Cooking was not Özge Kalvo’s first career choice: “My original plan was to become a doctor or dentist.”
But a chance encounter with the head of Yeditepe University’s gastronomy program convinced Kalvo to pursue her culinary passion and enroll in the Bachelor’s program in Gastronomy instead.
“It’s a typical story. I was always cooking. Always with my mother, my grandmothers and on Sundays at breakfast with my father. And I was always learning, always watching Ready Steady Cook, even though I didn’t understand the English,” says Kalvo. It was a good way to learn.
After completing her studies, Kalvo worked at Gram restaurant in Istanbul for two years. In 2015, as part of a year-long Australian cultural festival in Turkey, a number of Australian chefs and food professionals visited Gram, including Chef Matt Stone, Joost Bakker (founder of Future Food System) and Ross Close (founder of wine company Battle of the Wines). “So I went to them and said: I want to work in Australia.”
Close invited Kalvo to cook at an event in Melbourne showcasing Turkish and Australian wines.
“We cooked for 100 people in three days in a town hall kitchen with no equipment. It was wonderful,” says Kalvo. “A few months later, I moved to Sydney.”
In the port city, Kalvo worked in the modern Turkish restaurants Efendy and Anason before joining the wood-fired restaurant Ester in 2019.
“Ester was a dream. It was my real cooking school,” says Kalvo. “They combined so many cuisines, styles, ingredients, techniques and the wood fire. It was so much fun. It was so free.”
At staff meals, Kalvo served Turkish specialties, with the predominant protein—lamb—earning her the nickname “Lamb Queen.” She adopted this affectionate nickname for two impromptu dinners at Ester’s.
“It may look like ester, but it’s Turkish,” says Kalvo. She has added lamb sweetbreads with spicy sauce to the menu and chicken rice mussels with smoked whey and fermented wheat sorbet – a variation on midye dolma (Turkish stuffed mussels). For vegetarians, she has now made “içli kofte,” deep-fried dough balls filled with fermented mushrooms instead of the traditional minced meat.
“The question always arises: what is the story? What does it mean? … They can be my grandmother’s recipes, but they also come from here, from my experience,” says Kalvo about the process of developing her dishes.
She left Ester in 2023 to take up the role of sous chef at Baba’s Place in Marrickville, and her pop-up project has gone on hiatus – but her passion has not. Kalvo finds great joy in seeing guests try Turkish flavours remixed and redefined in new and playful ways. “Hopefully this is the path to opening a restaurant. I can’t call it Turkish. There’s no other name for it than my food.”
Menemen by Özge Kalvo – Recipe
(Picture above)
Kalvos Menemen is her own version of the classic Turkish dish. The ingredients are similar to those of shakshuka, but the eggs are stirred into the base rather than cooked on top, so the dish doesn’t need to be moved from the stove to the oven. “Everyone in Turkey has their own recipe and preferences. I prefer it with more tomatoes, fewer eggs and a small amount of onion, garlic and Turkish pastrami (pastirma),” she says.
It’s a simple, homemade recipe that’s quick to make and share. “It’s best with fresh, crusty bread. Tear off a piece and dip it in. Don’t use a fork.”
To make it a proper Turkish breakfast buffet, she suggests inviting friends and family over and stocking up on side dishes and condiments. “You’ll need a few different jams, extra feta, kefalograviera (cheese), black and green olives, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, butter, honey with kaymak spread, Turkish simit bagels with sesame seeds – and of course, black tea.”
Preparation 10 minutes
Cook 15 minutes
Serves 2
20 g unsalted butter
30ml olive oil
1 red shallotchopped
1 yellow banana pepperchopped
1 garlic clovechopped
50 g Pastirma (Turkish pastrami), sujuk or chorizo
1 can chopped tomatoes or 2 ripe tomatoeschopped
4 eggs
1 tsp Aleppo chilli
50g feta
2 crispy rolls
Place a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Heat butter and oil until butter is melted and begins to foam, about one minute.
Add the shallot and sauté, stirring, for three to four minutes until soft and translucent.
Add the banana peppers and sauté for another three to four minutes until soft.
Add the garlic, stir and fry for a minute.
Add the pastirma and fry for two minutes until the fat is rendered.
Add tomatoes, stirring constantly. Simmer for two to three minutes, then season with salt and pepper.
While the tomatoes are simmering, whisk the eggs in a large bowl.
Increase the heat of the pan to high. Add the eggs and stir them into the tomato mixture, allowing them to scramble and cook for two minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the Aleppo pepper and crumble the feta over the eggs. Serve immediately in the pan, with crusty bread on the side for dipping.
