Plates’ Cave

The heart of the Gürbüz family home lies in its pair of tandır ovens. Even more so since the old stables were revamped as a Cappadocian cookery school. Known in Britain mostly for its Indian variant, the sizzling clay pit has a long past in Turkey (last month’s discovery of a 2,600-year-old tandır in the nation’s north is living proof), but most original ovens have now been superseded by modern appliances. Güler and Sedat Gürbüz, however, were never quite able to shake off their roots. The couple live in Ayvalı, a rural village with just 550 residents, tucked in the midst of Cappadocia’s wonders. The vast region in central Turkey is peppered with curious rock formations that once served as ancient cave dwellings, and word has now spread about the culinary relics within the Gürbüzes’ home.

Scrawled in neon green on the entrance sign, yeşilbahçe translates as ‘green garden’. The clay pots alongside are collected from family-run ateliers in Avanos, Cappadocia’s ‘pottery village’, roughly 25 kilometres north of the cookery school

Güler smears a layer of raw egg and water over the dough, both to crisp up the outside and to stop it sticking to the oven. Made entirely from clay, the tandir was built by Sedat over two days

‘I live in a neighbouring village, but have known about Güler and Sedat since I was a small child,’ says Ramazan Kaçar, our tour guide, introducing the final stop on his itinerary. ‘There are quite a few places doing cooking lessons in the region, but their home is really one of a kind,’ he adds with a gleeful smack of the lips. ‘Nobody else shows you how to bake bread in a tandır.’ The ancient method involves slapping moist balls of dough on the oven’s interior walls. The scorching heat produces a pillowy flatbread in mere minutes, with a crispy crust and slightly charred flavour.

Güler worked as a chef in a local restaurant until 2018, when she left her job to pursue hosting guests with Sedat at home instead. Past generations had used the rear of their house for keeping livestock and storing tools, but the couple recast the annexe as two dining rooms and a show kitchen. The indoor space holds up to 60 guests, but is mostly used for intimate cooking classes and obligatory taste tests.

The bulk of each cooking lesson takes place in the show kitchen, where a gas stove sits in the centre

Ingredients on display include preserved tomatoes, apricots and vine leaves. Güler even pulls down a jar of molasses, encouraging guests to dip spoons into the sweet, sticky substance

Hanging beneath a shelf bearing a jar of Pinar cracked green olives, a Turkish delicacy, are clumps of bulgur wheat looped on string

The name, Green Garden Restaurant, honours their sizeable vegetable patch behind the house. Everything from mulberry and walnut trees to chilli plants grows here, supplying a wealth of fresh ingredients for the cooking classes. Tandır bread is baked – first by Güler, then by guests – on the patio beside a shady picnic bench. Both traditional ovens were built from scratch by Sedat, using clay bricks, clay plaster and techniques learnt from his father. His latest construction project was the rustic wooden pergola that now looms overhead.

The carvings on the fireplace resemble geometric patterns used in Anatolian Seljuk architecture. In the second dining room, a log-burning stove stands at the back of the room instead

The culinary demonstrations continue inside, where the atmosphere takes a cavernous turn that feels quintessentially Cappadocian. Despite being situated firmly above ground, the rooms are windowless and rely on glowing bulbs fastened to ropes for light, while the barrel-vaulted ceilings are made from bumpy limestone. Book-ended by two dining areas, the show kitchen animates a simple gas stove and white marble counter with an ornate tapestry, while a garishly red and round Turkish Itimat oven sits on top. There’s also something bucolic in the chopping boards and frying pans that dangle from hooks, as well as the vibrant jars of chopped and pickled foodstuffs that line the shelves. These are not primarily decorations, however, as Güler repeatedly plucks an ingredient here and an utensil there to aid her classes.

The row of globular vessels on the top shelf are used for Cappadocia’s famous testi kebab. Traditionally sealed by bread dough, the bulbous head is cracked off at the table to reveal slow-cooked meats and vegetables within

In the dining rooms, the floors and walls alike are draped in elaborate Anatolian rugs, most of which are either inherited family heirlooms or dowry gifts. Oak shelves and carved wall alcoves are stacked with clay creations from nearby Avanos, a ‘pottery village’ located on the meandering Kızılırmak. Its residents have used the distinctive red silt of its riverbanks to craft diverse pots since around 2000BC, such as the terracotta strawberry planter that takes its place beside Güler and Sedat’s engraved fireplace.

The delicate material and ornamental design of Anatolian rugs often means they tend to be hung on display like a painting rather than walked across. While some are silk, the rugs in Güler and Sedat’s collection are all made from handwoven wool

More than anything, this Cappadocian cookery school is a family affair. Güler and Sedat run it like a well-oiled machine, each bringing their own skills to the dining table and even inviting their grandchildren to assist with larger groups. Together they grow, build, cook, serve and, now, teach. Even when joining the family momentarily for a cooking class, I can see that the warmth of the place exudes from more than just its tandır ovens.

For more information about Green Garden Restaurant, visit cappadociacooking.com. Guests of Argos in Cappadocia hotel can also book private tours with Ramazan Kaçar to visit the Cappadocian cookery school