Vacation! So I was on vacation in May. And although small fine friends. We went to Istanbul/ Turkey, because crazy enough besides all the travels I have never been there.
The Mediterranean comes very close to me from a purely culinary point of view. Give me some fine bread (these sesame rings, for example), olive oil, vegetables with a view of the sea and I’m happy, Plus feta, olives, lemon, tzatziki, grilled fish.
Local food still tastes best on holiday. And yes, I pretty much subsisted on Greek salad in Istanbul. When you’re there. But other Greek delicacies such as rice stuffed with vine leaves, okra and moussaka at a blood-red sunset made the trip a delicious tour of discovery.
About Greek Koulouria and Turkish Simit
These Greek koulouria – meaning sesame rings that look a bit like bagels, but unlike they are not soaked in hot water before baking – beckoned to us at the breakfast buffet in the morning.
Incidentally, in Turkey, this type of bread is known as simit and whatever you call it: it is absolutely easy to prepare: flour, yeast, water, salt, sugar and sesame. Zack.
You can find the particles in Greece on markets and stalls in the city about as often as you can find pretzels here, at least that was my first impression as a Greece newcomer.
Sometimes I saw thinner sesame rings, sometimes bagel-shaped. I like the latter very much because you have a softer core, while the thinner rings are crunchier.
From now on, I like the Greek sesame rings for dinner, sometimes with other snaps like antipasti on the terrace. Or pickled feta, baked feta, cucumber salad or dip them in hummus and of course: tzatziki.
In addition to the sesame rings, I have also included my tzatziki recipe. It is important here to squeeze out the grated cucumbers well so that the dip does not become too watery and to taste everything well. My family isn’t that fond of garlic, so I only use one clove at most, but everyone can decide for themselves. By the way, she also likes the tzatziki with baked potatoes or rosemary potatoes from the oven. It’s rumoured that I was even seen spooning out the bowl one evening, but that may be a rumour.
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE SIMIT
500 g strong flour type 55
2 packets of dry yeast
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 tsp salt
4 tbsp molasses syrup, alternatively water or egg white
approx. 100 g sesame
FOR THE TZATZIKI
500g Greek yoghurt
1 cucumber
1/2 tsp salt
1 (or more) garlic clove(s), crushed or finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
chopped herbs to taste (I like flat-leaf parsley)
PREPARATION:
Mix flour, dry yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add salt. Pour in 350ml warm (not hot!) water and knead with the dough hook of your food processor or with your hands for 7-10 minutes to form a smooth, elastic dough. It should come off the edge well.
Then place the dough in a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover well and leave to rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 to 1.5 hours, until visibly enlarged.
In a small bowl, combine pomegranate syrup with three tablespoons of water. Put the sesame seeds on a plate.
Box the dough, take it out of the bowl and divide it into 10 pieces of the same size. Then roll each of the pieces of dough into an approx. 40cm long roll (preferably on a clean surface without flour, I like to use a silicone baking mat, the dough glides super over it), then fold it in half (it makes a U-shape). strand) and twist the two strands together, form into a ring and pinch the ends together.
You can also simply form a 20cm long roll and form it into a thinner ring without twisting. Make sure that the strand of dough is long enough and that the ring has a larger hole in the middle, because the dough will still rise.
Then dip one side of this ring in the syrup mixture and place immediately in the sesame seeds. If you can’t find this syrup, you can brush the rings with lightly whisked egg white or a little water and then dip them into the sesame seeds. Place all the rings on two baking sheets covered with baking paper, preferably with a little distance between them.
Cover the rings again with a tea towel and let them rise for about 45-60 minutes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 200°C top and bottom heat.
Bake both trays one after the other for approx. 18-20 minutes on the middle shelf. The doughnuts should be golden brown.
For the tzatziki, grate the cucumber on a coarse grater. You can peel them first if you want. Put the cucumber pieces in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Wait about 15 minutes, the salt will draw water out of the cucumbers and prevent the tzatziki from becoming watery. Squeeze the cucumbers very well and add to the yoghurt.
Also, add crushed garlic and lemon juice along with herbs. Season to taste and serve with the sesame rings. Olives, pickled feta, tomatoes and whatever your heart desires go well with this.