mmm wat'chya say(der)

Seder. Turkish Seder.

Just as the Jews made it out of Pharaoh's grasp, we made Passover dinner for 8 on a single hot plate. It wasn't quite as difficult as overcoming slavery and leaving Egypt with haste but... it had its challenges.

Matzoh ball soup (balls from scratch mind you) with chicken, potatoes, carrots, dill, onions, and other usual spices... Rotation of pots required. But it was still served hot. Passover magic.



Lamb. Lamb in Turkey is delicious. Marinated in rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, and kosher red wine. Then pan-cooked.



The table. Good food deserves a good environment.



Plastic cups and utensils at their holiest.





And of course, leftovers to be enjoyed. That meant a small container of lamb, potatoes, squash, mustard and olives on a sunny lawn near hungry cats earlier today, and then a charoset inspired snack -- matzoh spread with horseradish with sliced apples. mmmmm. That is part one of a delicious sandwich if you ask me...

thoughts for food

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet

-william carlos williams



(or was it lily gile lily?)

"A gourmand is one who is able to keep eating when no longer hungry..."

(not to toot my own horn, I know many share this passion, just a nice mixture of words).

But back to business! I have hinted at this before but never been explicit: MADO. Some of the greatest ice cream I have ever met...

Mado is over 200 years old, and though it is a chain, it is well-known as the best Ice Cream in Istanbul. Made with goats' milk and salep (a flour made from pulverized dried orchid roots, which contain many nutritious and embody starch-like properties). Salep is a popular drink in winter months, manifesting itself as a thick, creamy, milk-like beverage served warm with cinnamon. It is very rich but not too sweet. So this ice cream is not only thick and creamy but quite viscous. And the turks know how to flavor their i-cream; the sour cherry is actually sour, the chestnut is loaded with roasted nut pieces, the almond is salty, the pistachio is so strong... This place is the real deal folks.

Sour cherry and almond. See how that stuff stands up?

Now some junk.

Not too much needs to be said. Crispy, crunchy, light and spicy.

A pickle cart. Amazing.

Switching gears (pun intended, I know its a stretch).

On campus, there are numerous places to get a bite. We have some sort of snack stand in almost every building. After ceramics, boy was I jonesing for something savory. I stopped into the canteen for my favorite; a 1 lira (70 cents) mini sandwich. Delicious bread topped with anything from cucumber, white cheese, lettuce, tomato, bologny...

Mine was doused in mustard and pesto of course. I got the mini sandwich because this is what I REALLY wanted but needed something to tide me over while I cooked down an entire eggplant.

"Pseudo-Sultan's Delight"

By Lily the aspiring sultan

1. heat oil. add garlic. add a splash of balsamic. add some mulberry molasses. dream of a beautiful, rich, flavorful sauce that you created with NO recipe.

2. go do something, forget about it, remember it when you smell it burning.

3. put it on the window sill, scrape most of it out to the grass below (my compost initiative), but keep some because I generally like burnt food (if done correctly) and maybe it will flavor round two?

4. fingers crossed, add oil, more garlic, onion.

5. add sumak, parsley, tomatoes. salt.

6. add eggplant, more balsamic. then leftover canned green beans that you bought because you thought they were the eggplant dish you were inspired by, they are packed in tomato sauce so its all the same shiite.

7. wait and stir for like... 30 mins

8. add spinach. stir in to wilt

9. victorious! add some red pepper and salt, a dollop of thick yogurt and more pars.

Success. Warm, spicy, content.

As a parting note: A day at the market (this is only a piece of the glory I experienced).

The bread, olives and cheese are so good. They wouldn't sell my friend olives because he supported a certain soccer team. (I hooked him up).

Magic

Let us fry some prawn chips together and be amazed.

Boza Bonanza

Boza. Originating in central Turkey, this ancient drink made of fermented millet is now popular in many eastern European countries. After viewing some Byzantine Churches, we went to check this famous Boza spot out.

Served room temperature from a gorgeous, large marble bowl, Boza is extremely thick, has a mild flavor (lightly sweet), and provides a tingle to the tongue. It has a low alcohol content, explaining why Sultan Ahmet banned it for a number of years during is reign (party killer). Often served with roasted chick peas and a shake of cinnamon (two in my case), it is carb rich and keeps you full and ready to rock. If don't believe me, have a seance and summon Ottoman Empire soldiers. If boza kept them ready for war, why not me?!

Plus, rumor has it that Boza will make your breasts larger AND stimulates milk production... hmm....

I'm sure that's not why Ataturk liked the stuff, and he did, here is his Boza glass!

Versus my own. I wonder if they will encapsulate it too.

Final Verdict: I am always up for ancient foods, I love the vibe from this place (traditional meets disco), I was happy to slurp down one glass, but I probably will not crave it in the future.

week in review: round 2

week in review

Another busy week. Regularity to return starting... now.

step one: choose the fillings for the floury, doughy, over sized warm soft charred flat bread-crepe hybrid you will soon enjoy. I chose spinach and white cheese and red pepper flakes, duh.




step two: watch it be rolled, filled, sealed and placed on rounded dome to be heated, melted, melded. occasionally painted with olive oil.




step three: the warm stuffed dough is removed, and sliced into squares or rolled into a cone, to be enjoyed steaming hot.

