If I could have a bowl of yayla çorbasi every day, I would be perfectly happy--and healthy.
This is Turkish yogurt soup--çorbasi means soup. And yayla means plains, the high places where the best yogurt was made in the days before refrigeration, according to "Samples from Turkish Cuisine," a book I bought in Istanbul.
But I had the soup here in Los Angeles, not in Istanbul. And not in a restaurant but at a dinner in the Turkish consular residence, hosted by Turkish consul general Can Oğuz.
The table was beautifully set, with a white damask cloth and silver chargers. Yayla çorbasi (above) looked just as elegant in its gold-rimmed plate with the Turkish star and crescent at the top.
Light and delicately flavored with mint, the soup contained a few grains of rice, nothing more. One day I'll make it and then share the recipe.
Before dinner, we met for drinks outside, and I tasted something rare in Los Angeles, Turkish wine. This is Sevilen Narince Sauvignon Blanc, glowing in the flames from the fire pit.
This same wine accompanied dinner, along with Pendore Öküzgözü from Kavaklidere, a wine company founded in Ankara in 1929. Kavaklidere's wines come from several vineyard areas in Anatolia. Pendore is its chateau style winery in the Aegean region in western Turkey.
Öküzgözü is an indigenous Turkish grape that produces a lively, fruity, deeply colored red wine. Here it is, being poured during the dinner.
The next course after the soup was Izmir style stuffed grape leaves, yaprak sarma (above), filled with rice, pine nuts and currants.
Then came manti, tiny beef-stuffed dumplings typical of Kayseri in Central Anatolia (above). These were topped with yogurt, butter and pepper flakes. Mint, sumac and Urfa red pepper were also set out so guests could season the manti to taste.
Lamb and eggplant were combined in islim kebabi, cubed lamb wrapped with eggplant slices (above), an Istanbul dish accompanied by rice pilaf with pine nuts and currants.
This shepherd's salad had a California twist, the addition of avocado and cilantro.
Baklava may be easy to find in Los Angeles, but not freshly made, crunchy, Turkish style baklava only lightly moistened with syrup. This is bourma style baklava, rolled around a walnut filling rather than baked flat.
Feza Yazici (above left) made the baklava. Her husband Barbaros also cooked that night.
Dinner ended with Turkish coffee (above) and Turkish tea.
The hosts, Consul Oğuz and his wife Hümeyra (above), were accompanied by vice consuls Aylin Şenyüz Eleveld and Nilufer Kanik.
And here is the table of guests as we enjoyed this rare, home-cooked Turkish feast.
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