GOODBYE AND HELLO

SADLY MAYA & KAY'S KITCHEN IS NO MORE. At least no more a restaurant. Maya has gone through a rough time with an illness that requires continual treatment. Incorporated with this is the difficult to get around licensing laws. Our street is registered as residential and all efforts (including offers of our body) has not worked in getting that changed (if only were had been 20 years younger it may well be different). We have been primarily an evening restaurant and frankly if you can't enjoy a glass of wine with our superb food then it isn't much fun. Plus, imagine Our Murder Game nights without our vodka cocktail. Thus we decided to close shop. Maya is working out what is best for her and may well move back to her native Georgia. I will continue to do the home catering business and cooking shcool I do and will change this blog to incorporate all those great recipes everyone has been desperate to get their hands on that they have tasted over the years at the restaurant. I hope you'll hang around to join us in our private parties that will continue in homes throughout Istanbul (including mine).

I'm including in this blog photos of our Kashmir Night. Not sure why I didn't post them earlier but here they are.

Our Mafia Murder ReRessurection dinner went well and I actually managed to make a dish I've been trying to make for years. Finally found a recipe that worked. We used to call this dish white carrot cake in Singapore. It's a hawker's special made from white radish and rice, then stir fried with dried prawns and egg. This dish is usually served at breakfast. One of my favourites and it was fantastic. Apart from that we did so many other dishes non of which actually complimented each other. It was just an assault from Asia. Fun to do different things that we just felt like doing at the time. We had thai salmon cakes, chinese chicken, curry aubergine and potato, white carrot cake, chicken curry voluvents, plus a couple of other dishes. The vodka flowed as did the conversation. I am sorry to say that Mafia won again. What is it? Is it so impossible to find them out? Are they so good at hiding? I didn't go home till 3 staying up chatting to a few customers about life, the universe and skin products. The sort of thing one does at 3 in the morning.

What next? Not sure as in 3 weeks I am off for 6 weeks travelling with my two kids around Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. I think we might get crazy living out of backpacks all that time and being with each other all the time but it's my family time with them as I seem to ignore them most of the rest of the year with all the running around and work I have to do. So it will be time to reconnect and drag them away from computers, TV, playstations and mobile phones. I think my daughter spends the best part of each day texting friends. I fear her withdrawal.

THE LAST SUPPER - THE ReRessurection

Yes, we are doing another Mafia Murder Night called THE LAST SUPPER - THE ReRESSURECTION (that's two more than the original). It's such a fun night and no where else in Istanbul can you play this game with such fun people while eating great food (says the cook, who is seriously into self praise). Not to mention the now lethal and soon to be banned Vodka Punch. I think at the last evening I drank myself sober which is impressive by any standards.

What will we eat? Well I haven't decided that except that it will be Asian since there is such a cry for ethic food in this city plus of course I can cook it well having been born and lived in the far east plus having had a father who was an extraordinarily good cook who taught me everything while I wept over onions he told me to peel.

Why haven't I decided the menu yet? Well mainly because I am off tomorrow to Milan for the weekend and yes I know I should be thinking about doing an Italian menu but I am not going to drag back food to cook for others when I wish to take it home to my kids for their enjoyment (I already have orders from them as to what to bring back except that ice-cream is not a possibility but top of their list).

The night begins on Friday 21st May 2010 at 8.00pm. The price will be 35tl to include food, water, drink and the game which is a bargain in itself. We already have most of the place booked up and only a few places left to go.

And perhaps in Milan I might just get the chance to go and see The Last Supper but to be honest with you the euro charge to look at it is horrendous and although I desperately love art it has never been one I was desperate to see (unlike David or The Nightwatch (which I have now seen)) so I'm wondering if I'm better off doing something else and googling the painting. Yes I know it doesn't equate to the original but not being particularly religious it's full significance will be somewhat lost on me and I can only enjoy it as a piece of art that is eroding away because L de V did not think to use the usual fresco medium and used oil paint instead (see I do know my stuff).

