Welcome to my kitchen!

Do you like the flavours of the Middle East or Turkey?

Do you enjoy authentic recipes with clear instructions that are easy to make?

Are you interested in the cultural and historical context in which the food on your table comes from?

If your answer to either of those questions is yes, then you’ve come to the right place.

The early beginnings

I wasn’t always a food writer, but I’ve always been interested in food.

My mother got me started early, insisting there should be no difference between the son and the daughter when it comes to household duties. It planted the seed of what was to become a dear interest.

I never intended for food to be more than just a hobby, though. I studied business, moved to London and pursued a career in finance. On the way, I picked up another degree in Global Politics.

My free time was increasingly spent eating or cooking, preferably while attempting to solve the world’s problems with good friends.

This was an exciting time to be in London. Ottolenghi was having a break-through, changing the London food scene with Middle Eastern inspired joints front and centre. My Turkish partner and his friends introduced me to not just their incredible cuisine, but also the culture and history that comes with it.

From London to Istanbul

Though I couldn’t have found a better job in finance than the one I had, by the mid 2010s, I was ready to see if life had more to offer than meetings and spreadsheets. My partner was of the same mind. And so it was that we decided to start from anew in Istanbul.

We’d bought an old house in Balat, a historical but run down and somewhat neglected neighbourhood on the outskirts of Istanbul’s old town. After a year of renovations, we moved in in the fall of 2015.

The lower cost of living allowed me time to find my feet and figure out the next steps, but I knew it was going to involve food in some way. My first idea didn’t work out, but an unexpected development opened up a new path.

Turning to food writing – online and in physical format

Alongside learning the language, I’d started a food blog in Norwegian. No one in my home country was writing about the food I loved and ate every day. When it did make a rare appearance, the dishes were so Westernified as to be almost unrecognisable, and entirely stripped of their cultural and historical context.

My food blog was different. The background and history were as important as the recipes.

It didn’t have a lot of visitors, but – as it turned out – the people that mattered found me. Within a year, I’d started working on what would become the first of many cookbooks.

Hummus & granateple (“Hummus & Pomegranate”) was published to absolutely no fanfare in early 2018. It did briefly enter the lower ends of the bestseller list, thanks to a week of generally very low sales and my own efforts to get my small following to pre-order the book.

It wasn’t long before it was clear we’d hit a nerve.

My story from finance in London to food writing from an old house in Istanbul piqued the interest of media, but even before my face was “everywhere”, the book was already selling steadily through word-of-mouth. Six and a half years on, we’re on 11 prints – and most bookshops still keep it in stock.

Three more books have followed since, all of them bestsellers. Like my online work, the books feature not only delicious recipes, but also the story behind them. From the food culture to the ingredients and my travels throughout the region over the years.

For now, unfortunately, my books are only available in Norway. The first one was also published in German, but appears to have sold out entirely.

If you work in publishing – or know someone who does – feel free to get in touch with my agent Leyla at Stilton Literary Agency for information about acquiring the translation rights for my books.

2025: A new chapter begins

After ten years in Istanbul, I made another drastic change in late summer 2025. I bought a house in the countryside and left Istanbul.

There were many reasons for the move, but the most important was this: After ten years, even the most exciting of things become routine. It was time for new experiences and fresh perspectives.

My new home is near Urla on the Turkish Aegean coast, a little less than an hour west of Izmir and around 550 km (340 miles) south of Istanbul. I’ve traded the buzz of the big city for a small garden that includes olives, figs, bananas(!) and grapes.

The area itself has become a gastronomic hotspot in recent years. It includes ten vineyards – some of them considered among Turkey’s best – and several Michelin recommended restaurants (a few even have stars).

I look forward to sharing my exploration of the area with you!

Why I started publishing in English

Since day one, my friends were pushing me to publish in English rather than Norwegian. A much bigger market, right? But also a more crowded one. There were already many excellent sources for Middle Eastern and Turkish food.

Was my voice really needed?

Perhaps it wasn’t then, but I think it is, if not needed, then certainly a valuable and unique additional perspective on these food cultures today.

After nearly a decade living in Istanbul, I’ve travelled far and wide and eaten more variations of traditional dishes than I can remember. I’ve delved deep into books about the regions food, culture and history and spoken to so many people about their relationship to their own food culture. I’m fully familiar with all the intricate uses of local ingredients like pomegranate molasses, tahini and red pepper paste.

Yet, I still remember the times when I didn’t know what pomegranate molasses was all about, or when I didn’t understand why they’d use so much tomato paste when canned tomatoes were available. This gives me, I think, a useful perspective for introducing other to the ins and outs of the cuisines of this region. An understanding of where some extra explanation is needed, and which recipes that translate better to a Western audience than others.

I’m hopeful that this website and its accompanying newsletter will be helpful in this regard.

A kitchen in Istanbul today

A kitchen in Istanbul first launched in 2016, but was soon sidetracked by the work on my first and second books. I refocused in on it in 2021, and since then I’ve slowly been developing it into the English language resource and recipe bank that I want to see for Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine.

A kitchen in Istanbul is fully focused on more traditional recipes from Turkey, with occasional visits to the Middle East and other nearby or related cuisines.

There are also some recipes inspired by the produce and ingredients typical of the region.

While I keep certain best practices for showing up on Google searches in mind (the website lives on the internet, after all), I’ve never followed the approach of most food blogs. Where they repeat the recipe three times over, interspersed with endless pictures, I instead give you the cultural context and background story of the dish, along with a few tips that are hopefully helpful when you attempt to make the recipe at home.

The reception has been astonishing. A kitchen in Istanbul now draws as many visitors as its Norwegian equivalent, even though it’s only got a fraction of the posts. This has come as a bit of a surprise to me – but a wonderful one!

As of 2025, A kitchen in Istanbul is becoming a main focus of my work, and I look forward to sharing not just many delicious recipe, but also stories and articles which gives you an insight into these wonderful food cultures.

To follow my work…

The best way to get introduced to my best work, is to sign up to my free newsletter.

It’ll guide you through the best of the best, highlighting the most interesting aspects of the local food culture, in a bite sized manner.

One recipe per week, all for free. Starting with the very best from the archives.