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It's rare that I come across something new in Turkey so I was excited to discover an unfamiliar ingredient at the cheese stall last market day. I had no idea what "andız" were and at first glance thought the picture on the front of the jar was of beets. The cheese-seller wasn't sure what an andız was either but he knew it grew on a tree, so that ruled out beetroot. I bought the jar anyway and the nice chap behind the counter gave me a big slice of ricotta free of charge - he'd probably despaired of ever selling this unknown commodity. When I got home, I tried a teaspoon but this didn't give me any clues so I fired up the Mac and found out that andız pekmez is juniper molasses, (even though the word for "juniper" is "ardıç"). I've never come across this before and hope somebody reading this will have more information.
110g plain flour
80g rolled oats
Half tsp bicarb of soda
50 g sultanas
100g juniper molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
100g butter
- Heat the oven to 180 C
- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl
- Melt the butter, add the molasses and add to the dry ingredients
- Mix well and drop spoonfuls on to a lined and greased baking try
- Bake on a upper shelf for 15 minutes
- Don't bake until they are completely hard, as they harden up on cooling.
I tried them out at book club on Wednesday and they got a thumbs-up.
Hello:
ReplyDeleteHow very spirited of you to have 'gone for' a new, to you, and unknown product and how very inventive to have discovered, and then tried out, a receipt for your Juniper Molasses. They certainly look very good.
Spicy and not too sweet with a piney tang at the end.
DeleteVery interesting! I love the uzum and carob pekmezes but I've never seen this either. I'll take a closer look around my pazars. Wonder if it's one of those Turkish regional products?
ReplyDeleteLooks like it's made in Anamur
DeleteOoh..could you make gin with it?
ReplyDeleteI have a recipe for juniper syrup to add to gin to make cocktails. This molasses would be a bit sticky
DeleteI will have to imagine how they taste but with a name like Juniper Molasses, they have to be good! Axxx
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure they would work - I made 16 and they were all gone less than 24 hours later
DeleteI'm with Ayak!
ReplyDeleteMaybe mixed with brandy and milk for winter pick-me-up
DeleteAlways fun to try the unknown....though only a half teaspoon of said to start with.
ReplyDeleteJuniper berries are one of the things visitors bring over...for curing pork and making beef stews...
I have a juniper tree on my terrace but no pork!
DeleteB to B, Does this stuff look like honey with a bit of a funkier flavor? I'm curious because some time ago, I stopped at a stand selling honey and I picked out an unlabeled jar that looked a bit like honey but darker. My Turkish must not have been very good because I just remember the lady telling me that it was made from pine (çam) trees. I took a chance and brought it home. It reminded me a bit of maple syrup and I used it on yogurt mostly.
ReplyDeletePine honey is very dark but still tastes like honey. The molasses is almost black and not as sweet as maple syrup.
DeleteYour biscuits sound good, BtoB, and I imagine they must be rather like flapjacks made with treacle rather than golden syrup. What fun to find an unknown ingredient and make something from it.
ReplyDeleteA cross between a flapjack and a gingernut - A gingerjack !
Delete'Andız' is the Turkish name for Juniperus drupacea, sometimes called the 'Toros Sedir'. It is found in Greece, Syria and Lebanon as well as Turkey. 'Ardıç' is attached to all other junipers found in the country of which 9 are recorded.
ReplyDeleteThanks Alan, I knew you would solve at least one of the puzzles.
DeleteOh dear! Did all that info just vanish into the ether?
ReplyDeleteBlogger seems to hold back comments occasionally - into the ether and back out a bit later.
DeleteCookies look yummy....learned something new today.I was just watching an Italian cooking show on TV today and she said that Italians use Juniper berries quite a lot in their meat dishes.
ReplyDeleteAyak has a great idea.:-)
I used them a lot when I cooked game regularly.
ReplyDeleteThese look lovely. We've seen the homemade juniper pekmez for sale by the roadside in villages near Saklıkent. That's what made me think you might be able to find someone near you who knows how to make it (re your question in the Turkish Food community). Might have to buy some now. :)
ReplyDeleteI asked lots of people here and they hadn't even heard of juniper pekmez. They kept trying to tell me it was made of carobs
DeleteI guess those would also work with our carob pekmez. We've had it for quite a while now and I've never found anything good to do with it...
ReplyDeleteYes, you can use any pekmez
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