Pilaki — dried white beans (kuru fasulye) cooked with tomato, carrot, onion, and olive oil, served cold — is the quintessential Turkish zeytinyağlı legume preparation. The beans absorb the olive oil-tomato-vegetable cooking liquid during a long, gentle simmer, producing a completely different character from the same beans cooked in water. Served cold, with good bread, it is one of the most deeply satisfying preparations in Turkish cooking.
- **Dried white beans (kuru fasulye):** Soaked overnight. Cooked separately to tenderness before the zeytinyağlı stage — the tomato's acid would prevent the beans from fully softening if added before cooking. - **The zeytinyağlı base:** Olive oil, onion (sweated soft), carrot, celery, tomato paste and/or fresh tomato, bay leaf. - **The combining:** Cooked beans added to the olive oil base with just enough water to produce a slightly saucy consistency — not swimming in liquid, not dry. - **Long, gentle simmer:** 20–30 minutes for the beans to absorb the olive oil and vegetable flavours. - **Lemon:** Added at the end — the acidity brightens the olive oil and bean's richness. - **Service:** Always cold or room temperature — never hot. The flavour develops as it cools.
The Turkish Cookbook