Memorable Turkey!!

For many years, I have heard and read so much about Turkey. Istanbul was more than I expected. It is only when I was almost going to Istanbul that I found out that the capital of Turkey is Ankara!  Apparently Istanbul was once known as Constantinople and this was at the time of the Roman Empire.  I leave you to dig history up for more information on this.

The first thing that hit me at the airport was the sound of Turkish Oud music. The Turkish Oud is almost a pear shaped string instrument and I just love the sound it produces especially when the strings are plucked by experienced musicians.  

Busy Taksim Square

Our hotel – a suite on a steep slope was near Taksim Square.  The first morsel of food that  I tasted in Istanbul is the borek and Turkish tea.  I must tell you this – for the next few days these was a ‘must have’ at the end of each day until I became sick of it.  I tried the minced meat filled borek and the spinach borek. 

a Borek shop

Basically the borek is made of layers of phyllo pastry filled with minced lamb and diced onion or spinach and crumbled feta cheese, rolled up and then baked.  The borek is cut up into pieces and served on a plate. 

Borek

The Turkish tea is a good accompaniment.  Turkish tea is black tea leaves prepared using one small kettle with tea leaves on top of a large kettle of water.  The water is boiled and some of the water is poured onto the tea leaves in the small kettle and left to steep.  When serving tea, a bit of the strong tea is poured into little glasses, usually tulip shaped and then diluted with more hot water from the large kettle. Most 

Turkish team in tulip shaped glass

people have it with sugar cubes.  You can drink glass after glass of this nice tea.  It is quite common to see tea vendors carrying tea and selling on the road-side.  Tea drinkers are a common sight in Turkey!!  Waiters, office workers, traffic police………it is quite common to see them having a glass of tea on their hands while working!

One of the first things I saw as the taxi was driving us to our hotel was a traditional Turkish bakery. The shop was stacked with so many kinds of bread but the place was dominated by French loaf type of bread alled Ekmek.  This crusty outside and soft inside loaves of bread are seen everywhere.  When you pass the neighbourhood bakeries, you have to inhale the aroma of these loaves being baked.  Sometimes I saw people carrying loaves of unwrapped bread home after work and occasionally I saw people just breaking off the edge of the bread and eating it as they walked home!!.

Sandwich with White Cheese

This bread is usually sandwiched with cheese and toasted and served with coffee for breakfast.  Talking of breakfast, I experienced a typical Turkish breakfast one morning and I swear I will not have another of this traditional breakfast anymore – it is so laden with fat!  Well, this is a traditional Turkish breakfast – feta cheese, yellow cheese, a hardboiled egg, 3-4 types of olives, Turkish sausage, mortadella, tomatoes, cucumber, 2-egg omelette, warm bread, honey and butter.
Taksim Square  is packed with people – locals and tourists and everyone seemed to be busy.  The street is full of cafes and restaurants and as you walk you pass beggars, buskers, imitation watch sellers, shoe polishing stands, stalls selling orange or pomegranate juices, and vendors selling socks and woollen mufflers to keep the cold away! 

Shoe Polishing Service

At every 300 metres or every corner of Istanbul or so there will be a guy selling simit from little red carts.  Occasionally I also saw vendors carrying wooden trays on their heads with simits for sale.   Simit is a round bread, almost like a large sized bagel crusted with sesame seeds.  This bread is indeed crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.  The simit tasted great when dunked in coffee and I do like the earthy flavour of almost burnt sesame seeds!  There are even fast food chains like Simit Sarayi and Simit Palace in Turkey!!

Simit

Cart selling Simit

You can hear Muslim prayers loud and clear at certain times of the day at Taksim Square and this will make you think immediately that you are in a Muslim dominated country.  However unlike other Muslim countries where I have been, I did not see people rushing for prayers, though there are huge mosques nearby.  Istanbul is very modern and almost all people are dressed in modern clothes…..very few in traditional attire.  By the way there is a Europe and Asian side of Turkey!!  I am not joking. 

Though there are the very old buildings, grand old mosques and busy bazaars in narrow lanes, street vendors selling from roasted chestnuts to mussels with slices of lemon and little cafes laden with Turkish sweets and pastries, the country is still modern with branded clothes and shoes shops, expensive cars on the road, pubs and nightclubs, trams and metro lines. 

vendor selling Kibbeh

A gentle warning – the streets also have beggars and lots of cats.  One thing is for sure……practically everyone walking the streets of Istanbul is a smoker!  Most of the streets in and around Taksim Square are narrow and some even steep and most time of the day the traffic is terrible;  in fact I personally feel that many don’t follow traffic rules here.  At least 5-6 times in a day I hear sirens from ambulances or police cars.  They just love to travel the streets with the siren in full blast. Even in very cold November, Turkish people were sitting out al fresco having coffee or tea with friends!!

dried fruits and candies stall

I had to visit it!  I cannot compromise with anything else – a visit to the Spice Bazaar of Istanbul was the top priority of things to do in Istanbul for me.  The Spice Bazaar is certainly an educational place for foodies and families.  Apparently this place is also known as the Egyptian Market and was built in 1664.  The oldest market in Istanbul is called the Grand Bazaar and then followed by Spice Bazaar. This place is a haven – to see, to get familiar, to smell, to touch and to taste spices, snacks, sweets, pastries and nuts and also to buy some souvenirs. 

assorted sweets

Ground spices were openly displayed (I will not advise anyone to buy ground spices that are displayed in heaps – the aroma and potency of the spices would have varnished in the air!);  whole spices like cardamoms, Turkish and Iranian saffron, allspice, cinnamon, cloves etc were in abundance.  There were an assortment of spiced powders like Ottoman spice and Arabic spices and even henna powder (The Turkish women dye their hair with natural hair dye like henna)You name it and you find the nuts – that is what I thought when I looked at the display of nuts – roasted and unroasted.  I saw pine nuts in the shells for the first time here. 

spices

There were also nuts coated with sesame seeds, honey or chocolate.  Pistahios, walnuts, pine nuts and almonds were in abundance. Besides nuts, there were the dried fruits!  Turkish figs are a must buy and some were stringed into long ropes and hung.  There were sun dried apricots, dried quinces, fruit leathers, dried fruit doners; assortment of teas like dried apple tea, dried pomegranate tea and the popular Turkish black tea leaves. I saw a sacksful of carob beans too. 

There were honey in jars and Besides all these sight – there was the mouth-watering treats that were sold all around me – Turkish Delights in all kind of flavours including the new made with natural juice only type.  I tried the pomegranate juice Turkish Delight and it was simply awesome studded with lots of roasted chopped pistachio nuts. And of course there were twenty over Turkish sweets like baklavas and halwas.  Besides all the above there were all the incense oils, the frankincense and myrrh that was sold.  All these and the people made this market one of the most memorable markets that I have visited in my life.

Fish Sandwich Shop

The other market that I enjoyed very much in Istanbul is the fish market.  It is not like the biggest fish market I ever came across in my life.  However the 20 odd fish stalls there had a variety of fish and other seafood – many of which I have never came across before.  Like all fish markets this place was wet and slippery and the fish were either displayed on slabs of ice, crushed ice on in buckets of water.  The fishmongers were shouting out the price of fish.  There were several proper restaurants adjacent to the fish stalls and there were smaller ‘shack’ like stalls that sold some cooked seafood.  These little food stalls do not have menu but have pictures of the various fishes and other seafood and you have to choose from the photo and tell the vendor how you want it cooked and the price will be quoted.  I chose grilled large prawns and fried ‘hamsi’ – Black Sea anchovies. 

Fried Anchovies

Many others were eating fish sandwiches – fried mackerel or mullet sandwiched in between one of the popular ekmek breads along with a salad, onion rings, lime juice and sprinkling of paprika and sumac.  I am sure it tasted yummy. My anchovies were dipped in batter and deep fried, crispy and still soft and juicy inside.  Like all Turkish and Mediterranean foods it was served with wedges of lemon slices. 

Grilled Prawns

The grilled prawns were unforgettable – very basin ingredients like lemon juice, olive oil, smashed garlic, bit of paprika were used as marinade and the prawns with shells were grilled on a huge griddle till it is almost charred and smoky in flavor.  The result was very succulent, juicy, tasty prawns that were finger licking good. The vendor also placed a plated heaped with salad dressed with pomegranate molasses and olive oil. 

Grilled Fish and Vegetables

The vendor was also grilling some fish over charcoal and I must tell you that you can get one of the best smells on Earth when the liquid from the fish hits the glowing charcoal and results in a smoke that is so deliciously tempting.

men fishing at Galata Bridge

Fish, I think is very important for Turkish people.  Every day of my trip to Turkey, I saw hundreds of boys and adults fishing in a row along the Galata Bridge or any other bridge.  I suspect some spend more than 8 hours enduring the cold wind to catch fish or maybe even stay overnight. I saw very old men maybe in their 70s fishing; and young fashionably dressed boys too.  These guys throw a fishing line into the sea and just spend time looking out at the sea hanging their pole over the water. Whether they catch many fish or not – I don’t know but they are certainly admirable to be able to withstand the cold and stand there for hours hoping to catch a fish!

Kebab Shop

At almost every corner of Istanbul you can find kebab shops.  There are at least 2-3 at every stretch and every side of the roads.  Some of these shops are very posh ones while many are just small hole in the wall type of shops.  I think the Turks inherited their skills from their nomadic forefathers who much have roasted and grilled their meats over camp fires!  A friend told me long ago that meats always tasted better in Turkey because the sheep and cow are more free range and are raised in green pastures.  It is believed that some of the shepherds play the oud to the grazing animals! Though there were many kebabs in every stalls menu, the popular ones were the Sis Kebab, the Doner Kebab, Adana kebab and more. 

