JANUARY 2021 95
SNOW DAY SOUP
WHILE MOST of my kindergarten peers eagerly awaited the
tooth fairy, I went to bed in anticipation of a visitor unique to
our home alone: the soup fairy. Our courtship was fleeting but
memorable; if I finished my soup at dinner without protest, I’d
wake up to a crisp $5 reward under my pillow. I rarely finished
my bowl and hit payday.
As an adult now looking to compensate for those stubborn,soupless childhood years, I often make a classic Turkish soup
with chickpeas and barley, topped with a heaping spoonful of
dried mint leaves and Urfa pepper. Relying on yogurt —even yogurt
nearly past its prime–for its tangy flavor, it’s an optimal dinner
for snowy nights when you don’t want to trek out to the grocery
store. Although most Turks will opt for pide bread to accompany
this soup, potato- and cheese-packed velibah from North Ossetia,
a region in the Russian Federation, is a particular treat for my
family. (My mother’s side hails from the region, which is also
my namesake.) In my grandmother’s Istanbul kitchen, I spent
hours sipping sugary black tea and watching butter slide into the
velibah’s cracks, marveling at how much those paper-thin layers
could swallow. Coupled with this soup, it’s just as unorthodox a
pairing as myself, a Turkish American named after a region in the
North Caucasus. I wouldn’t have it any other way. —OSET BABÜR
Yayla Çorbası (Turkish
Yogurt Soup) with
Velibah (recipe p. 102)