Two Times Tart – A Trans-Cultural Culinary Exploration

Last month I received an email from Julie Upmeyer in Istanbul who was asking whether I would like to contribute a tart filling recipe for her project called Two Times Tart. The project was a trans-cultural culinary exploration of tastes and geographies, created from the contributions of 9 individuals from Turkey, and its eight neighboring countries -Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Syria, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Iraq and Armenia.

Julie created half-circle shells in collaboration with the local bakery in Istanbul. These shells held the 9 sweet fillings, made from recipes submitted by the participating individuals. The idea behind was that two half tarts (each 4.5 X 3 cm) were eaten simultaneously. At the tasting ceremony, the combination was chosen by the eater, who decided his/her own pair of flavors and geographies.

I was to represent Azerbaijan with my recipe. Since we do not have open tarts and therefore a filling for them, I had to come up with something of my own. I did not want to deviate much from the ingredients we use in Azerbaijan, so I used the familiar apricots and walnuts. The result? Creamy Filling with Dried Apricots and Walnuts. I encourage you to look at the recipes from other contributing countries too.

The project and the tasting event was a huge success and was hightlighted in the press.

In English:

Todays Zaman 27/03/08
Love Difference 27/03/08
Turkish Daily News 21/03/08 – with the mention of me and my recipe
Kitchen Caravan 19/03/08
New media Fix 14/03/08
Babelmed 04/03/08
Kopiaste 19/02/08

In Turkish:

BirGun 27/03/08

The project was fun and every time Julie sent a reminder about the venue and the time of the exhibition and the tart tasting, my mouth watered and I wanted so much to be in Istanbul and taste those tiny tiny pastry shells with “multicultural” fillings that held so much more in them than just a taste!

Thank you, Julie!

And here is Julie, tasting the tarts:)

Note: All the pictures on this posting are from the project’s web site.

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22 Comments

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  1. What a wonderful idea! It sure would have been fun to be at the tasting!

  2. Lovely photographs! Wish I could take some like that. Just picked up a new camera and I can’t seem to get used to it to safe my life!

    Sid

  3. What a wonderful project! Will check out recipes now.

  4. beautiful pics

  5. This really shows the power of how the internet has really brought people all over the world together. Really cool post and these look delicious!

    amy @ http://www.weareneverfull.com

  6. How fun!!! Next time they do this let’s fly to Istanbul for the tasting. It’s interesting to think what I would use for my native Texas – definitely pecans, perhaps the filling from my granny’s pecan pie recipe.

    xoxox Amy

  7. That is such a wonderful concept..glad you enjoyed taking part 🙂

  8. Just amazing! Love the idea, this should be continued throughout the world…

  9. Farida, your photos are amazing!

  10. Great ides! How wonderful that you could create and contribute to this! I am sure it was fun and delicious for those there.

  11. Elle: I too, think Julie’s idea was great!

    Sid: Thanks for stopping by. The pictures on this particular post are from Julie’s web site but the rest is mine. I know the frustration with cameras. I am still learning myself. Have fun with your new camera!

    Pixie: Thank you!

    Sagari: Pics from this post are from Julie’s website but I am taking the compliment for the rest:)

    Amy: Yes, this was a great project and the idea behind is deep.

    Amy from familiabencomo: Yeah, let’s fly to Istanbul:))

    Sunita: Thank you!

    Medena: Maybe it is the beginning of the world “two times tart movement” – who knows:) really, the idea is great.

    Marija: For this posting, it is Julia who should take the compliment, but I will gladly grab it for the rest of the pics because I take them:) By the way, your pictures are gorgeous too. I love your blog!

    Gretchen: It was a lot of fun! I am glad I was a part of it.

  12. Farida, what amazing photos.

  13. I am learning so much from you, Farida! I looked at the recipe for the dried apricot and walnut filling and it looks so good and easy to make. I will try it out BUT after I finally make the potato pies from last week’s blog entry. I have yet to try it but am looking forward to it.

  14. Dear Farida, thank you for the comment you left on Allen’s blog. It means the world to me!

  15. a very interesting concept..nice pics

  16. Rosie: Thanks for visiting and for your nice words!

    Barbara: Thank you for looking at my recipe. It’s nothing fancy. I just came up with within a second. Hope you like it!

    Patricia: You are very welcome!

    Rachel: Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again!

  17. What a cool project! Glad you were part of it.

  18. Farida,
    The idea of cross cultural recipe sounds very interesting, I just only can imagine how tasty the tarts filled with apricots and walnuts…..
    The pictures are just outstanding, great job !

  19. What a fantastic project and congratulations for the the success!

  20. That looks amazing, how wonderful to be involved in a project like that.

    Vi xx

    btw I was meaning to ask you if you wanted to join the pantry, if so I’ve left the link for you above.

  21. Panrshipaplenty, Emel, Cynthia, Vi:

    Thank you very much for your nice words!

    Vi: I’ll check out the link. Thanx.

  22. thats a great entry Farida.. i loved that.

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