acuka – a spicy red pepper spread |
This really pushes all my buttons. Give me this and leave me to die.
In Western Turkey it is known as acuka (pron: a-joo-ka) but the further south you go, especially to the southeast, it becomes muhammara. I love the sound of that. It originates from Aleppo in Syria.
Forget sweet jams or weetabix or cheerios for this is a typical Turkish breakfast spread that you put on bread. It is delicious beyond belief. But interestingly enough, TT doesn’t know it and today I was with my English friends all of whom have been here a long time, and they didn’t know about it either. I really can’t explain why we don’t know.
acuka: serve with bread, crackers or indeed as a dip |
I have been on the track of acuka for a few weeks now, ever since discovering a little pot of it at a local supermarket, albeit an upmarket one, Nezih Gürme Market, here in Selami Çeşme in Istanbul. It was called Ev Acukası/home acuka. I bought it unhesitatingly and it was devoured within days. It is fabulous but the thought crossed my mind that I could probably make it myself as I read what the ingredients were. So I sat down at the computer and discovered that yes, there are lots of recipes out there. I carefully deliberated, compared, and finally chose to try this one from the blog New York’s Delight as it sounded very authentic. I wasn’t disappointed. Try it and I think you will agree.
I am thrilled with the result! It is one of the best tastes that I have enjoyed for a very long time!
Ingredients
Fills 2-3 jars
½ cup pepper paste (tatlı or acı – sweet or hot)
½ cup tomato paste
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
¼ cup bread crumbs OR ¼ cup fine bulgur soaked in ¼ cup boiling water till soft
this is what we use in Turkey |
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
Juice of ½ lemon
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses /nar ekşisi
1 tsp salt
Spices as follows:
1 tsp paprika/tatlı kırmızı biber
2 tsp hot Maraş pepper/crushed red hot pepper (optional)
1 tsp oregano/kekik
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried mint/nane
½ tsp allspice/yenibahar
½ tsp cumin/kimyon
Pinch cinnamon/tarçin
Method
- · Put pepper and tomato pastes, bread crumbs or bulgur, crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt into a mixing bowl.
- · Heat frying pan and gently toast chopped walnuts for a few minutes. This releases their natural oils and gives the dish additional flavour. Add to mixture.
toasting the walnuts |
- · In the same frying pan, heat and toast the spices for a few minutes. Add to to the mixture. Mix well.
all those spices added with the bulgur |
- · If you need a little more salt, add a bit more. If you want the dish to be a bit more garlicky, add another clove of garlic. The garlic is what really adds to the taste of this dish.
- · Mix everything well together and serve either with bread as a spread or with crackers as a dip. I must say, in Turkey it would be with bread as the idea of dips is not common.
mixing it all together |
Tips
Consistency is up to you. TT and I prefer chunky but you may like it smoother. In that case, blitz those walnuts till they are finer.
1. I don’t know how easy it is to find pepper paste outside Turkey. If you can’t, I would suggest making up the amount with the very best tomato paste that you can find.
2. All the spices are also arbitrary. I made my acuka today using exactly the measurements specified above and we found the result absolutely scrumptious!
Afiyet Olsun!
I know I can't pronounce it but I would definitely like to try this yummy spread!Have a lovely evening,Claudia!
I've never heard of acuka before – we've always called it muhammara. Interesting. You can't get it at all in Fethiye. We make our own, too…but not very often. It's dangerously good, isn't it?! 🙂
Oh this is definitely one that I'm going to try!
Oh, yum! And you've saved me some researching work. My neighbor brought us a plate of something very much like this (she's from Gaziantep and a fantastic cook), served with mercimek köfte. When I tasted it, I thought, "Oh, this shouldn't be too hard to make, and yum!"
I was going to trade her my chocolate chip cookie recipe (which I made in return for the köfte), but I was daunted not just by translating the language, but converting the measurements… So thanks!
Your recipes are so interestingly delicious to me! Always a new adventure here.. Thanks for sharing!
http://personalfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Another tempting recipe from you, at this rate I won't fit into an airline seat later in the year when we come 😉 We'd love to go to Assos, will there be time? We must start planning soon.
Hugs xx
Glad you like the sound of this! Thank you for all yr comments. After I posted this, I thought oh it may be just too spicy for general taste, too garlicky. But definitely worth trying and after all, you can make it less spicy if you want. Julia, I thought you were going to say 'it's dangerously fattening!!!
Stranger, when are we going to have that coffee? And Knitsister, let's plan!! Ayak, how're things going babywise? Lenia and Glorious: nice to hear from you both!
Claudia
That post sounds amazing. I love spicy anyway! Hope all is well with you. x
This sounds wonderful. Some of the ingredients will be hard to find here but I suspect I can find what I need on the internet. I love the color of this. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Hi Claudia! I just made this last night, and it is wonderful!! I made it with regular biber salcasi and I think next time I would definitely make it with aci salcasi since I like it extra spicy. 🙂
I have two questions for you: How long did you soak the bulgur for? I put 1/4 cup bulgur in a bowl, then poured about 1/4 boiling water over it. In about 5 minutes, the water has been completely absorbed, so I assumed it was done. However, the bulgur was not at all soft and was instead quite crunchy.
Also, do you think this can be frozen? I now have so much open pepper paste that I want to make more but I can't eat it all at once!
Hi Barbara! I am so happy to hear from you again. Also happy you liked this acuka – we have already finished that first lot and I am making more tomorrow! I too just soaked the bulgur while I was doing something else. All the water was absorbed but I tried a few grains: they were a bit crunchy but I decided that was fine – which it was. Did you use the fine grain bulgur? Hmm – freezing – can't say. I would say rather go the sterilized jar way which is what I am going to do – washing the jars in warm soapy water, and then putting in a very hot oven or boiling.
I gave some away from that first batch and they loved it too!!
And thank you, Froggie and thank you, Mary. It is so nice to get comments. I am interested: which ingredients, Mary, do you think might be difficult to find where you are?
Ah, I bet the bulgur was not fine grain….and in fact, upon checking, it's not! I will rectify that for next time for sure! It added just a bit too much crunch for my liking. As for freezing, I may just try a little bit and see how it turns out, but most likely I'll just pass along some to the neighbors! We love to exchange food!
I wondered what this was. In Antalya, one of the restaurants served it with the breads they brought out. Yum! Can't wait to try it!
Hi Claudia – Thank you much for trying out the recipe! Glad to read that you and your readers liked it! You have a great blog here! Really enjoyed reading your Turkey adventures!
Aysegul – nysdelight