Poğaça, a Turkish Pastry, Served with Çay, Turkish Tea

Poğaça (pronounced roughly "po-a-cha") is a common Turkish pastry, often enjoyed with a cup of tea (called çay, pronounced exactly like "chai"). There are many variations to poğaça, but the common recipe is use an eggy dough, folded around an cheesy stuffing.

Tea in Turkey is prepared using a unique two-pot system. Note in the video how dark black tea is poured into the cup, and then later hot water is added. A Turkish Teapot is a two-pot system, with a large kettle of boiling water in direct contact with the heat source, and a second smaller kettle resting atop the water kettle. This second kettle contains black tea in a high concentration. When you pour tea, you first pour the concentrate into your cup, then add water until the color matches how strong you want your tea. The two-kettle system is convenient and practical; it conserves more heat, and allows each person to decide how strong they want their personal cup of tea to be!

Turkish teacups also have a traditional design, which can be seen in the video. Turkish teacups are made of a clear glass in a flared hourglass shape. The clear glass allows you to judge how strong your tea will be, and the flared lip allows you to pinch the glass without burning your hand. In the video, these teacups are decorated with "nazar", a charm which is said to ward off the "evil eye."

video credit to Gülcan Telci