Of course the Doner Kebab is the most famous worldwide.  I saw a vendor using a mallet and hitting thick slabs of meat with fat and all.  Later he marinated with some ingredients that he had already premixed in a large tub.  He had some minced meat next to him in a large basin and I saw his assistant breaking some eggs into it and combining the minced meat and eggs together by hand.  Later he stacked the marinated pieces of meat alternating with minced meat on a large upright skewer until the skewer is completely covered;  this skewer then rotates in front of hot vertical grills.  Just as the outer layer of meat gets cooked, he takes a sharp knife and slices it into very thin pieces.  He then takes these thin shavings of roasted meat and lay it over a flat pita bread, top with some salad, fried French fries and squirts some yoghurt sauce over it and folds the pita bread to hold the filling and wrap pita bread on paper and hand it to you. The Arabs call this Shawarma.

Pita Bread filled with roasted meat

Another must try in Turkey is the Lahmacun.  It is almost like a thin crust pizza and it is said the original recipe may have come from Syria. I am not very sure as I also understand that both Greece and Turkey are fighting over whose original dish this is?   Basically, it is thin piece of bread dough topped with minced beef or lamb and finely chopped onions and some seasoning.   After the topping is placed on the bread dough, it is placed on a large shovel and the lachmacun is pushed into a hot oven to be baked.

Pilav

Many of the kebab restaurants serve the kebabs with ‘pilav’.  I was surprised to see the word ‘pilav’ in the menu of some of the traditional Turkish restaurants.  And so I had to try the pilav at about 3 places before I decided to give it miss.  I do know ‘pilau’ was it is a common rice dish for the Indians.  The English called it ‘pilaf’.  The Indians served the pilau during auspicious days and I understand that the Turks also serve it on special days but you can also find it some of the restaurant menus.  The Turkish pilav is a world of difference from the Indian pilau.  They have pilavs made of rice, bulgur wheat, couscous as well as fine vermicelli which is called sehriye here.  The pilav is cooked in a stock and had bit of lentils, currants, pine nuts and spices.  Some had strong taste of tomato soup in the rice. Apparently rice is grown in the west Black Sea region.

On a couple of occasions I tried the Meze dishes.  The meze is like the Spanish tapas and in the Turkish restaurants it is common to see the waiter bring a large rectangular tray filled with small plates of different dishes for you to choose from.  Many places serve one of the national anise flavoured alcohol based drink called ‘raki’ with it.  This drink is given in small shots – but I have seen a couple drinking it with ice cubes.  Personally it is not my kind of drink.  Some of the meze I have tried was salted marinated mackerel, smoked eggplant dip, a simple tomato and cucumber salad, hummus, olives, pickles, walnuts, charred red capsicum and walnut dip, pickled gherkins, spicy tomato and olive, tapenade, cold eggplant salad, feta cheese, dolmades, fattoush salad, dried salted beef, mashed brown broad beans, marinated mushrooms, butter beans in olive oil or tomato sauce, battered and fried calamari, octopus slices in olive oil, prawns sauted with garlic and olive oil. Phew………I ate all these?  Cannot believe it now!

Salted Mackeral

Besides tea, one of the popular drinks in Turkey is Ayran.  It is certainly proclaimed as one of the healthiest drink on Earth.  And what is it - A version of the lassi – the Indian salted yoghurt drink.  I found out recently that the word ‘yoghurt’ came from the Turkish word “yoghurtmak” which means to blend.  Some restaurants served this iced lightly salted yoghurt drink with chopped mint, dried mint leaves or finely chopped garlic.

Turkish coffee

And will definitely not forget Turkish coffee!! You see it everywhere in Turkey – people at cafes drinking Turkish coffee and I must have drank it so many times too.  What can be better in life, than to sit at a café, sipping good Turkish coffee and watching the world go by!  Traditionally the roasted coffee beans are ground in a traditional Turkish coffee grinder.  This is usually made of brass and long, tubular design, with burrs that grind the coffee to a fine powder.   A copper or brass, wide bottomed, narrow necked container with a long handle called "cezvehe” is used for boiling the coffee.  The coffee is always served in small espresso cups.  Every time I ordered a Turkish coffee, the serving staff will ask “without sugar, little sugar or more sugar?”  Turkish coffee is always served with a glass of cold water to freshen the mouth to enjoy the coffee better. It is best to eat a sweet Turkish pastry with the coffee. Well, just in case you have never drank Turkish coffee before – don’t be shocked if you feel coffee residue in your mouth – it is all part and parcel of enjoying Turkish coffee.

Western style dining table

Ottoman Style seating

And before I finish, I must share with you – I went to a traditional Ottoman cuisine restaurant.  This was very special.  I went in because from the outside I saw a couple of ladies in aprons, seated on the floor and rolling out dough into very thin pieces and stuffing it with mashed potatoes or cheese and cooking it on a iron griddle.  The restaurant was colourfully decorated in Turkish furnishings and furniture and we had to sit on thick cushions and food was served on the low tables.  During the meal I was listening to old Turkish love songs!  It was indeed a great experience.

Coming soon………..all about the Turkish sweets.