Istanbul has been called “the city of the future.” Turkey’s biggest city is known for its culture, beauty and complex history. It’s not a mystery why millions of people visit every year. Traveling anywhere, especially to a place filled with sights, can be overwhelming. There are some experiences that you won’t want to miss. The […]
SEA URCHINS OF AYVALIK
Ayvalik is a town on the Aegean coast known for its winds, above all the ozone-scented westerly off the sea and the dry north wind known as the meltem which blows down from the Kaz Mountains. Among the diverse fish and seafood on sale in this picturesque town, I was surprised to see sea urchin, […]
SIMIT: THE TURKISH BAGEL
Known as the most common street food of Turkey; Simit; the Turkish Bagel is definitely one of the best matches with a thin belly glass Turkish Tea. This favorite crispy bread ring snack of people from any time of the day has been in the life of Turkish people that even different cities have their own […]
TURKISH OLIVES & OLIVE OIL
“A camel driver an ass string of eight or nine camels! The monotonous tinkling of the bells bung around the camels’ necks heralds the caravan’s arrival… For years, this sound rang through the streets of Ayvalik during November, December and January, the months when the black juice produced waste during the oil extraction process flowed […]
TURKISH RAKI
Alcohol has been drunk in Turkey for thousands of years, which perhaps explains why the Turks have a more relaxed attitude to its consumption than people in some other Moslem countries. By the 17th century, there were 100 distilleries in Istanbul alone. Raki is the national drink of Turkey -where today more than 61 million […]
LOKUM (TURKISH DELIGHT)
When I walked into Hadji Bekir’s shop on Hamidiye Street near Istanbul’s Golden Horn, it was like entering a child’s dream. Wherever I looked, there were containers brimming with enticing confectionery… a dozen jars with polished brass lids stood on only counter packed with a kaleidoscope of bonbon, red, yellow, cinnamon and stripy ones. Nowhere […]
TURKISH RAVIOLI: MANTI
One of the most memorable dishes of Turkish Cuisine is Manti (known also as Turkish Ravioli), tiny dumplings stuffed with minced meat and garnished with garlic yogurt. This dish is thought to have originated in the province of Kayseri, spreading from there to the rest of Turkey, but the one made in Kayseri remains distinguished […]
WARM WINTER’S DRINK: SALEP
With the coming of cold winter days, Turkey’s cake and pudding shops begin serving salep in place of ice cream. On the ferryboats which ply their way between the European and Asian shores of Istanbul with smoke trailing from their funnels and chased by flocks of seagulls, many of the passengers order steaming cups of […]
MYRIAD FLAVORS OF TURKISH MEATBALLS (KOFTE)
The three most diverse and sophisticated cuisines in the world are said to be the Turkish, French and Chinese. All three are characterized by a fusion of their own strong culinary traditions with influences and borrowings from other cultures with which they have come in contact over the centuries. At the same time, like all […]
TURKISH CHEESES
This is reflected in the 11th-century Turkish dictionary, Divanu Lugat-it-Turk, written by Mahmut of Kasgar between 1072 and 1074, in which he cites the words udma and udhitma for fresh cheese, and translates the Turkish sentence Ol udhitma uditti as he made cheese. The verb “udhitmak” originated from Uighur Turkish and meant to put to […]