Ekmek Kadayıfı (Ottoman Fried Bread in Syrup)

La storia di questo piatto

Ekmek kadayıfı is the quiet gold of the Turkish sweet table, a bread dessert from the Ottoman confectionery tradition, where humble dried bread is lifted into something almost royal. Here, syrup scented with cinnamon and clove meets golden bread, crowned with a drift of kaymak and a scatter of green pistachio.

Ingredienti

• 400 g Dried Turkish kadayıf bread (kadayıf ekmeği) or, alternatively, stale white bread in thick slices left to dry for 12 hours
• 250 g Sugar
• 400 ml Water
• 2 tablespoons (about 30 ml) Fresh lemon juice
• 1 piece Cinnamon stick
• 3 pieces Cloves
• 80 ml Clarified butter
• 200 g Kaymak (Turkish clotted cream)
• 50 g Chopped pistachios

Preparazione

1. Place the water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and cloves in a small saucepan, bring to a boil over medium heat, and simmer for 10 minutes until the syrup becomes slightly thicker and fragrant with spices. Strain to remove the solid aromatics and keep it warm over very low heat: it should be served hot to soften the bread.
2. If using dried kadayıf bread, go directly to the next step. If using stale white bread, cut it into slices about two fingers thick, remove any overly hard crusts, divide each slice into two rectangles and leave them to dry in the air for 12 hours (or in the oven at 100 °C for about 40 minutes, until dry and biscuit-like): well-dried bread absorbs the syrup without falling apart.
3. Arrange the bread slices in a shallow baking dish and pour the hot syrup over them little by little. Let them rest for 10–15 minutes, turning the slices halfway through, until they are completely soft and have absorbed almost all the liquid while holding their shape. Gently drain off any excess syrup.
4. Heat the clarified butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Lay the soaked slices in the pan and warm them for 2 minutes per side, until the surface lightly caramelizes and takes on a nice amber colour: this is not frying, the butter only serves to glaze and perfume the surface.
5. Arrange the warm slices on dessert plates and place a generous spoonful of kaymak in the centre, which will just begin to melt at the edges from the heat. Finish with a handful of chopped pistachios and serve immediately, while the bread is still warm and the cream fresh.