A brief note about Signature Dish. Kalkan has its fair share of restaurants, and each year many new restaurants pop up beside the classics that remain season after season. To create our Signature Dish posts, we have partnered with restaurants in Kalkan to discover not only what their signature dish is, but also how the dish is prepared, where ingredients are sourced, and a bit of the chef’s and/or owner’s philosophy on food, cooking, and the restaurant experience. Signature Dish will be a recurring feature on Turquoise Collected.
Up this time: Kalamaki, located in the Old Town, serving Turkish cuisine with a hint of Europe
Your chef: Kubilay Beytaşi
Growing up in Izmir, Kubilay watched his mother cooking, and at the age of 11 decided that cooking was what he wanted to do. By the age of 15, Kubilay was working in Marmarus, learning the ways of the professional kitchen. After over eight years of study and then time spent in the Turkish Army, Kubilay returned to Izmir, where he opened his own restaurant, Aciktim (pronouced "adjectum") meaning, appropriately, "I'm hungry." Kubilay then came to Kalkan, where he began work on Kalakmaki's menu in 2009. Below, some of the fruits of his labor - Kalamaki's Signature Dishes.
For a starter, Kubilay prepared Shrimp with Salmon in Avocado (be still my heart). The shrimp is sautéed with cream and white wine, and salmon and peppers are added; the mixture is poured into the slightly hollowed out avocado half; the shrimp- and salmon-filled avocado is then covered with cheese; and finally, the whole shebang is placed in the oven, to let the cheese lovingly melt on top.
Kalamaki's Signature main course is çökertme - beef steak (which, along with all of Kalamaki's meat, comes from Kubilay's home town of Izmir) sautéed with garlic butter and rosemary, served on top of thin-cut potatoes, and covered with both a garlic yogurt sauce and a garlic tomato sauce, which makes for unique presentation.
Et voilà!
And finally, Kalamaki's Signature dessert, the Kalamaki Dream - pear cooked with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and simple syrup, served with an edible chocolate cup filled with ice cream. And while it is a dream to eat, I have to admit, the real treat for me was watching Kubilay prepare the plate:
Your chef: Kubilay Beytaşi
Growing up in Izmir, Kubilay watched his mother cooking, and at the age of 11 decided that cooking was what he wanted to do. By the age of 15, Kubilay was working in Marmarus, learning the ways of the professional kitchen. After over eight years of study and then time spent in the Turkish Army, Kubilay returned to Izmir, where he opened his own restaurant, Aciktim (pronouced "adjectum") meaning, appropriately, "I'm hungry." Kubilay then came to Kalkan, where he began work on Kalakmaki's menu in 2009. Below, some of the fruits of his labor - Kalamaki's Signature Dishes.
For a starter, Kubilay prepared Shrimp with Salmon in Avocado (be still my heart). The shrimp is sautéed with cream and white wine, and salmon and peppers are added; the mixture is poured into the slightly hollowed out avocado half; the shrimp- and salmon-filled avocado is then covered with cheese; and finally, the whole shebang is placed in the oven, to let the cheese lovingly melt on top.
Kalamaki's Signature main course is çökertme - beef steak (which, along with all of Kalamaki's meat, comes from Kubilay's home town of Izmir) sautéed with garlic butter and rosemary, served on top of thin-cut potatoes, and covered with both a garlic yogurt sauce and a garlic tomato sauce, which makes for unique presentation.
Et voilà!
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| Beef, with a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde complex. Highly recommended - it's like getting two meals in one! |
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| The artist and his work. |
And because I couldn't leave you without it, as always, the money shot:
