For all the expats living in Turkey who like to cook but don't really want to fuss too much, here is a neat trick I picked up.
The other day, I went to the pide place down the street where I live- pide (pee-DAY) is like a Turkish pizza joint- and asked the owner "hamur alabilir miyim?" which in English means "Can I purchase some dough?" The owner studied me with his moustache twitching and said dimly, "Pismemis mi?" Uncooked?
I tried to hide my smart-ass smile. After all, can dough be cooked and still be dough? Wouldn't it be bread then?
Eventually after I passed through that awkward stage, I bought three portions. I suppose each portion was based on the usual size of pide. I paid for it with the loose change I had in my pocket. Anyway, since the dough is unflavored, it is really quite useful if you don't wish to bother with making your own dough and flour in your hair. And you can also learn whether they deliver!
For fantastic rolls, I just squeeze out to ping-pong size balls of dough and put them in a muffin pan, set them out in a dark, warm place for about 30 minutes and then pop them into the oven. Three portions made about 10 or 12 good-sized rolls too. Of course you have to eat them as soon as possible because without all the preservatives and whatnot, they don't stay very fresh for long.
You can buy bread cheaper I guess but having ready-made dough is more useful for other things, like homemade pizzas or, better yet, calazone (shown in picture). If you have all the ingredients chopped, grated and at hand, you can whip up some fairly impressive things in about a half hour.
I don't see any reason why you couldn't use the same dough for pies as well, although I haven't tried it yet. Someday I will surprise you with pictures of my apple-apricot and cranberry pie.
Looks delish! Here I am hooked on naan, Indian flat bread. It would make an interesting calzone!
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