Products from Extremadura arrive to Turkey

From extremadura.com we have had the pleasure to talk to the Chef Fikret Özdemir, thanks to his participation in the International Food Fair (FIAL) at Don Benito.

This particular chef is half Turkish, half Portuguese and he has managed to blend the finest cuisine with which he has lived throughout his life.

To contextualize and to know him better from Spain, because he is an institution in Turkey, he told us about his work and future expectations.

Chef Özdemir began in Portugal, then he travelled throughout Europe and he was able to increase his life with cultures like the French one or the German one.

Among the hotel chains in which he is Chef we find Marriott Istanbul Asia. The Marriott International Hotel company is well known worldwide and Fikret Özdemir is chef of the headquarters from Lisbon, Hamburg, Monaco and Istanbul. They are all five-star hotels with great recognition and where the quality of the kitchen it has to be brilliant. When we asked about the menus of these diverse restaurants, the answer was clear: the product is the base. Depending on the place the menu varies from country to country, there can not be two identical menus because there are no two equal countries, and he personally handles to elaborate them with great care and knowing the taste of each country to do the best from it.

If all this information were not enough, we continue with his broad curriculum, that is worth knowing. Özdemir is Executive Chef of the Radisson Blu Sisli Hotel in Istanbul. The restaurant is  called "Steak and More Istan’Bull", and you can enjoy the delights of this genuine city.

Between the variety of the Spanish cuisine, paella is his favorite choice and he tells us that he loves all tapas he actually know, and of course, he can cook it all. From Extremadura he currently used in his kitchen Paprika from la Vera. Chef Özdemir used primarily with baked or marinated meats, mainly. Quite a delicacy.

From FIAL it is clear that his best discovery has been the fig chocolates. Along with cheese, they are two of the foods that he will not hesitate to incorporate to his kitchen.

Chef Özdemir insists that Spanish and Turkish cuisines are very similar. The aromas, spices and passion that is made with when cooking (besides the love for eating) are just some of the similarities noted between us.

On his website www.cheffikretozdemir.com we can see that he is the image of the popular Knorr brand, dedicated to the manufacture of soups and broths. With a wide variety of videos, we learn how to combine Knorr products in a rich cuisine.

Also at his website we can see the great influence that international food has within their specialties. However, his highlights are two that he assure are his favorite ones. On one hand, a Mixfish in which he uses two or three different types of fish, with a vegetables sauce and from the desserts, a combination of apricot, apple, walnuts and goat milk ice cream.

To Fikret Özdemir cooking is an art, as it is poetry, and he says that an empty plate for him is like a naked woman. It is beautiful by itself and when we finally compound the plate it has the elegance of a woman and the most importantly, a heart.