sugar/Candy fest. It comes after one month of fasting.

And, today, I got an extraordinary gift via e-mail from my former research group (BDA) in Amsterdam.

Heyyy! Daniel, Maikel, Suzanne, Age!!!!

I like each of you very much!

Thanks a lot for the big surprise! IT was something I will never forget!

The gift-message is:

uggh. DJ Vis even cannot spell my name, but I will ignore it once :D

Just below is the gift:

Yeahh, it is a photo. The portable board in the big office of 7th floor of building C of University of Amsterdam at Nieuwe Achtergracht 166; and a plant..

Then, you zoom into the photo to get what is interesting about it:

Plant

It is a Zamioculcas (also known as ZeeZee plant): Gift of Suzanne when she visited my place last year during a Ramadan dinner (iftar). I left it into her office when I left Holland.

Today, in the morning, I asked Daniel if the plants I left there were doing OK. He referred to this plant and wrote to me:

"That larger plant is doing well. I felt she (Suzanne) should care for it better, so I labeled that plant "Fiona II". Apparently, that works, now it is getting sufficient water"

And I got the gift photo in the afternoon: Yeah the ZeeZee plant has that label as Daniel told me; and it looks very OK. Apparently, Daniel's trick seems to work :D, Suzanne takes it as a second daughter..
The Board
Thanks again! I had just e-mailed Daniel today a photo of mine from our swearing-in ceremony where I appear in the military officer clothes. It looks he printed it and posted in the middle of the board. "Mr. T says Hi" wrote on the top..

And then, Maikel, Daniel, Suzanne and Age signed the board ;-)

Well, lots of signatures are missing. They even have a report on this on the right side of the board:

THANKS AGAIN GROUP!
and Thanks God! Thanks for the opportunity to have my post-doc there, with such nice people around!