This week I am in Darlington again and have a place booked at my favourite new Bistro, Meze which I am really looking forward too.
To accompany the kofta I spent some time on the internet searching for a dish similar to the one I had recently at Meze. It was a Patates Salatasi or Potato Salad but without the mayonnaise, and I eventually found an original recipe by Ayla Algar a Turkish cook and writer here, from another food blogger!
To prepare the salad, I had some Organic Colleen potatoes supplied by Riverford. These are a waxy variety and seemed ideal for this particular dish. I steamed them for about 35 minutes and then removed the skins whilst still hot. I recall a TV programme many years ago saying most of the flavour is just under the skin, I think they were right as they were amazing. The dressing is made from Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, Mustard Powder, Salt, Pepper, Dill & Flat Leaf Parsley. The dressing is added to the potatoes while still hot, that have been cut into smaller pieces, this allows the flavours to penetrate better. I ended up using the spring onion (chopped finely) in the potato salad and the red onion went in the tomato and pepper salad.
Other dishes to complete the meal were ‘Cacik’ a dish of Yoghurt, Cucumber, Garlic, Salt and in my case some Sumac, a salad of Tomato, Red Onion, Orange Pepper, Coriander, dressed with Sherry Vinegar, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, and toasted Pitta with some Olive Oil, sprinkled with Dukkah, an Egyptian spice mix.
The meal was delicious and was full and flavour, it took some time to prepare but was well worth the effort. Some genuine food from the kitchens of the Middle East.
The table, if you are wondering, is a slice of ‘rock’ from Erfoud in Morocco, about 3/4 inch thick and polished. Its full of Fossils and in the centre an Ammonite. It was purchased from HERE when we were on a tour a few years ago and shipped over within a week. It weighs 175Kg’s and always reminds us of our holidays in the sun.
Enjoy……
Julian Rolfe 
That whole table looks delicious! Could you share your recipe for making cacik? There’s a million different version out there so I’m looking for one that someone can recommend to me 🙂
Of course Annika. I use organic Yeo Yoghurt as the base. For the volume in the picture about 6 inches of cucumber, cut in half lengthways and spoon out the wet centre. I grate using a microban, the skin is left out using this method. 1 Clove of garlic, crushed with a knife and a sprinkle of maldon sea salt. About a table spoon of finely chopped fresh dill and similar of fresh flat leaf parsley. I also grate a small amount of lemon peel, again using the microban and add that too, with some fresh black pepper. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of Sumac. That’s it, hope you like it. Jules
Reblogged this on Food, Recipes, Etcetera… and commented:
I’m trying out this cacik recipe for sure 🙂 Thanks for sharing Jules!
My pleasure Annika……