Hello everyone!

Welcome to the new blog! As you can see, we’ve changed brands, moved domains and are back better than ever! If you have a moment, take a look around: the website has plenty of new content – lots of info on celiac disease and why we eat gluten-free, sections informing you about how to shop safely in Europe and in Germany, and also a few personal recommendations should you ever come to Cologne. I’ve also revamped the about me-section. It now has a bunch of new information on the blog’s culinary philosophy, a bit of a reading list and a few fun pictures from yours truly during the days of yore. Enjoy!

Anyway, with the new look come new challenges: particularly having to take a wonderful picture every time I cook a recipe. Winter is coming, so I’m a tad bit afraid. Bring it on!

The first recipe I’m posting under the new Gourmari-feel is Turkish Eggplant Halves, a delicious and rich dish you can have for dinner using only a few simple ingredients. If you need ideas on what to bring to the office tomorrow, then this dish isn’t it, but you could make a bit more Bulgur than you require for the eggplants and then work that into a delicious salad using some tomatoes, carrots and cucumber, perhaps even a dollop of yoghurt and a piece of avocado! If you don’t have gluten-free couscous available, you can substitute for another grain. Think buckwheat, millet or quinoa. Even whole grain rice would work.

Eggplants: one of the more underestimated vegetables. I used to only be able to eat them if they were chopped into thin slices, covered in oil and grilled. Eventually, I met Melanzane alla Parmigiana, which is oil-covered grilled eggplant slices stacked up like lasagna sheets between rich and delicious layers of tomato sauce and parmigiana cheese. So good!

But, eggplants are not only a popular vegetable in Italian cuisine, our Turkish friends also eat eggplant a-plenty, often in combination with tomato sauce. I was actually living in Turkey when I first became vegetarian, and one of the dishes my mom often made for me were rice-filled paprika or zucchini, boiled in a tomato sauce. I think this version is better though: the eggplant has more of a distinct taste and it works really well with the spicy tomato-ey bulgur! If you use small eggplants, this dish can totally work as an appetizer, along with a small leaf salad. We had it with a couple of falafel (made from a boxed mix that was sitting around in my pantry) that day and a dash of yoghurt sauce.