We had read in many books that if you were on a diet you shouldn't come to Turkey but we have to say that overall we find the food quite fresh and healthy and also that we've eaten more fruits and veggies in the last four weeks here than in the last couple of years in the US.
I usually take cooking courses in every country we visit, food is such an essential component of each culture and says so much of the people that I find it fascinating (plus let's be honest, Steve loves it when we are home and I cook something that I learned in our travels!).
So these are some things that we've enjoyed so far.
Most of our breakfasts consist of fresh home made baked "Ekmek" (bread), jam or honey, black olives, slices of cucumber and tomato, watermelon, a hard boiled egg, "Beyaz Peynir" (a super fresh feta cheese) and lots of "Çai" (tea - some Turks claim that it's normal to have about 20 cups a day) it is served in a small tulip shape glass.
For lunch , snacks or dinner you can find "Gözleme", which is a thin pancake, more like a mexican tortilla, filled with cheese, spinach, potato with mint sauce or mushrooms, your choice! They actually cook this on a concave griddle over an open fire.
You can also go for "Mezze" (or Tapas). Although most tımes you get to choose the ones you want, some restaurants have the combination ready. Some of our favorites are: "Baba ghanooj", a puree of grilled eggplants with tahini and olive oil and "Yaprak Sarma" (or Dolmeh), vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat and slow cooked in olive oil.
There is always salad. They either stuff it on the sandwich or you get it on your plate. The most popular salad is the "Çoban Salatasi" (or Shepherd's salad), a colorful mix of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion and peppers. Some also add mint leaves or coriander to it.
Soups or "Çorba" are very popular and we've been particularly enjoying the "Mercimek Çorbasi" (lentil soup).
It ıs never a bad time to get a döner kebap - strips from a vertical spit of compressed meat or chicken and mixed with tomatoes and lettuce and stuffed into a pocket of bread.
"Pide" is the local pizza and they bake them in the shape of a kayak. The best one we've tried is the mixed one, with veggies and minced meat.
Steve has fallen in love with two things: 1- "Köfte" (square shape meatballs - super tasty!) and 2- "Iskender Kebap", a plate full of kebap meat mixed with chunks of flat bread, a pile of natural yogurt on the side and topped with tomato sauce. Not so bad for a guy that as a kid had to be braved by his mom to eat anything but hot dogs! can you believe he didn't like pizza either?. That's when my mother-in-law came up with the "No, thank you helping" which constitutes of a spoon-full of whatever was being served and I think it is a great way to get kids to at least try!
And talking about trying ... a few weeks back we went for dinner - and Steve is trying very hard to be adventurous when ordering food, but as most Americans, he doesn't eat innards. Reminding you that language is definitely a barrier, he pointed at a stew that looked really good. Half way through his dinner he asked me to try it, he wasn't sure of what it was. I instantly knew but played dumb and he must have realized it, he called the kid that was cleaning up tables and it only took for the kid to point at his liver for Steve to decide that his appetite had vanished.
I can't write about Turkish food without dedicating a couple of lines to desserts. Turks know how to make them and anyone with a sweet tooth is in deep trouble here. I'm more of a "lemon meringue pie" kind of girl but I have to admit that they have the best "baklava" and "pistachio baklava" I've ever tried, although they are extremely sweet.
Alfiyet Olsun! (Bon Appetite!)
Gaby
I usually take cooking courses in every country we visit, food is such an essential component of each culture and says so much of the people that I find it fascinating (plus let's be honest, Steve loves it when we are home and I cook something that I learned in our travels!).
So these are some things that we've enjoyed so far.
Most of our breakfasts consist of fresh home made baked "Ekmek" (bread), jam or honey, black olives, slices of cucumber and tomato, watermelon, a hard boiled egg, "Beyaz Peynir" (a super fresh feta cheese) and lots of "Çai" (tea - some Turks claim that it's normal to have about 20 cups a day) it is served in a small tulip shape glass.
For lunch , snacks or dinner you can find "Gözleme", which is a thin pancake, more like a mexican tortilla, filled with cheese, spinach, potato with mint sauce or mushrooms, your choice! They actually cook this on a concave griddle over an open fire.
You can also go for "Mezze" (or Tapas). Although most tımes you get to choose the ones you want, some restaurants have the combination ready. Some of our favorites are: "Baba ghanooj", a puree of grilled eggplants with tahini and olive oil and "Yaprak Sarma" (or Dolmeh), vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat and slow cooked in olive oil.
There is always salad. They either stuff it on the sandwich or you get it on your plate. The most popular salad is the "Çoban Salatasi" (or Shepherd's salad), a colorful mix of chopped tomatoes, cucumber, onion and peppers. Some also add mint leaves or coriander to it.
Soups or "Çorba" are very popular and we've been particularly enjoying the "Mercimek Çorbasi" (lentil soup).
It ıs never a bad time to get a döner kebap - strips from a vertical spit of compressed meat or chicken and mixed with tomatoes and lettuce and stuffed into a pocket of bread.
"Pide" is the local pizza and they bake them in the shape of a kayak. The best one we've tried is the mixed one, with veggies and minced meat.
Steve has fallen in love with two things: 1- "Köfte" (square shape meatballs - super tasty!) and 2- "Iskender Kebap", a plate full of kebap meat mixed with chunks of flat bread, a pile of natural yogurt on the side and topped with tomato sauce. Not so bad for a guy that as a kid had to be braved by his mom to eat anything but hot dogs! can you believe he didn't like pizza either?. That's when my mother-in-law came up with the "No, thank you helping" which constitutes of a spoon-full of whatever was being served and I think it is a great way to get kids to at least try!
And talking about trying ... a few weeks back we went for dinner - and Steve is trying very hard to be adventurous when ordering food, but as most Americans, he doesn't eat innards. Reminding you that language is definitely a barrier, he pointed at a stew that looked really good. Half way through his dinner he asked me to try it, he wasn't sure of what it was. I instantly knew but played dumb and he must have realized it, he called the kid that was cleaning up tables and it only took for the kid to point at his liver for Steve to decide that his appetite had vanished.
I can't write about Turkish food without dedicating a couple of lines to desserts. Turks know how to make them and anyone with a sweet tooth is in deep trouble here. I'm more of a "lemon meringue pie" kind of girl but I have to admit that they have the best "baklava" and "pistachio baklava" I've ever tried, although they are extremely sweet.
Alfiyet Olsun! (Bon Appetite!)
Gaby
1 comment:
How interesting!!!
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