SPECİAL OCCASİONS İN TURKEY

Turkısh people have an extreme variety of special days and holidays.

These special days have been sorted into categories as follows:

1-Religious festivals (Fesat of Ramadan, feast of sacrifice ,month of

Muharrem ,Kandils)

2-Seasonal festivals ( Hıdırellez ,Nevruz ,Kiraz bayramı ,Yoğurt

bayramı ,Koc katımı ,Çiğdem pilavı )

3-Marriage (söz kesme (giving permission for marriage by parents) engagement, henna

night ceremony and wedding ceremony.

Henna Night ceremony Henna night ceremony is one of the oldest

tradition in Anatolia. Traditional henna nights are organised in bride’s house with hospitality .

All relatives , friends of brides and grooms participate to the henna nights.

The henna nights are the nights mixtured feelings of sadness and happines at one

time.

Happiness; because it is the meaning of begining of a new life with someone loved. Sadness; because it is the meaning of

leaving your home you have lived for years.

Henna is applied to brides for making them devoted themselves for their families.

People say that purpose of applying henna has also one another meaning that is to make

partners love each other during whole their marriage.

It is also believed that henna protects the couples from evil eyes and their harms.

Why do people apply henna to brides?

Henna is bought by groom’s family and sent one day before to bride’s house with some cookies and some

food.

In the beginning of henna night the bride wears an elegant dress called “bindallı” mostly red decorated

and long from shoulders to ankles. Also bride’s head is covered by a red scarf.

Before starting to apply henna, a chair is placed in the middle of a saloon. All women come to saloon in an order; firstly a young woman comes out with henna tray in her hands, secondly bride, and finally other

women come and ceremony begins.

While applying the henna ,young women and girls, in a circle around the chair, sing a

traditional henna folk song. Henna is applied to the bride by a woman who

has a happy marriage .

A gold is put in henna for wishing to bride and groom live in fertility.

After applying the henna to the bride’s hands, a red scarf is tied up around her both hands and two velvet gloves are

worn.

When traditional henna application finishes,women continue to sing folk

songs and dances till late hours.

The groom and bride’s family welcome the guests with a rich dinner table. Various kind of Soups,Kebaps,salads ,desserts are offered to the quests. The menu changes according to the region

The most common food offered at henna nights are;

Baklava Su böreği

Yaprak sarması

BAKLAVA

Ingredients 3 cups sugar (for syrup) 3 cups water ( for syrup) some honey(optional) (for syrup) 1 wedge lomon (for syrup) 25 sheets of phyllo (ready prepared) 200 grams of butter (unsalted) 300-400 grams of Walnuts/pistachios (chopped

and mixed with a little sugar)

If you want to prepare the phyllos, you will need;

1 water glass of milk 1 water glass of oil 3 eggs 1 kilogram flour Half packet of baking powder

Mix the ingredients in a pot until you have got dough

HOW TO PREPARE THE PHYLLOS

Knead dough well.Set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Divide the dough into pieces.

Roll the dough disks into pancake-like pieces. Use lots of starch to avoid sticking.

Roll each piece the same size as your baking tray. If they turn out to be thicker than 1 mm, continue to

roll until you reach the desired thickness.

HOW TO LAY THE PHYLLOS İN THE BAKİNG PAN

Melt the butter over the low heat.

Use a pastry brush to grease with the butter the bottom and sides of the pan

Brush each sheet of phyllo with butter just before you add it into the pan.This is what makes the phyllos come out crispy

and flaky. Lay 7 sheets of buttered phyllos on the

bottom of the pan

On the 7th sheet, sprinkle the sweetened, chopped nuts/pistachios. Sprinkle generously.

Lay three more sheets of buttered phyllos over the nuts. Sprinkle another layer of nuts.

Keep going in this way, three more phyllos and sprinkle some nuts again.

Finally lay 6-7 more sheets of buttered phyllos, and no more nuts on top

Before baking, cut the baklava into triangles, squares or rectangles shapes.

Bake it in a 200ºC oven for about 30-35 minutes, until slightly browned.

Take it out of the oven when it baked enough and let it wait for 5 minutes.

How to prepare syrup 

Pour 3 cups water into a sauce pan. Add 3 cups of sugar and a hedge of lemon,

( and some honey optionally).

Boil it for 10 minutes.

Then pour the syrup over the baked and hot baklava till covering the

whole top.

You can make service when it is cold enough.

SU BÖREĞİ

Ingredients for making the layers of Su böreği

350 gr/ 3 cups flour 4 eggs 1 teaspoon of salt 1 tablespoon of vinegar 1 more cup of flour to knead and roll

Break the eggs into the pot.Add a spoon of salt,two spoonful oil

and the flour.Mix them until you have got dough.

Mix the dough ingredients and knead well and set aside for 15-20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10-12 pieces. Roll the dough disks into pancake-like pieces. Use lots of

flour to avoid sticking. Roll each piece the same size as your baking tray.

If they turn out to be thicker than 1 mm, continue to roll until you reach the desired thickness.

For the cheese filling: 100 gr feta cheese 200 gr grated kashar, cheddar, Mozzarella or

any type of mild flavored meltable cheese 1/2 cup of chopped fresh parsley leaves

For assembling and baking:3 lt of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of salt added,2 tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil,150 gr melted butter, 10-12 sheets of phyllo(yufka) dough you’ll also need a colander and a 30-40 cm round baking tray.

Now, boil each pastry sheet individually for one or two minutes in salted oil-added boiling water.

Then put into a bowl of preferably icy cold water.

Prepare the filling by crumbling the cheese and mixing it with chopped parsley.

Starting with 5-6 phyllo sheets or one unboiled rolled sheet at the bottom, brushing each with a little

melted butter. Between every three boiled sheets spread the

cheese filling. When you finish all the boiled pastry sheets, put 5-6

phyllo sheets as the top layer without any filling between. Put an unboiled pastry sheet on the top.

Brush some oil.

Put it in the preheated oven at 180 C until golden, which is usually around 30-35 minutes.  Cut into slices .Su böreği is ready for service.

YAPRAK SARMASI WİTH OLİVE OİL

If you are using fresh grape leaves; Put the leaves in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes till they are soft. Drain and remove the stems.

If you are using preserved grape leaves, just remove the stems.

Ingredients 500g vine leaves as thin as possible 500 grams onions 1.5 cups rice 1 water glass olive oil 3 cups boiling water 2-3 lumps of sugar 1 lemon A spoonful o salt Chopped mint leaves (optional) A pinch of black pepper 100 grams of pine nuts 100 grams of currants

Instructions Peel the onions and cut them thinly. Sauté without oil and

at a low heat. When the onions' colour is getting darker, add the oil. Then add the rice and continue to sauté. Next, add 1.5 cups of boiling water and put in the sugar

and spices (pimento, black pepper, salt, other ingredients)

Lower the heat and allow to simmer until the rice absorbs all the water.

Now put a spoonful of the mixture in each vine leaf. Wrap them carefully as thick as you desire.

Finally lay all of them in the saucepan and squeeze a lemon over them.

Then put a plate on top of the parcels (to stop the vine leaves from opening) and add 1.5 cups of boiling water and bring back to the boil.

When the water is boiling, lower the heat and cook until the water has all gone.

You can serve Yaprak sarması when it is cold enough by pouring some yoghurt with some garlic sauce.

THANKS FOR YOUR

INTEREST