ON THE STOVE
When it comes to cooking and cutting, the Turks have quite a few creative terms.
Kokusu çıkana kadar: This phrase can be used in almost anything that is sauteed and literally means “until the smell comes out.” For example, if you want to make the dessert “helva,” you need to cook the flour until it browns a bit and gives off that distinct smell. But if you are frying garlic, you will only have to cook it for a bit until it is aromatic and the smell is all over the kitchen – you will not want to burn it!
Pembeleşinceye kadar: This phrase literally means “until it turns pink” and is used mostly when describing sauteeing onions or barley noodles. This doesn’t mean that you should expect to see pink hues in your cooked onions, so do not worry. This simply means that they should start to turn a slightly different color (translucent in this case) and soften.
Suyunu çekene kadar: This means in a literal sense “until the water/fluid has been absorbed” but refers to the fluids released by meat or vegetables while cooking on a stove. What is really meant is to continue cooking until the liquid, either from the ingredient itself or added in later, has either vaporized or soaked in. Sometimes this is used for rice and bulgur dishes as well.
Göz göz olmak: Speaking of liquids, this literally means “until you can see ‘eyes’ form.” When you don’t know what is meant, this can sound quite morbid but it is definitely not. Depending on the recipe you are working on, this usually means bringing it to a boil and let it cook until bubbles (the eyes) form, as is the case with fried eggs. But it can refer to things getting porous as well, depending on the recipe.
Terbiye yapmak: Terbiye alone means “manners” in Turkish but here it is a specific type of dressing used in soups and some stew-like vegetable dishes. The Thracian wedding staple “ekşili köfte” soup (sour meatball soup) or a sour celery stew will call for you to make a “terbiye,” which is made with an egg yolk and a tablespoon of flour and yogurt. You will want to add a bit of the hot water from your dish into this mixture before adding the whole thing otherwise you will have lumps and chunks of cooked yogurt, not a smooth consistency.
Bir taşım kaynatmak: You are likely to come across this while making soups, stews or puddings and means to get it to a boil for a short moment. Usually wanted after the soup has been dressed, the recipe will ask you to get the whole soup to a boil and turn the heat off and wait before serving.
Öldürmek: Kill, kill, kill! That’s what it literally means but despite the murderous flair it gives to cooking, it only means to sautee something on high heat and make it softer. For example, when you have onions, the Turkish recipe may want you to “kill” it, which can go two ways: it will either call for you to rub fresh onions with salt and then wash under cold water to get rid of the bitterness if to be consumed raw or to be sauteed enough that it softens and loses a bit of its volume.
Börttürmek: This is the lighter version of “öldürmek.” Basically, it means to cook in water slightly or sautee very lightly, depending on the ingredient used.