HÖŞMERİM
Today, we will introduce you a Turkish dessert called Höşmerim which is famous in Balıkesir. The reason why we want to introduce you this dessert is that it has a deep-rooted history in Turkish cuisine. Also, it is much lighter than a lot of high-calorie dessert. It can be offered to other countries as a different and delicious choice of taste. If you pass by Balıkesir, you can taste it. One kilo of Höşmerim costs approximately 15 Turkish liras.
HISTORY OF HÖŞMERİM
Höşmerim is a yellowish dessert which is prepared with a different method in the county Havran of Balıkesir for over five hundred years. Evliya Çelebi tells that this dessert was first made by the first Turkish migrants coming from Middle Asia, and it was transmitted to Havran people from them in his “Seyahatname”. Höşmerim is also known as “Cheese Dessert” in many cities. The name of this dessert has an interesting story which occurred during the Ottoman age. In the Ottoman families, wives used to call their husbands “Er” or “Erim”. A woman living those days cannot find anything to cook for her husband because of poverty when he comes back from army. Therefore, she makes up a dessert including cheese, semolina (irmik) and sugar which they produce on their own. She offers this dessert which she prepares first time to her husband. She hesitantly asks whether he likes it or not by saying “Hoş mu erim?”. This sentence undergoes a change in time and becomes “Höşmerim”.
INGREDIENTS
1 water glass of semolina
50 grams of butter
1,5 water glass of sugar
1 water glass of milk
1 water glass of water
0,5 water glass of grated salt-free cheese
Almond in order to garnish
RECIPE
Firstly, melt the butter in a pot. Then, add the semolina and roast it until it acquires a yellowish color. In another pot, boil the mixture of milk, sugar and water. Pour this sherbet on the semolina which has become golden yellow. Add the grated cheese in the dessert. Cook it until cheese melts totally. Then take the pot off the burner and put it in a platter properly. After that, serve Höşmerim by embellishing with almonds. Bon appetite ! :) (You can also find different recipes on the Internet.)
ÖZGE ÇOMAK
ELİF AKSOY
Section: 1
1. When I first heard that I had been accepted to Middle East Technical University, I was disappointed because I do not like Ankara as a city. However, my opinion has dramatically changed over time since Middle East Technical University is really a different world in Ankara.
2. It has been only a month since I came here. However, I got used to this environment. The first reason of this is that people at all ages respect to each other here.
3. I love Ankara, my dormitory, my new friends and my department. I am content with everything which belongs to METU.
4. If someone wants to walk, he or she can wander around. It is a nice place to meet friends.
5. We can easily see this by watching TV, surfing on the internet or just looking around us. There are many people graduated from different kinds of universities but they are not even able to know what is going on around the or they do not even try to find good ways to improve the countries where they live.
Being a Student At METU
Like every student at METU, I think being a student at METU is a privilege. METU is one of the best universities both in Turkey and in the world. Therefore, I am proud of being a student here. However, METU hasn’t got only opportunities but also challenges. Firstly, I want to talk about the opportunities of METU. The first opportunity of METU is that it has a large campus and in this campus, students can meet almost every need of theirs from accommodation to shopping. Moreover, as it has lots of facilities like gymnasia, courts, computer rooms, library and conference room, student can improve themselves physically, mentally, and culturally. For example, you can do sport even in the dead of night or you can go to the different seminars which you cannot normally go to. From this example we can understand that at METU you don’t need to run after the things you want to reach since they come themselves. Secondly, it has students and teachers from all over the world and this situation provide us a chance to meet different kinds of people, so you can improve your foreign language easily. Thirdly, teachers at METU are experienced, shipshape and well-educated people. Hence, they affect students in a good way and guide them. Now, I want to talk about the challenges I live at METU. As METU is one of the best universities in Turkey, you need to work hard to be successful and reach its pace. This university is a changing and developing place every second and you must be adapted this situation. I mean that you must improve yourself every second, too. You must always learn, think and produce something. Thus, every students may live hard times while trying to catch the pace. Another challenge is that you are responsible for yourself. What I say is not only about METU. It is about all universities. As a university student, we must look after ourselves whatever we do. For instance, if you become ill, you must go to hospital on your own. You need to cook your own meal or if you don’t want to cook, you must buy it. However, if we look through another perspective, it is a freedom of being your own boss. To conclude, whatever challenge it has, I am happy about being here.
An Ideal University
Everyone has an understanding of ideal university. Studying and spending most of their time in a well-known and prosperous university is everybody’s dream. According to me, an ideal university should have a lot of qualifications. Firstly, in such a university students should have the freedom of learning everywhere and every time. For this reason, such a university ought to have functional materials and commodious environment which are available for students at any time of the day. Also, a large library and all kinds of technological devices must be involved in this university so that students can reach all sorts of information easily. Secondly, an ideal university should have an open-minded vision. Every type of people should be able to express their opinion without being oppressed because knowledge emerges from collision of different opinions. Therefore, an open mind is necessary for the improvement of all sorts of scientific fields. Thirdly, such a university ought to have many activities. These activities should appeal to all students and personal development must be the main aim of these activities. However, this development shouldn't be only about mental but also physical progress. These activities must include sport activities, social activities, and intellectual activities. If this occurs, students can find pleasure in what they study, read, learn and do. In my opinion, METU is an university which fits all of these criteria and it is my ideal university. METU is a functional university in which I can find any information every hour of the day. In METU, all students can express themselves freely. METU has many activities and services. It is a house of knowledge. In METU, every opportunity is reachable. In conclusion, ideal university should have got many characteristics and METU has got them.
