Çılbır with Quark and Herbs

Quark is an acid-set fresh cheese. The culture takes the milk to pH 4.6. This is the isoelectric point of casein. At this pH the casein has no net charge, so the protein comes out of suspension and makes a gel. The whey is then drained out.

Heat makes the casein network contract more. Water is pushed out of the gel. This is syneresis. The quark then looks wet and feels like wet sand.

Fat globules break up the casein network and slow this down. Speisequark has fat, so it resists better than Magerquark. Magerquark holds about 0.2 percent fat and has almost no protection.

Serve the quark at room temperature. Do not warm it in a pan.

Egg white has two parts. Thick albumen is a gel. Ovomucin fibres hold it together. Thin albumen is mostly water with protein in it.

An egg gets more thin albumen as it ages. The ovomucin complexes come apart. This is why an old egg poaches into loose threads.

The sieve removes the thin albumen. Only the part that holds its shape stays. This makes a vinegar addition unnecessary. It also makes a water vortex unnecessary. Both of those methods only correct the same problem.

The proteins of an egg set at different temperatures. Ovotransferrin sets between 61 °C and 65 °C. Ovalbumin sets near 80 °C. The livetins of the yolk start to set near 65 °C.

Water at 82 °C acts as a thermostat. The egg cannot become hotter than the water. This gives about 30 seconds between a set white and a solid yolk.

Water at a full boil removes that margin. The white becomes rubber before the yolk is correct.

Capsaicinoids and the carotenoid colour of pul biber dissolve in fat. They move into hot butter in seconds.

Dried chilli also holds sugar. Sugar burns above 150 °C. Dried mint holds menthone and carvone. These are volatile and leave the pan as vapour.

Browned butter off the heat sits near 120 °C to 130 °C. This is hot enough to take out the colour and the heat. It is not hot enough to burn the sugar or to drive off the mint.