Istanbul is undoubtedly a destination for foodies, where tasting your way around the city is a pleasure. From street food to grilled fish and meat, the city has a multi-faceted cuisine culture. Food connoisseurs, however, are not satisfied enough simply by experiencing Turkish culinary at restaurants or take-away buffets. Luckily, there are now a number of cooking workshops that are popular with tourists, expats and locals alike where skilled chefs showcase Turkish recipes as well as international tastes. Here are the best picks of this month.
Traditional Mardin cuisine
Reflecting the lifestyle and climate of Turkey's southeastern region, Mardin has made a name for itself with its delicacies that make ample use of local ingredients. Although mostly meat-based, Mardin cuisine has come to Istanbulites at "Eately," located in Zorlu Center, where patrons can both learn about as well as sample the city's local culinary tastes from stuffed ribs to vegetable dishes with exquisite flavor. Additionally, the social responsibility project Hayatım Yenibahar will run at "Eately" until March 20. The project incorporates culinary workshops and accessory-design showcase inspired by Mardin. Executive chef Claudio Chinali teams up with Ebru Baybara Demir, the mastermind behind the project helping students, notably girls, to create local tastes and organize workshops. The project workshop had only five female members at first, but the team has doubled in the meantime and 11 active members cook to help disadvantaged girls. On March 17, Eately Culinary Workshop will be devoted to teaching Mardin dishes like içli köfte (stuffed meatballs), bulgur pilaf with vermicelli and pilaf with eggplant and mahalep. The workshop will take place from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Bake fresh loaves of bread
To master the art of baking sourdough and other kinds of breads, bread making courses will be offered at the Istanbul's Chefs' Table Culinary Academy and is among the top recommended choices. Led by Istanbul's Chefs' Table Culinary Academy team, the four-day bread making class focuses on the essentials of sourdough bread baking, and trainees will prepare very different kinds of breads by applying a variety of techniques. The course program will teach you how to make bread with milk, Italy's famous Focaccia – flat, oven-baked bread similar to pizza dough and seasoned with herbs and olive oil – cornbread, olive-filled bread rolls and even Ramadan pita, traditional soft leavened Turkish bread that is usually consumed during the holy month of Ramadan. First established as a training workshop by Serkan Bozkurt and then moved to a larger space in the busy neighborhood of Maslak, the academy offers training in professional cooking, pastry making, baking and catering management. The bread making course will begin on March 28.
The art of pastry
Starting from this Friday, an eight-week-long pastry training program at the Culinary Arts Academy in Istanbul will refresh your knowledge while adding new recipes to your catalogue by professional chefs. Each week, you are required to attend one course, teaching you to learn how to make cupcakes, a la carte desserts, salty cookies and other sweets. The schedule for March 18 includes recipes for tasty cherry-filled cookies, Oreo cookies and salty cookies with eggplant, while March 25 will be the day of cakes as trainees will learn how to make checkerboard, creamy cake with fruit filling and salty cake with dehydrated tomato and tulum cheese.
Armenian gourmet recipes
You will learn how to make forgotten Armenian mezes like stuffed mussels with herbs, stuffed cabbage leaves and topic – a popular Armenian meze made from caramelized onions, currants and spices wrapped inside chickpeas – at the SOFFA WOW Istanbul Culinary Workshop on March 31 with Chef Haldun Türel. Armenian cuisine was greatly influenced by the cuisines of neighboring communities, and was also shaped by common ingredients available in the Anatolian region. During this one-day course, you will learn how if there is anything Armenians love to stuff more than their tummies it is vegetables, so get ready to learn how to stuff cabbage leaves, mussels and grape leaves at the course. The SOFFA WOW Istanbul Culinary Workshop is located in Yeşilköy.