
İmam Bayıldı
Slow-braised aubergine stuffed with sweet onions, tomatoes & olive oil

Welcome — I'm YUNUS TUNC, and this is my kitchen. Everything here comes from memory: recipes my grandmother stirred over a wood-fire stove, weeknight favourites my mother pressed into my hands before I left for the city, and dishes I've spent years refining on my own stovetop. No shortcuts, no shortcuts — just honest Turkish home cooking shared with warmth, and an open invitation to pull up a chair.
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My name is Yunus Tunc. I grew up in the narrow streets of Sarıyer, a quiet neighbourhood tucked along the European shore of Istanbul where the Bosphorus breezes carry the smell of simit and wood smoke. Every morning of my childhood started the same way — the sound of a copper pot hitting the stove in my grandmother Fatma's kitchen.
She never followed a written recipe in her life. She cooked by feel, by smell, by the colour of a sofrito and the sound of sizzling aubergine. Watching her — and later cooking alongside her — taught me that Turkish home cooking is not a performance. It is patience. It is respect for good olive oil, ripe tomatoes, and dried red pepper flakes. Nothing more, nothing less.
YUNUS TUNC is my way of keeping those recipes alive — written down at last, for the people who want honest food with a real story behind it. No shortcuts, no fusion gimmicks. Just the dishes that have been feeding Turkish families for generations, brought faithfully from that Sarıyer kitchen to your table.
Yunus Tunc
Home Cook · Istanbul
Six beloved recipes — each one carrying decades of memory, crafted in the tradition of Turkish home cooking.

Slow-braised aubergine stuffed with sweet onions, tomatoes & olive oil

Velvety red lentil soup spiced with cumin & a burnt-butter drizzle

Hearty white bean stew simmered with tomato paste & smoky lamb

Tiny Turkish dumplings with spiced lamb, yoghurt & chilli butter

Crispy flatbreads topped with herbed spiced minced meat & fresh lemon

Crisp layered filo soaked in rose-scented syrup with crushed pistachios
In Turkish home cooking, every dish carries a memory. I cook so those memories don't disappear.
Fresh from the stove

June 12, 2025
A bowl of this velvety red lentil soup is the cornerstone of every Turkish household, ladled out on cold evenings with a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of paprika butter. My grandmother made it every Friday without fail, and this is her exact recipe — no shortcuts, no compromises.

June 5, 2025
The name translates to 'the imam fainted' — legend says the holy man lost consciousness upon tasting it, overwhelmed by its richness. Made entirely with olive oil, slow-roasted aubergines, and sweet caramelised onions, this dish is the jewel of Turkish vegetarian cooking.

May 28, 2025
Layers of paper-thin yufka pastry, crumbling white cheese, and wilted spinach brushed with milk and egg — börek is the dish that defines Sunday mornings in Turkish families. Making it by hand is an act of devotion, and one that rewards you with something no bakery can replicate.
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Authentic Turkish Home Kitchen — Recipes passed down through generations, made with love from Istanbul to your table.
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