The loss of life and great destruction of property in Japan due to the 8.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami on Friday, March 11, 2011 saddened Turkish Community of Madison. We remember very well that Japanese people generously and graciously extended their helping hand to Turkish people in the aftermath of Kocaeli, Gölcük Earthquake in 1999. To share the pain of Japanese friends in the aftermath of this unprecedented disaster and to remember our common history, we organized a get-together friendship meeting on April 23rd, 2011 at …

Today we hosted our December 2010 Cook & Share. Rabia demonstrated how to make the traditional Turkish Ezo Gelin soup. As always, we had such a great time. We even had some guests dropping in to see what is cooking because the hallway was filled with the aroma of the soup. Thanks to everyone who participated.

We have been working on changing the format of the program a little bit. Therefore, this month, we tried something new. We turned our watch and learn demonstration to a hands-on cooking class. We had …

November 14, 2010 - Turkish Henna Night
November 14, 2010 - Turkish Henna Night[Show as slideshow]

Rice is one of the most important ingredients in Turkish Cuisine. Turks use rice in many dishes both as the main ingredient of a dish or as part of soups, vegetable dishes or even deserts. Different types of pilaf is a must-have food next to meat dishes.
İç Pilav, rice with pine nuts and currants, is a special type of pilaf prepared for guests on special occasions like weddings and henna nights in Turkey. For Cook & Share (November 2010), Yücenur who is Oliva Cuisine’s owner showed us how to make …

Turkish people can use eggplants in a hundred separate dishes and surprisingly, they would all taste different. We use eggplants baked, grilled, sauteed, fried, with vegetable oil, with olive oil, etc. And we use them in salads, in dips, as a side dish, or as the main dish.

“Karnıyarık” which literally means something like “a split tummy” in Turkish (one of many humorously-named Turkish dishes), is a main dish with eggplant usually served with rice pilaf. Şeyma demonstrated how to make this exquisite dish on our October 2010 Cook & Share. …