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Tarana Soup

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Tarana Soup

by La Isla
from London (Turkish Cypriot Father

Recipe Story

As my Father is Turkish Cypriot, I grew up eating all the traditional Cypriot dishes, and my Grandmother is a typical Turkish Cypriot granny - every visit would be accompanied by a vast array of food.
At least once a week, she would prepare this soup, as it was one of my Dad's favourites, and is a true Cypriot recipe. The basic soup itself is very simple and only requires a few ingredients, which can then be adjusted to suit your own tastes. My Grandmother would put chicken, lamb(including the offally bits that as kids my sister and I thought were vile)and toungue. She would pick out the bits she knew we wouldn't eat and serve us the soup plain.
Traditionally in Cyprus, this soup is made of a sheet of Bulgar wheat that is mixed with soured yoghurt, lemon and then dried. It then lasts all year round and can be added to boiling water or stock. However, outside of Cyprus, it's quite hard to get unless you make your own ( and let's face it, whose got the time?!), so it can be made in this way and taste just as good.
It may sound a little strange, but it really is delicious - just the smell brings back wonderful memories and makes me think if my Dad.

Servings:

Serves 4

Level of difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

500G of Bulgar wheat
3 times the volume of Stock the wheat.
1 block of Hellim Cheese/Haloumi
1-2 Lemons Juiced
1 tbs of Dried Mint
3-4 tbs of turkish set yoghurt
Chopped Chicken, Lamb, Tongue etc(optional)

Method

1. In cold water(enough to cover), soak the bulgar wheat for about 30 mins. Drain the water.
2. Bring the stock to the boil and add the Bulgur wheat. Leave the bulgur wheat to simmer for about 1 hr, stirring regularly and adding more stock or water as it begins to evaporate and the soup thickens.
3. When the soup is thick, creamy and the bulgar wheat has been broken down and begun to mash up, add the lemon juice to taste.*
* The soup should be quite lemony, but how lemony is totally according to taste.
4. Add the Hellim Cheese which should have been chopped up in the 1/2 cm cubes.
5. If you have chosen to add meat, add it now and put in the dried mint.
6. Leave for 5 mins on a moderate heat to soften the cheese (and warm up the meat if used). At this point, if the soup appears too thick add water or stock as required.
7. Add the yoghurt and whisk through to break it up and disperse it evenly.
8. Season at this point(and not before because the cheese is salty and varies in saltiness depending on the brand etc.)
9. Adjust the taste to your own ie. more lemon, salt and pepper, more water, more mint and serve piping hot with some nice warm turkish bread.

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