“What is the most successful cookbook you have kept with you in the kitchen lately?” you ask, my answer would undoubtedly be "Contents". You ask why? Because the principles of cooking and ingredients are perfect for those looking for sustainable and real food. It reminds us of the forgotten tastes. There is no surprise when you follow the recipes in the book, you can cook as well as Begüm Atakan and Cemre Narin, the two wonderful women behind the book. And best of all, every dish has a story. Let Cemre and Begüm tell us the "Contents".
“Ingredients” is among the most beautiful cookbooks published in our country in recent years, both with its recipes and its visuals. In addition, it is not only a cookbook, but also has very important tips on sustainable nutrition. How did you get on this road?
We're both in the food business in different ways. We wanted to prepare a cookbook that is both inspiring and material-oriented. In fact, we've known each other for years and since we both live in Nişantaşı, we would meet occasionally. Our paths crossed again during an interview about pickles for Vogue Turkey magazine. We realized that we speak the same language when it comes to food. As the character and energy took hold, we soon started editing “Contents”.
Why is it called "Contents"?
We set out to create a cookbook that draws attention to the ingredients, because when cooking, the most important thing is the ingredients. If you want to be the best chef in the world, if your ingredients are not good, good food will not come out. Our motto is “To make good food, it is necessary to know, smell and try the ingredients.” For this reason, the material is at the forefront of the book. Today, unfortunately, many foods are consumed that we do not know what is in them. “Contents” seemed like the right name to us, both in terms of content and list of materials.
One of the features that distinguishes this book from others is the arrangement of the pages to be used according to the materials. Why did you choose such a method?
We often get questions from our friends or shoppers at the market or in the grocery store: “I love celery, what can I do differently?” Or, “How should I cook fennel?” We actually used hundreds of ingredients, from chickpeas to apricots, from anchovies to coriander. Vegetables, herbs, grains, meat, fish, it's all there. But there are 34 main ingredients, these are the main ingredients, the recipes are around them. Among them, there is semolina, which we always keep at hand and overlook, and eggs, one of the fixtures of the kitchen. Peach, mulberry, fig are some of the fruits… Veal, lamb, offal are the leading meats. Fish are in two separate groups, big fish and small fish. The extremely seasonal asparagus, the lemon we use both summer and winter, especially the watercress we want to advertise, the more we come across lately but still little known.mung beans , quinoa , kohlrabi ; All of them took their places in the poll. In general, books are divided into soups, main courses, desserts. We brought this distinction to the index, but kept the book on the basis of material.
Begüm, your pickles are actually very famous. There is also a very good pickle recipe in the book. You have different approaches to the classic pickles we know, and you make very interesting pickles. Where does this interest come from?
I can say that pickles are my favorite food in life, there is no day that I don't eat them. Based on my love of pickles, I specialized in time by reading, researching and trial and error. With lactofermentation, which is a type of pickling technique , you produce a living food that contains living organisms. This is an extremely fascinating process. Finally, a healthy lifestyle is an important part of my life, and I believe in consuming probiotic foods produced by fermentation .
Cemre, we first got to know you from the food pages of Vogue Turkey. You explore many cuisines of the world. We know that it is important to you that food is clean, fair and sustainable. Where and from whom do you get inspiration/information about this issue the most?
When it comes to food today, it is not possible to think only of the flavor dimension of the event. I follow chefs, restaurants, conferences and publications that work on the sustainability of food. There are many names, but the first thing that comes to my mind is the MAD Symposium , which takes place every year in Copenhagen and which I haven't missed since its first year .
Slow Food is of course very important. I do not miss the events organized by Intellectual Palates in Istanbul and do my best to support them. Other than that, there are projects of Yale Sustainable Food Project , Rome Sustainable Food Project , Nordic Food Lab , Gastronomika among the ones I follow constantly. What Australian designer/entrepreneur Joost Bakker has done is incredibly interesting. As for books, books by Michael Pollan and Marion Nestle, “The Carnivore's Manifesto”, “Food for the City” are at the top of my library. And of course, I follow the books published by Sinek Eight.
Can you easily find the quality products you are looking for, what are your shopping preferences?
We can usually find the product of the quality we want, provided that we pursue it. Our preference in shopping is the tradesmen we have been in contact with for years; eg greengrocer, butcher, fisherman, offal. We regularly go to local and organic markets and shops selling local products. But the best material is in the one that produces it. That's why we also like to shop directly from the producers and farms that we have learned from the internet, from acquaintances or by researching.
What's next now?
In the first place, we publish the English version of the book. Apart from that, we have different projects. It can be a venue, in "Contents 2". We already have ingredients and recipes that we took notes while writing this book and saved for the second book.
