Turkish Tomato Soup (Domates çorbası)

Name: Turkish Tomato Soup
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: 1 kg ripe tomatoes, grated (or 400 g tin); 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour; 1 l stock or water; 200 ml milk (optional); 60 g grated kaşar or mild cheese

Overview

Domates çorbası is a smooth tomato soup that appears on almost every Turkish restaurant menu. Ripe or grated tomatoes, or tomato paste in winter, are cooked with a roux of butter and flour and blended into a velvety soup, sometimes enriched with a splash of milk. The Turkish touch is the topping: a handful of grated kaşar cheese that melts into strings, and sometimes croutons. It is quick, mild and popular with children, and it is a classic starter in lokantas and school canteens.

Pictures

History

Tomatoes reached the Ottoman Empire from the Americas via Europe and gradually became central to Turkish cooking, especially from the nineteenth century onwards. Tomato soup thickened with a flour roux is a fairly modern dish, influenced by European cooking, but it has become thoroughly Turkish through toppings like kaşar cheese and its place in everyday restaurants.

Main ingredients

Tomatoes, flour, butter, milk, grated kaşar cheese. The soup is built on tomato and stock and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.

Recipe outline serves 4 · ~35 min

Ingredients

1 kg ripe tomatoes, grated (or 400 g tin)
2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour
1 l stock or water
200 ml milk (optional)
60 g grated kaşar or mild cheese

Method

Melt butter, stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, then whisk in the stock.
Simmer for 15 minutes and blend until smooth.
Stir in the milk, season and serve with grated cheese on top.

Sources

Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.