Sahin Erdal

24th – 28th October

Sahin Erdal has just landed in Paris after achieving cult status in Malmö with Aster, an unassuming yet insanely popular contemporary Turkish restaurant serving quite possibly the best dolma north of Anatolia. There, his stuffed vine leaves – drenched with pul biber brown butter and grilled pine nuts – had people queuing across the Øresund bridge for a table.

Sahin’s love affair with food started at just twelve years old, helping out in his parents’ pizzeria in the small town of Hörby in the Swedish countryside. But it was the traditional Turkish food that he ate at home that inspired him to become a cook, and he would later join the R&D team at Mikla in Istanbul as a development chef, travelling the length and breadth of the country, absorbing ideas, tastes and smells to inspire new dishes on their Michelin-starred menus.

For his five nights at Carousel, Sahin will be showcasing the food that he’ll be serving when he finds the right site in Paris: Turkish at heart, cooked over open fire and peppered with influences from the many culinary cultures he’s been exposed to on his travels. Think ‘Grilled Octopus Salad, Amandine Potatoes, Braised Shallots, Chermoula’; ‘Fried Panisse, Heirloom Tomato Ezme, Mint, Isot Biber’; ‘Braised Swiss Chard Manti, Smoked Yoghurt, Pul Biber, Pine Nuts’ and of course, *those* show-stopping signature dolma…