The story of Ayşe Aran, whose passion for the sea, which began in her childhood, grew exponentially over the years, and who found the solution by changing everything and moving her life to the sea, contains unique flavors. By flavor, we mean not only the gusto of life, but also the cuisine. In this article, Ayşe Kaptan talks about the taste of life and shares her unique octopus paella recipe with you.

 

Ayşe Aran

 

Dear sea and flavor lovers, hello!

 

My passion for blue waters, which started when I was 4-5 years old, continues today on my boat named Ayshe. Sometimes you can see me climbing to the top of my mast, sometimes hanging the octopuses in rows to dry, but mostly telling all my guests and loved ones about my passion for the sea and sharing the flavors of the sea with them.

 

 

I was born in Bursa. I spent my childhood at my grandparents' house, in Mudanya's Güzelyalı Burgaz neighborhood, one meter from the sea. That's when my passion for the sea began. At that age, I would run to the sea to swim, I would not get out of the water for hours. My grandfather and I often went fishing in his boat. My grandfather used to do this at night, too, and of course I followed him. We had pressure lamps attached to little camping cylinders, which we used to light the boat at night. I remember the fish we caught, shivering with cold under the blankets (oh there was too many fish back then!) especially the bluefish were so plentiful! I guess it was because everyone only caught the amount of fish they could eat.

 

In the years after university, every summer, I began to rent a boat for a week or two and cruise the Gulfs of Gökova and Hisarönü by a gulet. As for many sailors, these cruises were a warm-up to living on a boat for me. I met with the sailboat in 1992. Other important changes took place in my life that year. I suddenly found myself in working life for the first time.

 

 

The job was good but I wasn't happy with this stable life. My mind was always on the seas and sailboats. I was constantly watching videos about living on a boat on YouTube. That's when I decided to buy my own boat and I sold my house. My home now was my first boat, a Benetau43 Oceanis. My next boat was the Jeanneau47 Sun Odyssey. I brought her from Bodrum to Trilye and began to commute to work from the boat. I was now officially living on the boat. As in my dreams, I was at the helm.

 

In 2011, I took another step. By transferring my business in Bursa, I opened a business in Selimiye village of Marmaris. It was a small place with four rooms and a restaurant for 60 people. There, I was at sea, and since I loved cooking, I turned my cooking skills, which I gradually improved, into a job. In 2013, I completely moved to the boat. I am now completely at sea.

 

 

For me, the sea means tolerance, sharing, slowing down your life, finding the source of the best flavors. But most of all, “The sea means love.”

 

My passion for food is an integral part of my passion for the sea. Now I host my guests on my boat. Of course, I also cook with my own hands. Since we are at sea, I mostly cook seafood. If I have time, I shoot with a harpoon the fish we'll eat ourselves. Until last year, I used to shoot my own octopus. But after watching the movie My Octopus Teacher, I stopped hunting octopus.

 

 

I remember, I learned to knead dough when I was 7-8 years old. My first chef was my grandmother. She especially cooked delicious meals using local herbs and all kinds of fish. She would cook delicious bonito pickled in brine.

 

My grandmother always used to say: "You will cook delicious food too! You have to do this to cook delicious food." I understand her better now.

 

I told you my adventure of passion for sea stretching from Mudanya coast to Marmaris. In other words, my recipe for life! Let me finish with a recipe then. Here is my paella with octopus recipe.

 

Stay with love, flavor, sea...

 

Ayşe Aran's "paella with octopus" recipe

 

Ingredients:

Octopus

8 Jumbo prawns

1 calamari

1.5 glass of Basmati rice

1 tea glass of olive oil

3 large tomatoes

7-8 cloves garlic

3 onions

Half a bunch of parsley

Lemon and lemon juice

In addition: Cumin, black peppercorn, peppermint, bay leaves, grated muscat, a litlle cinnamon, pine nuts

and a pinch of laughter!

 

Preparation

1. I first clean the frozen octopus. I separate its head from its legs and clean inside of its head. I never let water get in touch with the octopus. I leave it in a bucket full of sea water to thaw it and then clean it with that water.

2. After I clean the octopus, I hang it from the tips of its legs on the thread I placed on ratline wires of the boat. I dry the octopus with wind and sun for a day (that is, from 10:00 am until sunset) (If you like, you may store it in your fridge in this manner for a long time, it never goes off).

3. I set aside four legs of the dried octopus for grill, and cut the other four legs 3-4 cm in length using scissors. 

4. I put the cut legs into teflon pot and close the lid. I cook them at lowest heat, tossing them now and then (I don't put anything else, no water or anything else). First, it turns bright red, swells and then becomes chewy. Octopus becomes ready for paella.

5. Slice the cooked octopus into pieces with a thickness of half a centimeter.

6. Clean the squid, cut it into thin slices and soften it in a bowl with a tablespoon of sugar and mineral water for half an hour by patting it with your hands. Then we wash it off and rinse. The calamari is ready!

 

 

Now it's time to prepare paella:

 

1. Slice the garlics and brown them in olive oil. We sense the great smell of garlic.

2. Add jumbo shrimps and 2 pieces of bay leaves. Also add peppercorns and make them have love with garlic coves!

3. Then add the calamaris. Continue mixing for 3-5 minutes.

4. Then add the pine nuts. After frying a little more, add the peeled tomatoes.

5. Turn down the heat a little. Turn off the heat when the tomatoes are cooked.

6. Add the cooked thinly sliced octopus and keep it aside.

7. Now, caramelize the onions cut in half, olive oil and two thin slices of lemon in another Teflon pot by constantly mixing.

8. Add grated nutmeg, a pinch or two of cumin, two pinches of cinnamon, a full tablespoon of mint and a pinch of "laughter" (everyone knows what goes through our minds while cooking, let's throw our laughter and smile into our food like salt like sugar!)

9. And lastly, add the rice that was previously soaked in warm water and washed with plenty of water. Brown it a little.

10. Then, mix the seafood you already prepared in the other pot with this rice.

11. Add water (I put water in an amount based on my previous experiences, put water until it goes slight above the food). The octopus is salty so if you like, you can add salt after tasting the food in the end.

12. Cook it on low heat until the water is gone and wait close by. Once the water is gone, overcook it a bit.

Paela is ready!

While eating with the juice of 2 lemons and finely chopped parsley, drizzle this sauce on it.

 

Bon appetit!

 

To follow Ayşe Aran...

https://www.instagram.com/sailingayshee/

 

Photographs: Ayşe Aran