Art with Rolling Pins

Shortly after I started living in sin with my future husband back in Philadelphia, his mother came to visit.  That was an “adventure” in and of itself and of course, a whole nuther story.  But I do want to tell you about my lesson in rolling pins.

Yes, that’s right. 

I said “rolling pins.”  In the U.S., you typically find the same rolling pin in all houses, either made of the old-fashioned wood or of marble – which became fashionable in the late 80’s.  I find the wood easier to handle since it’s not so heavy.  This is the type of rolling pin we generally used for pie crusts.

When the future M-I-L came to visit, she was not happy with my rolling pin.  And I was becoming a bit jealous of the amount of time she was spending with our Turkish neighbor.  It was understandable, since the hubby and I were away at work every day.  But I wanted her to be happy in my kitchen.  So I immediately went out one day at lunch and bought a new rolling pin at one of the fancy kitchen stores, Kitchen Kapers.  I was told she needed a longer and thinner rolling pin, and I thought I knew just what she needed!

Not bad for only $7.  But much to my dismay, this new, long, and thin “tapered” rolling pin was not the right thing!  I now call it my “French” rolling pin and have yet to find a good use for it.  (Insert joke here.)  Although I am sure there are plenty of yummy recipes online.

Not to be defeated, I did some research and found the right pin at Tulumba, an online store based in New York which sells Turkish groceries, crafts, and household items.  I ordered the rolling pin.

In Turkey, these long thin pins cost only a few lira, or  “a dime a dozen” as we would say back home.  I paid about $14 for mine.  M-I-L was happy, although she found it unnecessary.  (Hopefully not because she could just hop over to the neighbor’s house and use hers!)

I was told this style rolling pin was used to make borek dough ( a paper thin pastry dough), but I didn’t understand the need for it until I saw it done.  This past weekend, I caught my M-I-L in action.

In the video, she’s using a much shorter rolling pin than I purchased.  I find the fluency of the motion just amazing.  It’s almost like an art form, no?

The final product?  She rolled the dough into circles, stuffed some with a spinach and onion mix and others with cheese and sucuk ( a spicy sausage).  She folded them in half and fried them in a pan.  After frying, the pastries were smothered in butter and served for breakfast.  Delicious! 

 Elinize sağlık Anne!!!