I have often eaten haydari, a turkish fetadip, when we have meze, while we’re in Turkey. It’s a classic dish, that just belongs along with all the other many small dishes, you get as starters. And I’ve always loved it – my husband and children do too. It is always one of the dishes we choose, when we go out and eat at a restaurant and they come with the large table or tray, where one can – quite impossible – choose some dishes among maybe 30 different kinds. That’s not an easy task, but there is always some “safe” dishes and Haydari is definitely one of them.
So it’s really completely silly, that I haven’t tried to make it before. It only requires few ingredients like feta cheese, red snack peppers, parsley and garlic. And then a mini chopper. It’s actually quite important here, though you can of course also make the dip without a mini chopper og blender. It only takes approx. 30 seconds with a mini-chopper and a bit longer, if you have to cut and chop it by your hand.
Haydari is often something we have bought in the deli in Migros, when we were are going for a trip or picnic on the beach. It is quite good. But it’s a bit like when you’re making hummus (which you can even get the recipe for here). It may be ok to buy it, but once you’ve made it yourself, you do not want to buy it again. Because it simply does not taste the same. There is always a lack of taste and freshness (it almost says itself).
The fetadip can actually be used together with almost everything. It reminds a lot about fresh cheese in the texture, and we often use it like butter on the bread. It is especially good on some good bread together with example a soup or just as dip for vegetables etc, etc. It is also really good as dip for chips 😉
It may not be so healthy with all the cheese – because you will always eat a little more than goo is with this Haydari. But there are also vegetables as red pepper and parsley added. Does that count?
Some recipes recommend that you use a few spoons of Ajvar (another type of dip or cream, that you can buy on glass. It is primarily made of eggplant, red peppers and onions). And yes, you can do that too. but frankly. It’s a bit like cheating and doesn’t taste like you’ve just grilled, skinned and chopped the fresh snack peppers. That’s probably the most time consuming part of the process – to grill the peppers until the skin bubbles, and then peel the skin offm and chop them nicely, so they are ready to get in the mixed feta cheese. If the skin doesn’t come off easily, then it’s a good help to put them in a small plasticbag, while they are hot, and then close until the skin gets softer and easier to peel off.
So just get started – you will return to this recipe time after time (or your family and friends will require you to do so) …
Haydari - turkish feta dip
Ingredienser
- 400 gram real feta cheese, or two blocks if you're using the ones from the tin can
- 3 red snack peppers, skin peeled off
- 1 handful italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1 small garlic clove, or maybe only ½
- 2 tbsp water
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- freshly grounded black pepper
Sådan gør du
- 1: Grill the peppers until the skin bubbles, put them in a plastic bag, so the skin is easier to peel off. All the skins must be peeled so that they do not get a weird consistency in the dip2: Put garlic, peppers and parsley into a mini blender. Blend until it all has the same nice texture3: Bring the feta blocks into the chopper and blend them together with the parsley / garlic mixture and until they have a nice equal consistency4: Add water and oil and stir around.5: Decorate with a little chopped parsley and serve or put in the fridge until ready.
Noter
