Turkish cuisine has countless magical ingredients and one of my favorites is (of course) the worst one for you. It is called kaymak, a clotted cream made from slowly cooking and reducing buffalo’s milk, a process that concentrates the fat and produces a thick, butterlike substance that is served with candied fruits like kabak tatlısı and other candied fruits. During my month in Istanbul, I was no stranger to kaymak, sometimes indulging in it twice a day with my already rich desserts. My only regret is that I never did realize my dream of visiting the old school kaymakci (kaymak maker) Pando at his shop in Beşiktaş. I suspect that achieving my kaymak related goals will be the driving force behind my next trip to Istanbul.
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Categories: Istanbul, Turkish Cuisine
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Pingback from Three Days in Istanbul; Where Should I Eat?
April 8th, 2009 at 1:41 am[...] forgo the künefe, shredded pastry filled with cheese, cooked in butter, and served with syrup and kaymak (clotted cream), so get it even though you won’t have room for dessert. To get there by [...]
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Pingback from Çiya’s Desserts - Çiya’da tatlılar
April 11th, 2009 at 5:48 pm[...] mention our spectacular dessert of candied olives, green walnuts and mini eggplants served with kaymak, a sort of clotted cream. I had heard about the mini eggplants before and even ate one at Antiochia [...]
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Pingback from Turkish Breakfast - Kahvaltı
September 15th, 2009 at 1:01 am[...] staple, as are olives and cheeses. So far so good, right? Well, instead of butter and jam, there is kaymak and honey. And let’s not mention that I eat all the kaymak until it is gone (read: I eat an [...]
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Pingback from Daily Food Photo: Apricots With Kaymak
June 18th, 2010 at 8:32 pm[...] After being stuck in Istanbul’s interminable Saturday night traffic for more than two hours, I finally made it to Selin‘s house in Nişantaşı. A feast of typical Turkish dishes awaited, and at the end came a Selin original: marinated apricots filled with kaymak. [...]
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Pingback from Istanbul Wrap Up 2010
June 18th, 2010 at 8:36 pm[...] Köftecisi: Grilled köfte, white bean salad, and ekmek kadayif (syrup soaked semolina with kaymak), perfect [...]
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where did you have this dish in ist? i had it at a place called ciya sofrasi, and it was really what it is supposed to be-creamy, thick and luscious. hope you make it back to besiktas one day.
April 28th, 2009 at 9:17 pmThe question is where DIDNT I have kaymak. I ate it with candied eggplant, olives and walnuts at ciya sofrasi… çok güzel…with bread and honey at breakfast at Sütiş on Istiklal, with künefe at Köşebaşı in Levent, with ekmek kadayıfı at with kabak tatlısı everywhere, the list goes on and on…ill be back in besiktas soon enough. Im headed to ist for a few days in August.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:13 pm