Turkish Potato Salad

This is one of those dishes I make and every time after eating it I wonder why I dont make it more often. Its filling,light and can be a main event by itself or   put on the side. This is also often served at the womens high teas along with cakes and pastries.


I love potato salad.  Either dripping with mayonaise or lightly tossed in olive oil, with or without egg and onion it dosnt matter I love it! I first had this in Istanbul at my neighbours home on one of her ladies days. I hadnt seen anything like it before and after the first bite was taken.

6 large potatoes
1 to 2 cups finely chopped lettuce
3 carrots, grated
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 grated onion - you can omit
1/4 cup pickled cucumbers, diced
oil
salt
sumac,lemon juice or pomegrante syrup


Boil the potatoes until cooked but still firm.  You dont want these overcooked. Let them cool and peel the skins off. Grate potatoes and place into a large bowl. Add salt to taste and oil(about 3 tablespoons). Stir carefully as you dont want the potato to clump.  Add in all the chopped veggies and I usually add in sumac but you could use lemon juice or pomegrante syrup instead.  Stir through carefully.  Serve.


This looks really nice served in little unmoulded piles on a plate with chillies, radish wedges and boiled egg slices around it.


This is lovely with olive oil or a mixture of oil and mayonaise or oil and a couple tbsp yogurt.  I prefer plain olive oil.  


Turkish potato salad can also been seen as part of the meze dishes.

Meze

Meze is probably my favorite way to eat.  Little plates of everything. During summer is the time when we mainly eat like this.  I like to have a few containers in my fridge will all these delicacies ready for an easy meal. Meze can be really anything that is in season and served cold, I have not yet seen a hot meze here in Turkey.  They can range from salads to any veggie put into garlic yogurt to a plate of watermelon.

What can you find on a Meze tray if you come to Turkey? 

Slices of Turkish style fetta cheese drizzled with olive oil and served with olives.
Stuffed vine leaves, usually just with rice
Any of the olive oil dishes
Green salads
Coban salad-tomato and cucumber based salad
Potato salad
Tomato Ezme - like a hot tomato salsa
Slices of Pastirma - turkish style salami
Various pickles
Mucver - zuchinni puffs
Fruits in season
Fried vegetables with garlic yogurt
Fried or pickled fish
Cigara Borek - filo pastries filled with a cheese similar to the continental cottage cheese
Cold bean dishes
Carrot salad
Eggplant salad
Beetroot salad
Hummus
Cacik - cucumber salad
Fried liver
Kısır - tabouleah type salad
Bowl of plain yogurt
ETC....

All of this is usually washed down with alcohol if eaten at a restaraunt.  What are your favorite Meze dishes?  Want the recipe? Let me know and you can be making wonderful Meze tables at home.