Day 4 is here in the Count Down! Turkish World Festival August 15-16th Chicago

We are so busy preparing I will post on my four favorite foods tonight, that will be at the festival. See you later Banu
Well all the ladies at TASC, or Turkish American Society of Chicago have been so, so busy preparing the delicious foods for the festival. There will also be local Turkish restaurants that will be showing off their specialties too.
So, today I walked in on the ladies Makbule, and Sania abla and Emine hoca and Nedime, and Semanur abla, tirelessly working at rolling mixing and shaping Gozleme. TASC just ordered a new electric griddle so Meral and Ayse were over preparing and testing how it works and going over some final details.
Gozleme is just a plain dough that is rolled thin, and fried in an oil less griddle. it is filled with various sides, such as meat and potato, cheese, and mushrooms. Off the griddle it comes and is buttered up. This dish doesn't appear to be so special but it takes some incredible skill to open the dough paper thin. Flour is flying everywhere, hands are cracked from it also. Last year I cannot even recall how many hundreds or maybe even thousands of Gozleme made, all with love and a feeling of joy to share some tradition with the fine people that showed up.

The next back breaking dish that was made was su boregi or boiled pastry sheets. This is made into a deliciously most butter pastry that is so time intense but so worth the wait.
Another dish that I know you will enjoy is Manti, it also is made from flour. Once the dough is rolled out it is then cut in small one in squares and stuffed with the smallest bite of fresh ground meat and onions. Each small purse is dropped in rolling hot water and then removed and plated. Garlic yogurt is spooned on the top, and then drizzled with warm butter, seasoned with mint and red pepper. It is a favorite with most people.

And the last of the four great delicacies is traditional Turkish coffee, brewed fresh in front of you. A very thin layer of froth will be placed on the top and 2 sugar cubes on the side. It is very rich and velvety. One note though, do not drink to the bottom of the cup. Although it will not hurt you, and is good for the digestive system, the finely powdery grinds will leave a somewhat unpleasant taste in your mouth.
My mouth is watering already. How many days do we have to go? Oh my just 3! See you there!