At the end of Emin Senyer and his wife's visit to our trade fair stand in Istanbul, we were invited to dinner in the apartment of the well-known shadow theatre player (Karagöz and Hacivat).

Because of his excellent leather work, a grand master of the shadow theatre once gave Emin Senyer the suffix Hayâlî Saraç Emin, a great honour. Since both couples come from the Black Sea coast, there should be typical dishes from the region. One more reason to definitely follow the invitation.

The date was the last day of the trade fair, a wonderful end to the hectic days in Istanbul.

Especially the starter soup: Karalahana Çorbası

As agreed, Emin Senyer picked us up from the exhibition centre and took us to his apartment. Not an easy undertaking in Istanbul. After a short greeting, the table quickly filled with very interesting dishes and additions that we had never encountered before. Mrs. Senyer had baked wonderfully fragrant cornbread, the recipe for which we will get later.

Typical of the Black Sea coast was the main course, which would include hamsi (fried anchovies). Specially prepared beans, slightly sour and fried, also aroused our immediate interest. Especially the starter soup: Karalahana Çorbası

We are of course familiar with kale from the north of Germany. Who hasn't at least heard of the legendary kale and pee food on the coast. But as a soup. This had remained undetected by us until now. Kale soup is very popular in the Black Sea region of Türkiye. So, we waited eagerly for the first spoonful and were extremely pleasantly surprised, so impressed that we immediately asked for the recipe, which was then immediately written down and explained to us.

The main ingredients of Karalahana Çorbası are kale, beans and potatoes, so preparation should begin the day before by watering the beans. On the day of preparation, the beans are first briefly boiled, then cooked in a large pot with half of the meat stock. The size of the pot depends on the amount of kale, which is initially large.

Kale soup in preparation

The kale is freed from hard spots, the stems, and the outer leaves should also be removed. Now wash and dry thoroughly, then cut into small pieces. The finely chopped kale leaves should now be left in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes and then rinsed with cold water. After draining, the kale is added to the pot with the beans and meat broth. Now add the already peeled and diced potatoes. You can then season the whole thing to your taste with salt, pepper and paprika.

Now melt butter in a pan and then stir in the cornmeal and fry it briefly. You also add the tomato paste now. Together with the second half of the meat broth, the butter/corn mixture is now added to the large pot of the soup. Stir vigorously and continue to cook until the potatoes are almost completely cooked.

Karalahana Çorbası is served quite hot and usually with fresh cornbread. Best of all, of course, made in-house.

Ingredients (6 - 8 servings)

1 kg of kale
300g beans
3-4 medium sized potatoes
150g butter
125g corn flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2.5 l meat broth
1 tablespoon salt
pepper
paprika

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