Notes on Turkey : Food edition

You know Jim and I enjoy a good meal. We wanted to share some of the highlights  of Turkish cuisine all bundled in one blog post for you.

Antalya wine, pistachio baklava, and fresh fruit: Dry red wine, fruity, tasty,  but not particularly  memorable.  Baklava, like many sweets here, flaky philo drenched in honey, and fresh fruit. This was the beginning of our love affair with Turkish  clementines,  which we bought by the kilo the rest of our time in Turkey.

Fresh pita with toated sesame seeds, fresh hummus  and olive oil. Does not get much better than fresh.

Testi Kebab : You may remember  this one from the Göreme  blog post. It was a culinary highlight,  mostly for the fun of having a sword crack the pottery in half, but the chicken, red pepper  and onion stew that emerged from that clay pot was also delicious. 

Toast: I know, it's not what we typically think of as toast.  It's  really more of an amped up grilled cheese . With cheese, pickles,  sausage,  ketchup,  and mayo ( and sometimes french fries), it costs no more than $3 and is delcious  and filling.

Durum  Döner : Simply the Döner  wrap. Chicken off the spit,  lettuce and tomato, sometimes pickles, onion, mayo, ketchup, french fries and special sauce. Always served with Ayran, the salty yogurt drink.

Beverages:  Efes, the local turkish  beer, a decent lager. Chai, or tea, black  with lots of sugar, available everywhere, all the time, with everything,  even whén you refuse it. 

Lokomum : Deep fried dough balls fresh coated in honey syrup.  Best when eaten straight out of the fryer, but one serving is enough to send you into sugar shock.

Pide  Döner : Another Döner variation, beef in crusty italian/french  type bread. Also always served with Ayran. Also, at most tables, you will be provided a jar of hot peppers for your Döner.  Highly  recommend  these little guys (see pictured behind the Ayran)

Kumpir: the Turkish loaded baked potato.  Complete with  butter, cheese, corn, pickles, red peppers, sausage, relish, and dill  yogurt sauce. This is enough to feed 2 people, if you can both  tolerate the ridiculousness.  Not my favorite. 

Iskender  Döner : For this variation,  the bread is underneath  the beef, covered in a  red sauce and served with yogurt. Very tasty.

Meze: the traditional  Meze platter, where you can try a little  bit of cold everything.  Eggplant done several ways, stuffed grape leaves, hummus,  yogurt, white bean and egg salad.

Main options 1 and 2: in Göreme  we ordered off a menu main options 1 and 2. We can't really tell you what they were, except to say that Main 1 was beef, and it seemed to be stir fried with spices, onions and peppers. Main 2 was chicken, and was smothered  in what I called turkish barbecue sauce. Both were delcious.  If you ever find yourself at Topdeck  cafe in Göreme,  order Mains 1 and 2.

Fancy cakes: Tuliss and Opera cake at the Hotel Kempinski, Ciragan Palace Istanbul 

Spice Bazar tea, also at the Hotel Kempinski,  Ciragan Palace,  Istanbul 

Payman, inspecting the Turkish  delight  selection at the Spice Bazar. Delight  is like gummy squares of every fruit flavor, best made with honey, sometimes containing  pistachios,  sometimes covered in chocolate. 

Aubergine and Mixed grills. Load your food item onto a spit and throw over open flame, voilà! 

Manti: small meat raviöli serveserved in a garlic yogurt sauce. You expect  it to be one way, but it's  totally  different,  and tasty too!

Raki: anise flavored sipping liquor  that turns white  and cloudy when you add water. Not my favorite,  but if you like ouzo or black licorice  this could be the drink  for you.

And honorable mention though not pictured here:

Turkish breakfast,  particularly  dried fig, yogurt and Quince jam

Simit : Like a sesame bagel (would be great with some kajmak,  see Bosnia post)

Sahlep: a thick,  hot, white,  beverage , made with orchid root and condensed milk. Dusted with  cinnamon. Perfect for those snowy days in Istanbul.

All the eggplant  dishes : Really, you can get it grilled, roasted, smoked, spicy with meat, anyway you try it, it's delicious 

Köfte : Turkish meatballs