Two Times Tart - A Trans-Cultural Culinary Exploration
Last month I received an email from Julie Upmeyer in Istanbul who was asking whether I would like to contribute a tart filling recipe for her project called Two Times Tart. The project was a trans-cultural culinary exploration of tastes and geographies, created from the contributions of 9 individuals from Turkey, and its eight neighboring countries -Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Syria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq and Armenia.
Julie created half-circle shells in collaboration with the local bakery in Istanbul. These shells held the 9 sweet fillings, made from recipes submitted by the participating individuals. The idea behind was that two half tarts (each 4.5 X 3 cm) were eaten simultaneously. At the tasting ceremony, the combination was chosen by the eater, who decided his/her own pair of flavors and geographies.
I was to represent Azerbaijan with my recipe. Since we do not have open tarts and therefore a filling for them, I had to come up with something of my own. I did not want to deviate much from the ingredients we use in Azerbaijan, so I used the familiar apricots and walnuts. The result? Creamy Filling with Dried Apricots and Walnuts. I encourage you to look at the recipes from other contributing countries, too.
The project and the tasting event was a huge success and was hightlighted in the press.
In English:
Todays Zaman 27/03/08
Love Difference 27/03/08
Turkish Daily News 21/03/08 - with the mention of me and my recipe
Kitchen Caravan 19/03/08
New media Fix 14/03/08
Babelmed 04/03/08
Kopiaste 19/02/08
In Turkish:
BirGun 27/03/08
The project was fun and every time Julie sent a reminder about the venue and the time of the exhibition and the tart tasting, my mouth watered and I wanted so much to be in Istanbul and taste those tiny tiny pastry shells with “multicultural” fillings that held so much more in them than just a taste!
Thank you, Julie!
And here is Julie, tasting the tarts:)
Note: All the pictures on this posting are from the project’s web site.
- Shannon: Thank you for your reply
I - FERIDE - AZCOOKBOOK: SHANNON - This is not a traditional
- Shannon: Hi, is this Azerbaijani cuisine?? I would
- Yuliya: I grew up eating these! My Grandma
22 Comments Add your own
1. Elle | April 8th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
What a wonderful idea! It sure would have been fun to be at the tasting!
2. Sid Khullar | April 8th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Lovely photographs! Wish I could take some like that. Just picked up a new camera and I can’t seem to get used to it to safe my life!
Sid
3. Pixie | April 9th, 2008 at 4:04 am
What a wonderful project! Will check out recipes now.
4. sagari | April 9th, 2008 at 6:18 am
beautiful pics
5. Jonathan | April 9th, 2008 at 6:45 am
This really shows the power of how the internet has really brought people all over the world together. Really cool post and these look delicious!
amy @ http://www.weareneverfull.com
6. familiabencomo | April 9th, 2008 at 8:54 am
How fun!!! Next time they do this let’s fly to Istanbul for the tasting. It’s interesting to think what I would use for my native Texas - definitely pecans, perhaps the filling from my granny’s pecan pie recipe.
xoxox Amy
7. sunita | April 9th, 2008 at 9:47 am
That is such a wonderful concept..glad you enjoyed taking part
8. Medena | April 9th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Just amazing! Love the idea, this should be continued throughout the world…
9. Marija | April 9th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Farida, your photos are amazing!
10. Gretchen Noelle | April 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Great ides! How wonderful that you could create and contribute to this! I am sure it was fun and delicious for those there.
11. farida | April 9th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Elle: I too, think Julie’s idea was great!
Sid: Thanks for stopping by. The pictures on this particular post are from Julie’s web site but the rest is mine. I know the frustration with cameras. I am still learning myself. Have fun with your new camera!
Pixie: Thank you!
Sagari: Pics from this post are from Julie’s website but I am taking the compliment for the rest:)
Amy: Yes, this was a great project and the idea behind is deep.
Amy from familiabencomo: Yeah, let’s fly to Istanbul:))
Sunita: Thank you!
Medena: Maybe it is the beginning of the world “two times tart movement” - who knows:) really, the idea is great.
Marija: For this posting, it is Julia who should take the compliment, but I will gladly grab it for the rest of the pics because I take them:) By the way, your pictures are gorgeous too. I love your blog!
Gretchen: It was a lot of fun! I am glad I was a part of it.
12. Rosie | April 10th, 2008 at 4:53 am
Farida, what amazing photos.
13. momatlarge | April 10th, 2008 at 8:17 am
I am learning so much from you, Farida! I looked at the recipe for the dried apricot and walnut filling and it looks so good and easy to make. I will try it out BUT after I finally make the potato pies from last week’s blog entry. I have yet to try it but am looking forward to it.
14. Patricia Scarpin | April 10th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Dear Farida, thank you for the comment you left on Allen’s blog. It means the world to me!
15. rachel | April 10th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
a very interesting concept..nice pics
16. farida | April 10th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Rosie: Thanks for visiting and for your nice words!
Barbara: Thank you for looking at my recipe. It’s nothing fancy. I just came up with within a second. Hope you like it!
Patricia: You are very welcome!
Rachel: Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again!
17. parsnipsaplenty | April 11th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
What a cool project! Glad you were part of it.
18. Emel | April 12th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Farida,
The idea of cross cultural recipe sounds very interesting, I just only can imagine how tasty the tarts filled with apricots and walnuts…..
The pictures are just outstanding, great job !
19. Cynthia | April 13th, 2008 at 9:29 am
What a fantastic project and congratulations for the the success!
20. violets | April 14th, 2008 at 11:36 am
That looks amazing, how wonderful to be involved in a project like that.
Vi xx
btw I was meaning to ask you if you wanted to join the pantry, if so I’ve left the link for you above.
21. farida | April 14th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Panrshipaplenty, Emel, Cynthia, Vi:
Thank you very much for your nice words!
Vi: I’ll check out the link. Thanx.
22. AnjalI j. | April 15th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
thats a great entry Farida.. i loved that.
Leave a Comment
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed