CACIK To serve 4 1 Medium sized cucumber, 2 cups yogurt, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons finely cut fresh mint leaves, ½ teaspoon finally cut fresh dill leaves, 1 tea spoon salt, ½ teaspoon finely chopped garlic. Grate the cucumber coarsely and gently squeeze and discard the juice. In a deep bowl, stir the yogurt and garlic with a large spoon until it is completely smooth. Gently but thoroughly beat in the grated cucumber, olive oil, mint, dill and salt. Taste for seasoning, add more salt if necessary. Refrigerate the cacik for 2 hours. Serve the Cacik in chilled individual soup bowls and add some ice cubes to each portion if you like. HUMUS Chick Peas Salad To serve 4 1 cup dried chick peas, ¼ cup finely chopped parsley, ¼ cup finely chopped onions, ½ teaspoon finely chopped garlic, 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon salt, pinch of cayenne pepper. Starting a day ahead, wash the chick peas in a sieve under cold running water, then place them in a large bowl or pan and add enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches. Soak at room temperature for at least 12 hours. Drain the peas and place them in a small, heavy saucepan. Add enough fresh water to cover them completely and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for about 1 ½ hours, replenishing the liquid with boiling water from time to time if necessary to keep the peas covered throughout the cooking period. When done, the peas should be tender to bite but still somewhat firm. Drain and cool to room temperature. Just before serving, combine the parsley, onion, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper in a salad bowl, and beat them together with a fork. Add the chick peas and toss gently to coat the peas evenly with the dressing. Taste for seasoning. TARAMA To make about 2 cups 6 slices homemade-type white bread, trimmed of crusts, 1 cup cold water, 1/2 cup (4 ounces) tarama (salted carp roe) 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup finely grated onions 3/4 to 1 cup olive oil Soak the bread in the water for 5 minutes, then vigorously squeeze it dry with your hands. With a large mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon, mash the bread until smooth. Then add the tarama, 1 teaspoon at a time, mashing and stirring constantly. Beat in the lemon juice and the grated onion and continue mashing until the mixture becomes a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and, with a whisk or a rotary or electric beater, beat in the oil, 1 tablespoon at a time; make sure each tablespoon is absorbed before adding more. When about 1/2 cup of oil has been beaten in, the mixture should be creamy and smooth. Pour in more oil in a slow, thin stream, beating constantly until the tarama salat is thick enough to hold its shape almost solidly in a spoon. Taste for seasoning and refrigerate until ready to use. (Tarama salat will thicken further as it chills.) Serve as part of a platter of appetizers (meze) accompanied, if you like, by cubes of fresh bread for dipping. NOTE: A less authentic, but quicker, way to make tarama salat is to soak and squeeze the bread dry and combine it with the tarama in the jar of an electric blender. Blend at medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Without stopping the blender, remove the cover and add the lemon juice and onion. Still blending, pour in up to 1 cup of oil in a slow, thin stream, adding as much of it as you need to give the tarama salat its proper consistency. Taste for seasoning and refrigerate before using.