We are all set tonight with a full house for the Mafia Murder Dinner. The menu is awesome and vegetarian because 5 customers asked us to please do a dinner that was completely vegetarian which we have done and would you believe that not one of those 5 have booked for tonight! I'm done with leaf eaters and so the non vegetarians that booked for this evening will be getting the following:
Sri Lankan Augergine curry
Sri Lankan Egg sambal
Indonesian Gado Gado
Indian onion Bahjis
Malaysian vegetarian curry puffs
Southern Indian Dal balls in coconut curry
Indian Carrot Pohkari with mustard seed, coconut and yoghurt.
And then the now infamous Vodka punch. I've had to go out and buy a few more bottles.
Everyone is ready to eat, drink and play tonight..............

MAYA & KAY'S KITCHEN PRESENTS.......(drum roll)..... THE LAST SUPPER - THE RESSURECTION...... Back by popular demand.... (drum roll.... sound of machine gun fire....) MAFIA MURDER NIGHT.It's an Asian Vegetarian affair with such favourites as Indonesian Gado Gado (google that), onion bahjis; samosas; curries and our now...... signature VODKA PUNCH with more ammo than Capone. Our very own Abby will campare the event and may even sing (if she drinks enough) having already performed live in Ghetto to an extatic audience not so long ago. It's limited numbers and also advertised on other sites so please confirm booking.Costs are less than the price of a bullet at 30tl inclusive of food; vodka punch and water. Body bags are optional extras.SATURDAY 17TH APRIL AT 8PM TILL THE LAST BODY COUNT

A KASHMIR KITCHEN

After the very successful 'A night in Singapore' and 'The Last Supper' we decided to take our foodies to Kashmir in Northern India. Regional cooking is extremely interesting and it's hard to find any place that specialises in food from Regions and not country. Therefore Saturday night will have us enjoying 'A Kashmir Kitchen'.

Maya & Kay’s Kitchen presents:

A Kashmir Kitchen
For Saturday 20th March from 7.30pm
Kashmir, Northern India – hugs the Himalayas warming itself with rich spices of cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. The history of this specialty cuisine can be traced back to the fifteenth century migration of cooks from Samarkand to the valley of Kashmir. A large part of this region’s food is Lamb based and we will be presenting these very traditional dishes that you would need to otherwise go to Kashmir to sample in it’s entirety.

Kashmiri Chicken
(rich in almonds and cashew nuts)
Rogan Josh
(familiar with many. A dish of lamb heavily spiced)
Gushtaba
(lamb meatballs cooked with cream)
Kashmiri Naan
(stuffed bread with almonds and dried fruit)
Muji Chetien
(Radish in curry)
Veth Charman
(grilled cheese in a spiced gravy)
Baingan Tikka
(grilled stuffed aubergine)
Rice

Dessert (to be announced) will be served but will not be traditionally Kashmiri (only because you’d be getting green tea which is the traditional way they end their meal).

30tl per person does not include beverages but does include water (which you will need).

Reservations no later than Friday please on 212 2490679 or kayredkay@hotmail.com or 0533 3254334

Yeni Yuva Sokak no 20a
Cihangir
İstanbul

THE LAST SUPPER

A couple of nights ago some customers and friends came to the restaurant and they began to play Mafia Murder at the table and I joined in. It was a hoot and has inspired me to do a theme night this Saturday. Short notice I grant you but we know we already have enough of us to have some fun with this and it's good practice for when we official launch Saturday night Games Night.

MAYA & KAY’S KITCHEN PRESENTS : THE LAST SUPPER

A MAFIA MURDER DINNER PARTY.
Saturday 12th March 2010
At 8.00 pm sharp

Abby (graduate of the Juilliard Academy of Arts) will be our director at this event. You will eat, you will drink, you will participate and you will die (maybe).

We only have space for a few but we are hoping that this will be the first of many ‘last supper’ murder nights.

Cost : 30tl per head to include help yourself style food on the table. Our vodka house punch (unlimited, or until the house runs out) water, soft drinks. Come prepared to eat, drink and lay horizontal as a victim of the mafia or …the punch!

