A Touch of Urfa Biber to Your Asparagus

Asparagus - or spargel, in German - is one of those foods that I can easily live without, but once the year, when the season is in full bloom - mid-May and end of June - I want to try it, for creating at least one new recipe. In most cases, I consider it a relatively bland food, without any special features and no taste to long about for the rest of the year.

This year, I tried to use my treasure of spices from the multi-awarded Spice Kitchen UK, part of their Brand Ambassador Program. Not an easy choice given their exquisite collection of top spices, but in the end I decided to add to my hard boiled - 25 minutes at 250C - asparagus the Urfa Biber (Isot Pepper). Part of the red pepper family, this spice adds a mild flavor to the dish, not too salty, not too hot, just that pinch that bring taste to the otherwise neutral asparagus. I usually add salt - especially when matchen with boiled potatoes, but this time it was just enough to bring the healthy life - read it taste - to my dish. All you need is half teaspoon of this magic black spice spread all over your dish.

You can pair it with a cold white wine and life couldn't get any better... 

Disclaimer: Spices offered by Spice Kitchen UK, part of their Brand Ambassador Program, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

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About a Different Kind of Pepper: Urfa Biber (Isot Pepper)

This is less a post about recipes and cooking ideas, but has as main character a very special kind of pepper: Urfa Biber or Isot Pepper. Part of my selection from the Spice Kitchen UK collection, with whom I've entered a partnership part of their Brand Ambassador program, I've received a couple of spices to test in the next weeks and months, starting with the very special Aleppo pepper.

The inspiration of Monday's lunch was something a bit different: a very black looking powder called Urfa Biber. Biber means pepper in Turkish, the country of origin of this special kind of pepper. Practically, it is part of the red pepper family, produced through a process of 'sweating': drying of the seeds during the day, followed by wrapping them tied during the day. Compared to other peppers, they are less spicy, with a warm note which creates a pleasant balance of flavors. 

I used it twice for my lunch: spread modestly on my fresh tomatoes, and as one pinch used for by very special barberry rice - 1 cup Jasmin rice, plus 25 gr. dried barberries (or Berberizen as they are called in German). The other part of the meal were Turkey cevapcici, brought to me by the kosher meat Of Tov company. Especially in the case of the rice, the urfa biber was a great balance to the mild sparkling taste of barberries, without pungency of any kind. Given that the day before I had a 25 km. hiking this meal was not only easy to prepare but also full of energy and fresh vitamins (barberries are rich in Vitamin C). 

As for the urfa biber, my short documentation indicates that it has a great variety of uses, among which: on roasted eggplants, fried eggs, but also brownies. Testing in process so keep an eye on my blog for updates.

Disclaimer: Spices offered by Spice Kitchen UK, part of their Brand Ambassador Program, but the opinions are, as usual, my own

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