As I've mentioned before, Turks don't eat breakfast - they do breakfast! I've always loved breakfast foods, and Turkish breakfast simply cannot be beat.
Today my spouse and I set out to 'do Turkish breakfast' as a christening of our first weekend here in Ankara. We chose a swanky little cafe that my spouse fell in love with last summer. Café des Café is a sweet, French-inspired restaurant located in the chic Çankaya district. It's no more than a 10 minute walk from our gorgeous top-floor flat, which makes it an ideal brunch spot for us on any given lazy summer Sunday. Or, well, Saturday, too, for that matter. Café des Café recently added its open brunch buffet - açik büfe in Turkish - to its Saturday repertoire as well. Saturdays from 9:30AM-1PM or Sundays from 10AM-2PM, anyone can enjoy this lavish Turkish breakfast spread.
Today my spouse and I set out to 'do Turkish breakfast' as a christening of our first weekend here in Ankara. We chose a swanky little cafe that my spouse fell in love with last summer. Café des Café is a sweet, French-inspired restaurant located in the chic Çankaya district. It's no more than a 10 minute walk from our gorgeous top-floor flat, which makes it an ideal brunch spot for us on any given lazy summer Sunday. Or, well, Saturday, too, for that matter. Café des Café recently added its open brunch buffet - açik büfe in Turkish - to its Saturday repertoire as well. Saturdays from 9:30AM-1PM or Sundays from 10AM-2PM, anyone can enjoy this lavish Turkish breakfast spread.
Their breakfast buffet left nothing to be desired! This buffet included four varieties of olives - almond- and pimento-stuffed green olives and lemony black and kalamata olives. The requisite cucumber and tomatoes combo is available along with fresh fruit and berries and dried figs and apricots; this buffet is complete with all the traditional Turkish breakfast flair. With five different kinds of cheese to choose from, it's difficult to decide! Two of my favorite cheeses include a smoky, sliced cheese and a creamy, salty feta cheese. Some unexpected, savory additions to the mix included: a fresh sweet pepper & Turkish feta salad as well as thinly-sliced, roasted zucchini and eggplant.
The baked bread selection is heavenly -- olive bread, whole wheat, and sourdough. Breads shaped as flowers, loaves as long as my arm, mini sweet pancakes, and little cigarillo-shaped cookies filled with lightly-sweetened apples.
One of my spouse's Turkish favorites is pogaça. Pogaça is a well-loved breakfast staple, so much so that Turkish moms all across the country take pride in making their own at home. Pogaça is usually stuffed with an herbed, crumbly white cheese. These pillowy, buttery leavened breads pair perfectly with eggs, sunny-side up or boiled (the two most common breakfast egg dishes). Look for my own pogaça recipe to come!
One of my spouse's Turkish favorites is pogaça. Pogaça is a well-loved breakfast staple, so much so that Turkish moms all across the country take pride in making their own at home. Pogaça is usually stuffed with an herbed, crumbly white cheese. These pillowy, buttery leavened breads pair perfectly with eggs, sunny-side up or boiled (the two most common breakfast egg dishes). Look for my own pogaça recipe to come!
My favorite Turkish bread is börek. Börek can have just about any filling you can think of: feta cheese, potato, parsley, minced meat or sausage, a variety of vegetables (such as spinach, nettles, leek, and zucchini), herbs and spices. Today's börek at Café des Café was stuffed with parsley, dill, and feta cheese and sprinkled with sesame seeds on top. I've made a healthier, Americanized version of börek that I named 'spanakopita pockets', though you lose a bit of the decadence in my recipe since I do not bake mine in the Turkish way: slathered in butter, milk and/or eggs. I have my eye on another börek recipe that looks authentic and still won't break the caloric bank...stay tuned.
Lastly, orange juice and traditional black Turkish tea - çay - is limitless - sīnīrsīz. Anything limitless has me by the heartstrings. I had to try everything once, even though I knew we would return for brunch another weekend, and now my heart is content knowing I sampled all of Café des Cafés' various savory and sweet goods (and my belly is still full as I write this blog post 4 hours later). Afiyet olsun dostlarīm!
Lastly, orange juice and traditional black Turkish tea - çay - is limitless - sīnīrsīz. Anything limitless has me by the heartstrings. I had to try everything once, even though I knew we would return for brunch another weekend, and now my heart is content knowing I sampled all of Café des Cafés' various savory and sweet goods (and my belly is still full as I write this blog post 4 hours later). Afiyet olsun dostlarīm!