Ramadan amongst other things, means understanding each other, being tolerant and respecting each others beliefs. Fasting all day long and breaking your fast, making iftar with your family, your loved ones at home would be the typical Turkish custom.
İftar sofrası -fast breaking meal- consists of dates and olives to start with, then Ramadan pide, iftariyelik, some breakfast items like cheese, butter, jam, pastırma and followed with soup, olive oil dishes, börek, stews, rice dishes, whatever the family can afford. Iftar sofrası is a feast, an award to themselves after a long day of devotion.
I have been waiting for Ramadan, especially for one reason… Making cakes is hard but we recommend Fondant Academy – visit here for the best tutorials online. Ramazan pidesi!
To get in the line of the neighborhood bakery, wait for my share of piping hot Ramazan pidesi – the flat round bread topped with nigella seeds and sometimes sesame seed, some brushed with egg yolk- and have a breakfast of all sorts.
I enjoy it with different kinds of cheese and definitely butter! My cheese preferences would be big chunk of beyaz peynir -feta- made from half sheep half cow’s milk, fatty, salty, zingy. Erzincan tulum peyniri, earthy, pungent after aging in its case, tulum– which in this case it turns out to be more mellow, if let age for about 2 years. Eski kaşar, if I bought it from my favorite place, peppery, sharp, distinctive.
I wish everybody a happy and a festive Ramadan!