Friday, December 28, 2012

A dessert with depth

Cooking aşure at a Slow Food event
in Istanbul.
"What kind of dessert is this?" I thought to myself the first time I tried aşure. A traditional Turkish pudding thick with wheat, rice, chickpeas, and white beans, and studded with dried fruits and nuts, it seemed more reminiscent of a hearty, good-for-you bowl of oatmeal than a sweet treat.

Joining the contributors team at Zester Daily, a website devoted to food journalism, gave me the opportunity to really dig in to this unusual dish, whose cultural associations and traditions are as rich, numerous, and varied as its ingredients.

Get to the bottom of a bowl of aşure with my debut piece for Zester, "A Pudding for All That Comes From Turkey's Melting Pot."

5 comments:

Senior Dogs Abroad said...

Jennifer, What a great article. I remember the first time I had asure and thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Then I had to slow myself down to try to find out what the hey was in it. Your article is the most informative I've read on the subject. BTW, I tried to comment on Zester's page and it was rejected because it said I hadn't entered a valid email address which, of course, I had. So there must be something awry with it. Also, I stumbled over the word 'douncesen.' I couldn't find it when I googled it! What is it?

BERT said...

Hmm Turkish food and especially dessert, I do like those. Your article post is very informative and useful for readers like us.

Thank You.

The Turkish Life said...

Thanks for the nice comments! That's weird (and unfortunate) about the Zester page, Senior Dogs... I'd love for the editors there to see your feedback :) I'll let them know there might be a problem with the system. Thanks also for catching the (aargh!) typo. It's supposed to be "dozen." Have no idea what happened there. Will see if I can get it fixed. Thanks again!

Andrew said...

This food sounds more like a full food (with everything in it) than a dessert...

The Turkish Life said...

It's a hearty dish indeed. But, yes, it is considered a dessert here in Turkey.