Any post about serious matters largely beyond my comprehension should clearly be followed by lighter fare, something within my grasp.
There have been many culinary delights in Turkey. One of the most pleasant discoveries has been acuka, a blend of red peppers, walnuts, chile powder, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, cumin and olive oil, ground into a thick paste. I could live on acuka and lavash bread indefinitely. Why not? The combination offers everything necessary for human existence. I don't think I would ever get tired of it.
Acuka is also known as cevizli biber (walnuts with peppers) muhamarra and cevizli ezme. There may be some consistent difference between these four mezzes. If there is I haven't sampled enough to discern it yet. I will do my best over the next two months.
Sadly, none of the four is as common as the basic standby, ezme salata, a simpler concoction of fresh tomatoes, peppers and spices (basically like cevizli biber, without the walnuts). Ezme salata is also delicious, but it is so light and refreshing that I can't imagine making an entire meal of it, much less subsisting on it indefinitely.
The photos are from the kebap house down the street, where they not only served us delicious kebap and mezze, but brought complimentary warm sesame halva for dessert. I remember as a child seeing halva for sale in a few New Jersey markets and wondering who could be so benighted as to think that gummy nut paste was an adequate dessert. Now I only lament my own callow youth. Warm sesame halva is so good it could almost make me give up acuka for a week.
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