Zeynep Moroğlu

What are you working on right now?

Food production.

What kind of products can we find at Mitte Brot?

Products you can find in an artisan bakery; such as various sourdough breads, cookies and cakes, brioche, muesli and granola.

Can you give a brief history of Mitte Brot?

Actually Mitte Brot is the reason why I changed my job. After a 5 year restaurant/bar group partnership, Mitte Brot opened in April 2015.

What is necessary for a dish to be “artisan”?

Before the industrial revolution, when the manufacturing of food was done in one place, and was mostly handmade, they said it was an artisan production… In our artisan bakery, all the bread is hand-shaped, and the process depends on an extensive effort based on hand power.

A product “we have to try”?

If you ask me, I’d say taste them all; but the hard crusted sourdough bread with small and large air pockets and light sweet sour taste is definitely a must-have for me…

First dish that comes to your mind when you’re hungry?

My grandmother’s meatballs.

The place you would go to for “a good dish” in Istanbul?

Maya, Karaköy Lokantası, Paper Moon (I am a fan of Pino’s artichoke salad)

In other countries, when you buy a sandwich from any place on the street, their bread is delicious. Why is it so hard to come across that in Istanbul?

It’s not difficult and there are those kinds of breads! Usually, what sticks to your mind is a simple bread made with good ingredients… Generally we don’t criticize the bread we bought. But there are many small bakeries in Istanbul nowadays that use good flour and are careful with their production that make the kind of bread you find in other countries!

The scent of a bread fresh out of the oven…

I listen to the crispy music of bread. This is one of my favorite things that I have learned working in this kitchen.

Where do you go food shopping for the dishes you prepare for your work and your private life?

For my work, I go directly to the manufacturers and I always aim to invest in them and have better products.

In my private life, whenever possible, I shop from a place that I know where the products come from. For 35-40 years, Cevat Bey’s Yıldız Market on Yıldız Yokuşu, which my parents taught me, has been our special place. They inform you about the manufacturers of the products as they sell you things. However, since I’m not spending so much time in the kitchen in my private life, great shops like Gram and Pipoyot where they sell ready-made dishes with good ingredients have been my savior.

Turkish cuisine is a unique cuisine that is not available elsewhere. What are some of the foods you suggest to try out from our cuisine?

I’m not necessarily in the kitchen with my sort of production but my favorites are beverages and ice creams with salep and kunafah prepared with saltless kunafah cheese. As you can see, my life is built on desserts rather than main dishes.

First memory you have of a food you ate that pushed you to this occupation?

A sourdough sandwich I ate in Berkeley’s cafeteria after my class.

Can you give us a recipe that’s easy to make and is as delicious?

If you’re looking for a delicious bread for dinner the recipe down below is really a very nice whole wheat almond bread. J The next day you can make sandwiches with leftovers or you can freeze it and later put it in the oven and eat it in the same freshness.