Mamoosh Riverside - Food Journeys with Oz

A note from Einat

I’m delighted to introduce Food Journeys with Oz, a new series from the Mamoosh kitchen with Oz’s new recipe each month, accompanied by the memories, traditions and journeys behind the food.

Many of you will already know Oz as our Front of House Manager. She is also an important member of our product development team, bringing more than 30 years of food experience, and endless curiosity, to everything she does.

Oz grew up in Türkiye and has travelled extensively throughout the Middle East, exploring its food, traditions and flavours. She has a wonderful ability to connect a recipe with the people, places and memories behind it, while making it welcoming and achievable for home cooks.

Each month, Oz will take us on a new food journey, sharing a recipe inspired by her background, her travels and the dishes she loves.

I’m so pleased that she is now sharing these stories with you. I hope you enjoy cooking, and travelling, with Oz.

Einat

Food Journeys with Oz 

Monthly recipes, memories and food stories from Türkiye, the Middle East and beyond.

Hi, I’m Oz

and we’re beginning our first Food Journey with one of my favourite things: fritters!

Back home in Türkiye, we take fritters very seriously. They’re everyday food — breakfast, lunch, dinner or an anytime snack. For me, they taste like summer.

My late mother was an excellent cook and taught me everything I know about cooking. One of my earliest kitchen memories is helping her make fritters. My reward? Getting the crispiest one for myself!

In Türkiye, our courgette fritters are called Mücver. But the idea of a fritter is certainly not uniquely Turkish. You'll find similar foods all over the world: Greek Kolokithokeftedes, Jewish latkes, Indian pakoras, Korean jeon and many more. Different names, ingredients and traditions — but the same wonderfully simple idea of turning humble ingredients into something golden and delicious.

That's one of the things I love about food. Recipes travel, people adapt, ingredients change, and eventually, something that began elsewhere becomes part of our own food culture.

I've kept the courgette and herbs fairly traditional while adding a little Cypriot influence with halloumi. You can also use feta or cheddar or leave out the cheese altogether. I've used gluten-free self-raising flour, but regular self-raising flour works perfectly and is more traditional.

Courgettes are also in season and grown right here in the UK, so this is a lovely seasonal recipe.

Turkish Courgette & Halloumi Fritters (Mücver)

Ingredients (makes approximately 32 fritters)

• 1 kg courgettes. Grate and squeeze very well to remove excess water
• 1 pack grated halloumi (around 250g)
• 1 bunch spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tsp dried mint, or 4–5 sprigs fresh mint, finely chopped
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp mild or hot Aleppo chilli flakes (optional)
• 75 g parsley, finely chopped (this is roughly a bunch/large handful of UK supermarket size parsley)
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 50g gluten-free self-raising flour
• Vegetable oil or mild olive oil, for frying 

Method

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the courgettes, halloumi, spring onions, mint, parsley, Aleppo chilli, salt and black pepper. Mix well.

Add the flour and mix until everything is evenly combined.

Heat a shallow frying pan over medium heat and add enough oil to lightly cover the base.

Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture, gently place it into the pan and flatten slightly. Fry on both sides (approximately 2-3 minutes each side) until golden, crisp and cooked through the middle.

Transfer to kitchen paper to remove excess oil and continue with the remaining mixture, adding more oil when needed.

Serve warm with garlic yoghurt or tzatziki.

Oz’s Kitchen Wisdom

Courgette and Halloumi Fritters freeze beautifully. Once cooled, layer them between sheets of greaseproof paper and freeze. When you fancy some, put them straight into an air fryer, hot oven or frying pan. They don't need much extra oil — they're already deliciously moist inside.

Approximate times to reheat from frozen:

• Air-fryer: 4-5 minutes at 180 C, until crispy.
• Oven: 8-10 minutes 180 C
• Frying pan: 2-3 minutes over a medium heat.

 Afiyet olsun!

 Enjoy!

Where will Oz take us next?

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