A. Güngörmüs: Ali’s kitchen call
Why I love to eat this slow soup for breakfast
Lentil soup is almost a national dish in Turkey. It is eaten at any time of the day and also offered in special supper kitchens. star chef Ali Gungörmüs enjoy it best in the morning.
It’s my favorite soup – the slow soup. Like onion soup in France, lentil soup is a traditional dish in Turkey. The best part is that you can eat them anytime of the day. Some like them for breakfast, others like them for lunch. It is also a popular midnight snack. I also like to eat them after going out – especially when I’m in Istanbul. There are places that specialize in slow soup and serve it until the early hours.
If I feel something hot in the morning, I prepare lentil soup. It’s hearty and filling, and the ingredients cost almost nothing. My favorite way to eat the soup is with a generous squeeze of lemon, fresh mint and parsley, and some seasoned butter on top. I eat flatbread with it. There is hardly a better dish.
Ali’s Turkish cuisine
The recipe is from my new cookbook “My Turkish Cuisine”. Turkish cuisine in this country is usually reduced to doner kebabs and kebabs. Too bad. Because it’s as diverse as German cuisine, for example. Most Europeans simply do not know Turkish cuisine unless they have been in Turkey – and not in the resorts, but in authentic restaurants such as in Istanbul. With my book I want to show people that there are simply more than just kebabs: delicious vegetarian dishes, roasted dishes, my favorite dishes. The book also gives a very personal understanding of my culture and my origins: My mother, my family and the house where I was born appear in it. Some of the herbs and products I use for the recipes come from our own garden. All of the recipes are my favorite dishes, which are often cooked by my mother in particular.
Recipe for my slow soup
20 minutes + 20 minutes cooking, 4 people
Ingredients:
- 2 carrots
- 4-5 ripe tomatoes
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves garlic
- 70 grams of butter
- 400 g red lentils
- ½ tablespoon of tomato paste
- ground cumin
- 50 ml Noilly Prat (frank.
- vermouth)
- 1 l chicken or
- beef
- 2 tablespoons dried mint
- Salt pepper
- capsicums
- 1 lemon
Preparation:
Peel and finely chop the carrots. Wash and quarter the tomatoes, removing the stems. Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic.
Melt 50 g of butter in a large saucepan (keep the remaining butter cold) and sauté the onions with the garlic until translucent. Add the lentils and roast for 1 minute, stirring. Add the sliced carrots, tomato quarters, tomato paste and a pinch of cumin and roast briefly. Deglaze with Noilly Prat and stock and cook. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Strain the soup through a fine sieve into another pot and boil again. Add the dried menthol. Add the remaining chilled butter (20 g) into flakes and work with the hand mixer. Season the lentil soup with salt, pepper and chili flakes and pour into soups or cups. Cut the lemon into wedges and serve with the drizzle.