The Delicious Turkish Şalgam Suyu
Şalgam (SHAAL’- Gahm) juice is a popular beverage from Turkey’s southeastern region around the cities of Mersin and Adana. In the base of şalgam, there… Read More »The Delicious Turkish Şalgam Suyu
Şalgam (SHAAL’- Gahm) juice is a popular beverage from Turkey’s southeastern region around the cities of Mersin and Adana. In the base of şalgam, there… Read More »The Delicious Turkish Şalgam Suyu
Here we are again with a piece of very astonishing news! A new Turkish series gets ready to show up on online entertainment platform Netflix.… Read More »The Third Netflix’s Original Turkish Series On The Way: Aşk 101 — Love 101
Tekfen Philharmonic is going to present the Italian violinist Anna Tifu. She is multiple award-winning artists and the concert is the first concerts of the… Read More »Turkey Gets Ready to Welcome the Italian Violinist Anna Tifu with Tekfen Philharmonic
Imagine a potential star who is only at the beginning of her 20s. With a pure beauty, great command on Russian and a sincere personality…… Read More »A Potential Star of Turkish Televisions: The Young Actress Alina Boz
Turkish TV Drama Zümrüdüanka – The Phoenix has come into the broadcasting just like a bomb! So has the cast! We have recently posted a detailed… Read More »Who is Alp Navruz — Serhat of Zümrüdüanka Turkish TV Series?
You cannot visit Turkey without coming across a very special dessert. The name of this flavour Turkish desert is Noah’s ark pudding. It is also and more commonly known as ‘aşure’. Noah’s ark pudding is a cornucopia of healthy ingredients like dried fruits, legumes and whole-grain wheat. They are sweet with the joining of sugar and fruit juices and cooked all together in one pot. This pudding traditionally contains a lot of different nutritional sources. Some of them are apricots, raisins, currants, figs, pine nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts. Furthermore, aşure also contains chickpeas, and navy beans to name just a few ingredients.
Some cooks even add chestnuts, lima beans, bulgur wheat and slivers of fresh coconut. Almost anything goes.
Noah’s ark pudding, like many Turkish dishes, has its own story behind it. Turkish legend has it that the first version of ‘aşure’ was made by Noah himself. After weeks on the ark, the waters began to recede. As food stocks dwindled, Noah decided to throw bits of everything he had left on the ark into one pot.
In modern Turkish culture, Noah’s ark pudding is a symbol of diversity, friendship, and unity. When a cook prepares ‘aşure,’ they make a lot. Because it’s customary to distribute bowls of pudding to as many friends and neighbours as possible.
‘Aşure,’ the Turkish name for Noah’s pudding, is associated with Ashura. Ashura is common throughout the Middle East and spans many cultures, traditions, and religions. So, Ashura was originally a Jewish celebration. The celebration is marking the rescue of Moses from the Pharaoh during which Hebrews fasted. At the same time, Sunni Muslims connect this period during the year with the deliverance of Moses, too.
There are even says that people in Haiti are also celebrating a version of Ashura!
There is no set recipe for making Noah’s ark pudding. So, there are hundreds, if not thousands of variations. Because of that, you can use the basic recipe below as a guide. You can adapt the ingredients and according to your taste or what you have on hand. Classic versions of ‘aşure’ use rose water to flavour the pudding.
First of all, the night before put the wheat or barley in a large pot and cover it with plenty of water.
Then, bring it to a boil, cover and reduce the heat. Allow it to boil gently for about ten minutes.
Afterwards, turn off the heat and leave the grain to cool and soak overnight.
The next morning, the grain should have absorbed most, if not all the liquid. Add the chickpeas, beans, rice, dried fruits, sugar and optional rose water or orange, and lemon zest.
Add more water to just cover the ingredients if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil.
Stir the mixture gently with a wooden spoon as it cooks until it thickens.
Remove it from the heat and fill dessert bowls or a large serving bowl with the pudding.
Once it cools down and sets, cover and refrigerate it for several hours.
Before serving, garnish the pudding with fresh pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, finely chopped dried fruits and groundnuts.
Some prefer their pudding more watery, some prefer it stiffer. If you prefer a stiffer pudding, add a teaspoon or two of powdered gelatin while the mixture cooks. This will give you a firmer pudding once it cools down.
Read More »Recipe of A Delicious Turkish Desert: Noah’s Ark Pudding Asure (Aşure)
If you’ve eaten at a real Turkish kebab house or ocakbaşı (meaning “fireside restaurant”), you’re sure to have sampled this classic puff bread from southeastern Turkey.… Read More »Authentic Turkish Lavas Puff Bread (Lavaş Ekmeği)
The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said 2020 will be the “year of Patara” on Feb. 12. Patara is an ancient city and it… Read More »Turkey’s Ancient City of Patara To Be Honored in 2020
Zümrüdüanka Turkish TV drama is the new project of the Turkish broadcaster Fox TV. This new member of the Turkish TV series industry has been… Read More »Zümrüdüanka Turkish TV Drama: Phoenix’s Reborn Story
Since the Turkish TV industry as productive as a factory, just so that we have been meeting new faces almost every single day. Especially for… Read More »Who is Alperen Duymaz: A Brief Review for The Career of Turkish Actor