Yeni Yuva Sokak no 20a
Cihangir, Beyoglu
Reservations a necessity
0533 3254334
kayredkay@hotmail.com

A Night in Singapore

You think of so many things that you hope you have thought of everything and chances are there is always something missing. I concentrated so much on the food and seating arrangements for the Night in Singapore that I forgot to bring the camera to take pics of the amazing food I managed to put together which took 3 days. I kid you not. Singapore food is far harder than you think. The brochure I printed out at 3 in the morning sort of says it all. Well the night was a huge success. Better than I anticipated it would be. So much so that we are going with this theme night stuff more often as everyone enjoyed the idea. We have already linned up a Sri Lanka cook for a Night in Ceylon (yes some of us remember it by it's old name). I've got someone for the 'Road to Mandalay' night. Maya will be doing a Georgian night just as soon as her ingredients arrive from her home city. Yes, we like to make it authentic. None of this packet rubbish that you can put together at home. My laksa lemak was tedious to make but worth the effort as I bought, washed, deshelled and deveined the prawns and then crushed and cooked the shells to use as the stock. The fish balls I made myself (only cause you can't buy them here and strangely they aren't difficult to make, just expensive. The lemon grass we secretly grow in plant pots outside the restaurant. Everyone thinks they are just stalks of grass so no one steals them unlike the Jasmin plant that went missing one summer. Stay tuned for our next event which I am about to post.

Maya & Kay’s Kitchen
Presents
A Night in Singapore

Singapore cuisine is a fusion of food found in many countries from a far a field as Northern China to European countries such as Holland. Truly Singaporean cuisine evolved from these places to become known as ‘Nonya’. The food primarily from the Straits Chinese women.
Long before the large-scale immigration of the Chinese towards the end of the 19th century a number of Chinese traders settled in places such as Singapore and married Malay women. The children from these mixed marriages were known as Strait Chinese. Male offspring married other strait Chinese women and female offspring married men who came ‘straight’ from China. Thus today the Straits Chinese are almost pure Chinese except their cooking.
Nonya food uses basically Malay methods of preparation and is therefore often time consuming. So much of this style of cooking is disappearing with other demands on our time.
However, tonight it lives in a little Bistro in the heart of Istanbul.



Tonight’s Menu is dedicated to my father who is without doubt the best, most brilliant cook to have ever taken on Asian food.

We begin our journey with Laksa Lemak
A rich noodle soup with seafood.
This recipe I owe to two people. The first is the mother of my childhood best friend Lily. Lily & I met at school when we were both 7. Her father was a minister in Government and her uncle was the President of Singapore. Her upbringing was humble and very family orientated. Her mother did a lot of the family cooking. Her father sat around in a singlet and sarong telling funny jokes and I would often eat at Lily’s Muslim Malay household. One day I watched her mother prepare Laksa Lemak as we talked in the kitchen (buttering up the family before Lily presented her report card). When I tasted the soup later I placed it among my favourite dishes of all time. When I went to England my father’s need of Singapore food drove him to constant experimentation which involved me as his commi chef: grinding coconuts; chilies and prawn shells for hours. He did manage to produce an exceptional Laksa Lemak from scribbled notes and memory.
Lily and I are still friends today. She lives in Sydney and lectures at the university on Economics (she never passed a Maths exam when we were at school together). She writes historical political books on Singapore and will be in Singapore this summer to meet me for a reunion where we will, no doubt beg her mother to make Laksa Lemak.

AYAM LEMAK
Chicken leg pieces in rich coconut gravy. A very typical Nonya recipe which is often cooked with Nasi Lemak (coconut rice) but I figured we might be coconuted out by the end of the evening as it features in every course.
CUCUMBER PICKLE
In sweet & sour vinegar
TAHAU GORENG
Fried bean curd in sour peanut sauce. This was one of my father and my favourites that we bought from the hawker across the road from our house. Before my father left Singapore to live in England he went over to the guy and asked him for his recipe. The man extracted a promise from him that he would never reveal this to anyone since it was his only source of income. Tonight we have a chance to remember this man who shared his secrets with my father. Today this hawker station no longer exists.


BLACHAN CABBAGE GORENG
Cooked in the unique dried shrimp paste. The Amah (Malay word for servant) took care of our household and used to buy the fresh blachan from the market and I learned to love the smell of it as she dried it in the sun. Everyone who smells it in it’s uncooked state hates it. In fact, Maya won’t let me cook it in the restaurant when she is around. My Amah is no longer alive. She came to live with our family when my father was 2 and returned to her native China when I was 16. She died there 18 years later.
HAWKER STYLE CURRY PUFFS
Beef and Potato. Every hawker had his own particular recipe. My favourite curry puff was made from this Indian type of pastry using Malay curry ingredients for the filling. It has taken me years and several experiments to have found this combination outside Singapore.
***
There are hundreds of other recipes I would have liked to have shared with you tonight but I hope the few I picked delight you.

