GRANDPARENTS BREAK-

FAST WAS HELD TO

CELEBRATE FORGOTTEN

RECIPES AND TRADITIONS

OF URLA .................... 2

SLOW FOOD URLA’S 2ND

ANNUAL SPRING EDIBLE

GREENS FESTIVAL WAS A

HUGE SUCCESS WITH OVER

200 PARTICIPANTS THIS

YEAR ........................ 3 SlowTimes

Urla P LANT ING THE SEEDS FOR A GOOD, CLEAN, FA IR

AND SUSTA INABLE FUTU RE FOR URLA , I ZMIR , TURKEY

Slow Food Urla holds

workshop with students from

Uzunkuyu Primary School to

protect and preserve

regional heirloom seeds

Students from Uzunkuyu Primary School, a rural school for children

grades 1 through 8 got to participate in a seed workshop with mem-

bers from Slow Food Urla Convivium in March. The children

learned about the heirloom seeds local to the region and found out

ways to protect and grow them. Among the seeds were Uzunkuyu

tomatoes, black-eyed peas, peppers and melons all from their im-

mediate area. These seeds are in danger of disappearing because

of recent Turkish laws preventing the sale of heirloom seeds and

plants. The children learned how to plant and care for the seeds.

These plants will later be placed in a school garden plot they have

prepared. The plants will be grown using organic methods, and the

produce will be used in the lunch program. The students will also

learn how to extract seeds from the produce and plant them again

next year. (Contributed by Filiz Keyder Özkan)

HEIRLOOM SEED CARDS Two heirloom seed card ateliers were held by our member Lale Başarır for Slow Food Urla

members and Uzunkuyu Primary School students in April and May. She showed how to make

paper pulp from old newspapers and egg cartons and lay the pulp mixture on screens. She

sprinkled the pulp with heirloom seeds and covered with another thin layer of paper pulp. She

dried the sheets and cut them into shapes. These seed cards can be used as gifts or postcards.

They sprout once they are planted in soil. (Contributed by Filiz Keyder Özkan)

ISSUE: 1

SPRING

2011

SLOW FOOD URLA HOLDS TWO

WORKSHOPS WITH STUDENTS

FROM UZUNKUYU PRIMARY

SCHOOL TO PROTECT AND

PRESERVE REGIONAL HEIR-

LOOM SEEDS …………… 1

REMEMBERING

THE RECIPES AND

TRADITIONS OF OUR

URLA ANCESTORS

Eggplant Croquettes

By Mesrure Yűcekők

3 eggplants

1/2 kg lean ground beef

1/2 cup Fresh parsley

1 egg

Salt and pepper

Cook eggplants over the

stove or on a grill until soft.

Peel and mash the egg-

plant. Cook the ground

beef, in a sauté pan with

little olive oil. When cool,

add the fresh parsley, egg,

salt and pepper. Mix and

rest in refrigerator until

firm. Shape into ovals and

cook in hot olive oil

TAKE YOUR GRANDMA AND GRANDPA AND JOIN US FOR BREAKFAST!

We, the Slow Food Urla Convivium, have organized a breakfast on April 16, 2011 in Urla Mahfel Restaurant. We coincided this event with the traditional Slow Food Grandparents Day. We invited our elders to have a good time with us and share the old, traditional reci-pes with young people. Around 60 people joined us. After having breakfast, that was prepared mostly with the food our members produced or raised themselves, it was time to talk about the tradi-tional recipes with the accompaniment of Turkish coffee; which is also traditional to have after a delicious meal. In the meantime; we talked about the old cooking styles and the social events related to some of the dishes. We doubled our pleasure in being together with our elders. Here are some of the dishes we have shared with our members: fish croquettes, lamb baked in the oven with grape leaves, stuffed chicken, chunks of meat cooked in a crock-pot, stew made with shallots, dessert made with lamb necks, dried apricots and spices, and borek with chopped leeks… (Contributed by A. Dilek Wildermann)

Slow Food Urla Newsletter Issue: 1 slowfoodurla@yahoogroups.com Spring 2011 slowfoodurla@groups.facebook.com page 2

Second Annual Slow

Food Urla Spring Edible

Greens Festival a Huge

Success

SLOW FOOD URLA

BREAKFAST

The festival weekend

started with a glorious

breakfast starring the prod-

ucts of our Slow Food Urla

members. There were

many kinds of cured ol-

ives, olive oil, jams and

jellies, fresh cheeses,

breads, pastries, sau-

sages, eggs, home

churned butter, accompa-

nied by Turkish tea. The

municipality of Urla gener-

ously supplied the café

and the service where the

breakfast was held. Slow

Food Convivia from differ-

ent areas of Turkey at-

tended the breakfast as

Slow Food Urla’s guests.

Second Annual Slow Food Urla Spring Edible Greens Festival was Held with over 200 Partici-pants This Year

Slow Food Urla organized its biggest event so far in March. In celebration of “Mart Do-kuzu”, an ancient Urla traditional spring festival, the convivium put together a two day event, in celebration of spring and the edible greens of Urla. Many other Slow Food Con-vivia were invited and the participation exceeded all expectations. The weekend, against all forecasts of rain, started with beautiful sunny weather. A pro-ducers’ breakfast was held at a café by the Aegean to meet and mingle with other Slow Food Convivia. After many locally made and harvested delicacies, the group took a tour of the archeological sites, the Karantina Island facilities, the town of Urla and the arts street. After the tour the group met again at 3 pm for an open air market tour and an of-fering of “Ispanak Balığı”, a traditionally made spinach fritter made on site. For dinner, the group met at Beğendik Abi restaurant where they could sample many edible green dishes regional to Urla and the Çeşme peninsula. The next morning, thanks to municipality of Urla’s support, buses were arranged to take large groups to a beautiful nature preserve, rich with edible greens. Many local women acted as guides and showed how to collect different greens and how to prepare them. After gathering greens, the participants rested their full baskets and weary legs at the open air market and cafes of the village of Őzbek where they sampled the regional spe-cialties made by the villagers. The two day long festival came to an end in the afternoon with raindrops and promises of return next year. (Contributed by Filiz Keyder Őzkan)

Slow Food Urla Newsletter Issue: 1 slowfoodurla@yahoogroups.com Spring 2011 slowfoodurla@groups.facebook.com page 3