Turkish Cypriot is ‘utterly proud’ of new cookbook
UK-BASED Turkish Cypriot Meliz Berg has written a new cookbook, which is due to be released on June 30 this year.
The book, which will be for sale at various book shops including well-known British chain Waterstones, is titled Meliz’s kitchen: Simple Turkish-Cypriot Comfort Food and Fresh Family Feasts and has 288 pages.
According to a social media post made by Mrs Berg, the book “will showcase over 100 of my recipes, arranged by purpose and cooking method, some classics, most of them new”.
The book is divided into nine chapters: “Kahvaltı (breakfast), Meze & Salata (dishes and salads to share), Ocak & Kızartma (traditional stove-top dishes), Fırın (hearty dishes from the oven), Yahni (easy one-pots and slow-cooking), Kebap & Köfte (barbecue dishes and accompaniments), Ekmek & Hamur İşi (breads, doughs, and pastries), and Kek ve Tatlılar (crowd-pleasing sweets).”
Mrs Berg said that she is “so utterly proud of this book, and so grateful to have been given the opportunity to write it”.
She continued: “Every word and recipe means so much to me and my family’s food memories, which I’m sure many others will also be able to relate to, and the book represents me and my food in exactly the way you already know me and my food to be.
“These are recipes from my kitchen, coming straight into yours, food and flavours that have been influenced by the beautiful melting-pot of an island my family comes from, our colourful cuisine, recipes I have been holding close to me until this moment; and now I am totally ready to share them with you all!”
The book synopsis reads that “with easy-to-follow steps and no special equipment needed, this book will bring sunshine to your every day”.
A back-cover blurb adds that Meliz Berg “shares her best and most popular recipes for hearty comfort food, easy one-pots and syrup-drizzled pastries that celebrate her Turkish-Cypriot heritage”.
It will be published by Ebury Publishing, and will be available to buy as a hardback for £25.
Pre-orders can be made via smarturl.it/MelizsKitchen.
In November 2019 former secondary school teacher Mrs Berg, who has over 100,000 followers on Instagram and cites Delia Smith as her inspiration, gave an exclusive interview to Cyprus Today, during which she spoke about her plans to write a cookbook.
“Writing a cookbook and sharing ideas with even more people would be absolutely wonderful,” she said at the time. “I have very romantic visions about the type of cookbook I would love to write.”
Meliz was featured in the November 23, 2019 issue of Cyprus Today