Maybe plied with drink again and given ingredients we can’t find here I might do ‘A night in Singapore Part II’.

A SINGAPORE NIGHT

Dear All,

Due to popular demand and having had too many drinks I agreed to put together typically Singaporean dishes from my native country for a one night only extravaganza.

TUESDAY 9TH MARCH 2010 FROM 7.30PM ONWARDS

In case you didn't know Singapore cusine is ONE , possibly THE most amazing cusine in the world. It is not to be mistaken for Chinese, Malay, European or Indian. It is a fusion mix of it's own known as NONYA.

HISTORY LESSON: At the beginning of the 20th century a number of chinese traders settled in Melacca, Penang and Singapore; there the men took Malay wives and the food they produced became known as a fusion of the two. This style of cooking uses basically Malay methods of preparation and is therefore often time consuming.

Our menu begins with SEAFOOD LAKSA - A soup noodle dish rich in chilli and coconut cream.

A VEGETABLE DISH with dried prawns (I am yet to decide upon the vegetable)

AYAM LEMAK - A famous Nonya chicken curry

TAHU GORENG - Hawker style fried bean curd in spicy peanut sauceHawker Style Curry Puffs

A pickle dish

The dessert is yet to be determined but will NOT be asian (ingredients make this impossible).

Price per person excluding drinks 35tl (a bargain given the ingredients and preparation time - hence the ONE TIME OFFER).

Reservations absolutely essential given limited spaces and ingredient buying. Reservation latest date will be Sunday evening 7th March 2010. So don't think too long or too hard. Kayredkay@hotmail.com0533 32543340212 249 0679

Valentine Night Italian Style

We are doing Valentine's dinner Italian Style... hearts or hitmen?

For those not read up on history check out the Valentine Day Massacre and since St. Valentine was actually Italian it just stands to reason that we would do this Italian Style and because I have a wicked sense of humour I could well be playing the godfather on the stereo and not Barry Manilow.

We are reserving the back table that seats 8 to 10 for those who are single; been together too long to want an intimate dinner; or are coming with friends or a group and want to have some great food on a night reserved for lovers. Food wise we continue to surprise you with this set menu of

STARTER - Spinach Gnocchi with sage butter

MAIN - Masala Chicken with liquine

DESSERT - Sicillian Cassata Cake

at a cost of 30tl per person.

Start time is 7.30

Come with roses or guns... whichever suits your mood.

Don't forget to make a reservation

Outside catering

Our recent catering event went well. A New Year Party. Transporting food etc. is actually more work and organisation than preparing the food.

Othordox Christmas over and we are exhausted but happy and looking forward to the next event which will probably be honey night. Why you may well ask. Well I met someone from a well known honey producers who mentioned that he would like to try something we produced involving honey and chicken that was not obviously chinese. Well I have. It's a honey and cardamon rosted chicken which I have tested out on a few friends who have given it the thumbs up, so much so that they have asked to be included in the 'honey' evening. So that is the next one before 'chinese new year' and 'valentine's night'. However, how do I swing this? Chinese new year and valentine's day is on the same day. Anyone got the irons for making chinese love letters? Wouldn't it be fun to have those on Valentine's night too. Any suggestions on how we should deal with the two celebrations?

Orthodox Christmas Wednesday 6th Januray 2010

.Maya & Kay's Kitchen are doing Orthodox Christmas dinner set for Wednesday 6th January. Yes I know you think you're done with Christmas and indeed you are right if you aren't Orthodox but there's yet one more celebration to be enjoyed with us. Maya is doing this Georgian style so the menu is thus:
Oven baked walnut chicken
Hacipuri (Pide stuffed with melted cheese)
Hinkali (large meat dumplings)
Salad
&
Walnut and Honey Cake.
Glass of wine with your meal plus unlimited water.
30tl Reservations only.0212 249 0679kayredkay@hotmail.com0533 325 43 34