Zeytinyağlı Pırasa

Turkish leeks braised slowly in olive oil with carrot, rice, and lemon, and eaten cold

Origin: Istanbul & Turkey

From the journey of Leek.

The zeytinyağlılar, literally the ones with olive oil, are a distinct category of the Turkish repertoire rather than merely a description of how something was cooked. The rules are consistent. Vegetables are braised slowly in a generous quantity of olive oil with a little sugar and lemon, never with meat, and they are always served cold or at room temperature and never hot. The category covers green beans, artichokes, stuffed vine leaves, celeriac, broad beans, and leeks, and it is a large part of what appears on a meze table. The style is often traced to the Ottoman palace kitchens and to the requirements of the Orthodox and Armenian fasting calendars in a city that contained all three traditions. Leeks suit it particularly well. Long slow cooking in oil turns the shank silky and sweet without the wateriness that catches a leek out in other treatments, and a small amount of rice cooked alongside thickens the juices into something that clings. The carrot is there for colour and sweetness, the sugar to round the lemon, and the lemon to keep the whole from being merely soft and rich. The crucial instruction is the last one and it is easy to disregard: it must be served cold. Warm, the oil tastes heavy and the dish is unremarkable. Chilled, the oil sets slightly against the sweetness of the leeks and the sharpness of the lemon, and the whole thing sharpens into focus. Turkish cooks make it a day ahead as a matter of course. A scattering of dill goes over the top at the table, and it is eaten with bread as part of a spread rather than as a course of its own.

Ingredients

Leeks

1 kg leeks, trimmed, washed, and cut into 3 cm lengths

Vegetables

2 whole carrots, sliced into rounds
1 whole onion, finely chopped

Braise

120 ml extra virgin olive oil
3 tbsp short-grain rice, rinsed
2 tsp caster sugar
1.5 tsp salt, or to taste
300 ml hot water

To Finish

3 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

To Serve

1 whole lemon, cut into wedges

Method

Cut the leeks into 3 cm lengths and wash them thoroughly, fanning the layers apart under running water.
Warm the olive oil in a wide heavy pan and soften the onion over a low heat for five minutes without colouring.
Add the leeks and carrots and turn them through the oil. Cook gently for ten minutes.
Scatter over the rice, add the sugar and salt, and pour in the hot water. It should come about halfway up the vegetables.
Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper pressed onto the surface, put the lid on, and simmer on the lowest heat for 30 to 35 minutes.
Check that the leeks are entirely tender and the rice cooked, and that the liquid has reduced to a thick, oily sauce.
Take off the heat, stir in the lemon juice gently, and leave the pan to cool completely at room temperature.
Transfer to a serving dish, cover, and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.
Bring back to cool room temperature, scatter with dill, and serve with lemon wedges and bread.

Notes

A hundred and twenty millilitres of olive oil is right for a zeytinyağlı. Reducing it produces a dish that is technically the same and tastes of very little. Use a decent fruity olive oil, since it is a primary flavour rather than a cooking fat and is eaten cold. The rice is there as a thickener rather than as a starch to eat. Three tablespoons is the correct, small amount. It keeps four days refrigerated and is better on the second day. It does not freeze. Serve as part of a meze with bread, white cheese, and other zeytinyağlı dishes. It also goes well alongside grilled fish.

The Gastrographer

Name: Zeytinyağlı Pırasa
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Istanbul & Turkey
Ingredients: 1 kg leeks, trimmed, washed, and cut into 3 cm lengths; 2 whole carrots, sliced into rounds; 1 whole onion, finely chopped; 120 ml extra virgin olive oil; 3 tbsp short-grain rice, rinsed; 2 tsp caster sugar; 1.5 tsp salt, or to taste; 300 ml hot water; 3 tbsp lemon juice; 4 tbsp fresh dill, chopped; 1 whole lemon, cut into wedges

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control