The Chef: Sinan “Xen” Goktepeli

 
 


Because it is one of the tastiest, healthiest cuisines in the world. Also, that is what I have been cooking since I was a child.


There are not many cuisines that get close to challenging the creativity involved in the Turkish cooking. It does not use heavy sauces, but achieves tasty meals just by adjusting the ingredients here and there. There are more than forty types of eggplant dishes, for example. I did not even try to count how many koftes there are.


I love cooking Mexican, Italian, or French food. I must brag about my tacos and my salsa: they are among the best. I am also proud of my pizzas.

Yet, I try to avoid presenting restaurant food. “Seared foie gras with glazed pears and balsamic vinegar sauce” would not be home cooking, would it?

To be fair, even nouveau american gets old. I want to give you something new from a very old culture.

Why Turkish/Mediterranean Home Cooking

My Favorite Dishes

Appetizer

  1. •Babaganoush


SOUP

  1. •Mercimek

  2. •Ezogelin


Veggie entree

  1. •Yogurtlu Ispanak

  2. •Imam Bayildi


the carnivore in me

  1. •Karniyarik

  2. •Dolma

  3. •Sucuklu Kofte


DESSERT

  1. •Hanim Gobegi



 

Quick Facts

Ph.D. dissertation

Positron Research at The University of Texas at Austin


patents

Lost count after 10


biggest delivery

A rehearsal dinner for about 100 people


 


For me cooking and creating beautiful dishes is kind of a meditation. Planning, preparing, cooking, and serving a beautiful dish is an immensely satisfying action.


Without exception, good food makes people happy. I like it when people give me a call after dinner and tell me how much they enjoyed the food.

Cooking


I have to thank my mother for teaching me all the intricacies of cooking. I learned to not blindly use measurements, but adjust the amounts of ingredients to get the correct taste and consistency. Even after I located to the US, she would guide me with new recipes and recommendations. She even filled a whole book for me with the title “Mom is writing recipes for her Sinan”.


I have to thank my professional cook friends for guiding me with all kinds of recommendations. I will include links to their websites as they become available.

Learning to Cook


I was born and raised in Turkey. I studied nuclear engineering at Hacettepe University.


I then came to Austin, TX for my graduate studies. After getting my Ph.D., I started working at a semiconductor company in Austin to do some research. I moved around a little: First to Grenoble, France, then Upstate New York.


I noticed that I was no longer happy or satisfied with what I was accomplishing, and started concentrating more and more on my cooking. I left the company last winter to get back to the things that make me happy...

A Quick History

email: Xen@XenKitchen.com    phone: 845-549-2295


When I was studying nuclear engineering, I had a German classmate who could not say Sinan (it sounds like “see-none”). He would call me “zee-none”, which is exactly how Xenon is pronounced. As most of you know, Xenon is a very useful inert gas with atomic number 54.

Of course, in the days of SMS and twitter, people shortened Xenon as well, and I ended up with Xen.

To be fair, I like the way it sounds like “zen”.

How Did I Get the Nickname?