Turkish Joy

A new year dawns, and with it, a whole year's prospect of Eats. 

My 2022 ended and 2023 began in the best way possible - with home-cooked meals in the warm homes of good friends. Because while good food maketh the day, good company heightens it further. 

And so it was when I met up with out-of-town relatives who dropped into Erfurt for a weekend, which made it the perfect opportunity to try something different. This time, Turkish food to the rescue at Ba Badiyel (which according to Google Translate means "baby boy"?). 

From the outside, the restaurant looks very homey and inviting. Inside, it was even more so. Tables of different sizes are available, enabling couples, families or groups of friends to comfortably seat themselves in one part of the restaurant and enjoy meals and drinks. We found ourselves in the far end of the restaurant with a long booth-like table which fitted all 6 of us nicely. No complaints here. 

I ordered a Köfte which means meatballs. In German, this would be somewhat like the Frikadelle - minced meat seasoned and then patted into balls before being grilled. Here, 5 of these meatballs were served with Turkish rice, grilled mushroom and paprika, and a side salad. 

Naturally, when you have a dish called Köfte, the first thing you would investigate would be, errr, the Köfte. So, I immediately cut into mine (with great fervour, I might shamelessly add) to see what wonderful surprises I could look forward to experiencing. I can say with utmost certainty that my expectations were reached. 

The meatballs were perfectly packed. By this, I mean the meat within had enough air space to enable the texture to be nicely compact so you could taste every grain of the meat. Some meatballs are so compact, the meat is so tightly-bound that the whole meatball feels like one big lump of flesh. Not so with their Köfte - the meat grains can actually be seen, it's almost as if you could distinguish one from the other. 

The grilling of the Köfte is also commendable - cooked enough to be fully cooked while not overly so that the meat retains its succulence. Biting into each piece was a mix of grilled crustiness on the outside and juicy yumminess on the inside. 

What I especially loved was that I could taste the seasoning on both the outer crust as well as the juicy slabs inside. There  are some grilled meats that lack flavouring on the inside - possibly due to insufficient marinating time. Köfte was fully flavoured - in and out. 

The Köfte tasted as scrumptious as it looked. 

So yes, I walloped everything. And no, I didn't quite share (which is a rare. So it must have been THAT good). 

My Köfte had Turkish rice on the side - a first for me, and from the Google reviews I read online before coming here, apparently, Ba Badiyel's is pretty authentic. From the perspective of someone who literally grew up on (different types of) rice, my first impression of Turkish rice is that it's a cross between the Indian-Muslim briyani rice and Chinese chicken rice. 

Like the former, the seasonings hint of raisins and spice, but like the latter, the texture is much softer with a tinge of onions/garlic (?) or something which I can't, at this moment, put my finger on. 

My surprise is that the rice is mixed with short Bandnudeln or noodles, which hold their own flavours. While I have mixed my own rice with noodles, it has always been an "unofficial" choice - to see it as a real culinary possibility was indeed an interesting eye-opener. 

If you're partial to chicken, there is the tender Tavuk Pirzola, or chicken chop, as an option. Equally tender like the Köfte, it's lighter in taste and just as savoury. 

 

Dinner simply must end in authentic Turkish style, and if this is what you're aiming for, you won't be disappointed. Authentic Turkish coffee and Raki (4 options available on their menu) are perfect to end the dinner event with.  

As someone who's too sensitive to caffeine (I would be staying up all night if I had one of these at dinner time!), I had to give Turkish coffee a miss, which was somewhat disappointing. 

So I settled for an Aperol Spritz.  

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I haven't visited Turkey yet, but if this restaurant is anything to go by, I am now considering it in my vacation future.  

Note: at this time of writing, a huge earthquake has just hit southern parts of Turkey and parts of Syria, killing thousands, many of whom are children and babies in their beds and cribs. My heart goes out to all Turkish and Syrian residents there, and to everyone who has a family member, friend or acquaintance in those parts. I pray help is sent to victims on both Turkish and Syrian soil. The heartbreaking news here.