Istanbul_ The Collected Traveler_ An Inspired Companion Guide - Barrie Kerper [33]
Nebahat Hanim’s Rose-Petal Jam
1½ pounds (650 grams) fresh rose petals
9½ cups (1950 grams) superfine sugar juice of 1 lemon
2½ cups (750 milliliters) fresh spring water 1 egg white
Wash the rose petals, and snip off and reserve their white bases. Alternately layer the petals and half of the sugar in a bowl, then pour the lemon juice over, reserving 2 teaspoons. Cover the bowl with a cloth and set aside.
Place the white tips of the rose petals into a separate bowl, boil the water, and pour 2½ cups boiling water on top. Cover with a damp cloth, and set aside. Let both bowls rest at cool room temperature for two days.
After two days, gently stir the sugar-and-rose-petal mixture. Cover again. Drain the liquid from the white petal tips into a saucepan. Add the remaining sugar and the egg white, and bring to a boil. Simmer, skimming off the froth, until you are left with a clear syrup.
Add the sugared rose petals and return to a simmer, again spooning off the froth. When the mixture starts to darken, add the remaining 2 teaspoons of lemon juice, then remove from heat. Let the jam cool for a few minutes, then put it into sterilized jars and seal.
This essay would not be complete without mentioning aşure (pronounced “ash-ur-ey”), a legendary sweet flavored with rose water and also known as Noah’s Pudding. It contains a list of ingredients as long as your arm and looks like fruits and nuts preserved in aspic. Legend has it that Noah found himself running extremely short of supplies on the ark and ordered that all the remaining food be cooked together. The result turned out to be delicious. In Ottoman times the sweet was consumed in “Aşure month.” Modern Turks still make and eat it, but unfortunately the dish is less popular in the kitchens of the young, as it’s quite an effort to put together. My mother still makes it, and sends bowls of it to all the neighbors, who return the bowls full of figs, plums, or shortbread cakes. It’s a tradition that I will carry on.
Aşure
⅓ cup (50 grams) dried white beans
⅓ cup (50 grams) dried white lima beans
⅓ cup (50 grams) long-grain rice
⅔ cup (100 grams) wheat or bran flakes
1½ cups (450 milliliters) milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (225 grams) sugar
⅔ cup (100 grams) chopped pitted dates
½ cup (75 grams) blanched whole almonds
½ cup rose water
seeds of 1 pomegranate
⅓ cup (50 grams) currants
⅔ cup (100 grams) raisins
⅓ cup (50 grams) chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons (25 grams) pine nuts
additional raisins, walnuts, and pomegranate seeds for garnish
Soak the dried white beans and dried white lima beans overnight. Boil them in separate saucepans until tender, about 1 hour. Drain them, and allow them to cool.
Boil the rice and wheat or bran flakes in separate saucepans in plenty of water, until they are tender. Strain them, reserving the water in which they were cooked. Chop coarsely.
Place a little more than one quart (1.2 liters) of the water used for cooking the rice and wheat in a saucepan. Add milk and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is fully dissolved. Boil until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon, then add all the other ingredients except garnishes. Boil for 2 or 3 minutes more and remove from heat. Pour into individual cups and allow to cool.
Serve cold in individual cups decorated with raisins, walnut halves, and pomegranate seeds.
“Every trip is a journey, and a visit to Turkey can quickly come to seem epic. For one thing, there is your entire education spread out before you: Troy, the spot where Leander swam the Hellespont; Nicea (now Iznik), where the Catholic Church convened and produced its famous creed; Miletus, where Greek science and philosophy had their beginnings; Haghia Sofia, whose famous dome was the glory of Byzantine Christianity; and the Blue Mosque, whose equally famous dome and minarets were raised by Ottoman Mehmet II to celebrate Islam.