It never stops, even if I do.

Sorry, if any of you care, that I have not been as punctual as usual.

Visitors, visitors, visitors. That means much more eating, but much less posting.

So --

We have the late night "wet burger" -- a specialty found throughout the city for those who need a burst of energy or just something warm and moist as the night winds down. This burger awaits you in a warm, moist chamber.




This pseudo-sloppy joe, not overflowing with ground meat but instead just filled with juicy hunks is manageable, soft, and pleasing. Won't spill onto your favorite going-out-fit, I can promise that... unless you are a real sloppy joe.

PS -- the wet burger is only improved when the burger man decides to add french fries and tomato to it. (not photographed). mmmm mmmmm !



Next, lets rock and roll with a delicious lunch, devoured near the Bosphorus on a rainy day. A nice Turkish sampler...




Comprised of: cucumber-tomato salad, stewed eggplant-tomato salad, roasted red peppers with walnuts, cous-cous balls (amazingly spiced, carefully shaped), a fried rice and lamb ball (I know there is a name but I'm really not in research mode right now, sorry), and two mussels (a common street food here, mussels stuffed with spiced rice, usually served chilled are squirted with lemon). This restaurant knew how to season -- each bite had much more to say than expected.

So I just had to shut up and listen.





That's the lamb/rice situation with some stolen tomato-y/oily yogurt from...




That's right friends! Fresh Manti !!! MM MM MM. You should have seen how he doused these soft, buttery babies in thick yogurt followed by a light tomato sauce. With plenty left over for bread dippin'. Success. Nothing like having a warm dumpling/ravioli in your mouth, honestly. Definitely achieved what mine lacked in softness and meatiness.


Finally, shamefully admitted -- my first tavuk doner ! (Chicken doner)
My faith in cheap food glows with pride. Delicious giant english muffin (that means REAL english muffin, not Thomas'; all the good qualities, none of the bad), freshly roasted chicken, it's rotating slowly for hours, tomato, onion. My simple request for cabbage and lemon kicked this baby up one more notch, in my opinion. Quite enjoyable, quite affordable. But where was the hot red pepper?





And with that, iyi aksamlar until the next.

PS: delicious vertically oriented meatballs for lunch.
PPS: Went to a gourmet grocery store, and got to taste a stuffed grape leaf (!), a cream puff, and a small chocolate cake full of pudding.

Istanbul rocks.

a shmorgasbord of delights

Four friends or four grilled fish? Don't make me choose.



Simple lemony salad, efes, Bosphorus.



It's cheap, whatever it is.



I just can't get enough.

A sandwish come true. Freshly grilled fish, cabbage, lemon, carrots, red pepper...


I like those fatty stripes.


Lamb feet, heads, or shoes?


I wish braids in my hair looked a little more like these...


A dry, crumbly, buttery, sesame'd street treat.


A bag of pistachios, beer nuts, fried corn ("corn nuts"), sesame coated peanuts, sugar coated roast chickpeas... Versus dried melon, grapefruit, orange and assorted rinds.


A view from the inside; outside of the spice bazaar, cradled in pleasant fragrances of cheese, olives and sausage, yells of busy salesmen echo one another.


Dried everything and anything.

"Breakfast of champions"

We all need one sometimes.



two fried quail eggs atop previously mentioned savory pastry, some leafy green with garlic, and leftover manti with a touch of tomato, yogurt, and jarred spicy eggplant, parsley, sumak and lemon!





Lunch; vegetables with oil, lemon, salt, pepper. Tomato/lentil soup served with lemon (the best). A tavuk durum -- HUGE, round, paper thin dough is charred and stuffed with chicken (tavuk), parsley, lettuce, tomato. With a little spoonful of soup to add extra flavor every few bites... This lunch was just rite.


Made homework a little more dynamic...

One meal per mosque

Popped over to Asia for a snack and a peek, woah my life sucks. Not.

Urdakoy! A quick ferry ride to a jumble of mosques, strange stores, markets, and stretch of Bosphorus-side walkways.

So, back to that snack...

Lahmacun: a round of dough, rolled construction-paper thin, topped with a tomato-based-spice-paste and quickly baked in a flaming oven. I've had my eyes on these babies for weeks.

Step 1. Watch her be rolled and patted while being stared at.




Step 2. Investigate soon to be spread paste.



Step 3. Wait anxiously for her to be retrieved from the over. She will be served steaming hot.



Step 4. Leap above and beyond language barriers and pantomime with grace and agility; order an ayran, and a spicy tomato salad. Sneak to counter to steal lemon and sumak. Return to table to enjoy.



mmmhmmm. Ayran, you had my heart from day 2. Over-sized radishes, you cool me with crispness. Spicy warm bread, e-nough said. Parsley, I love you now. (I made a quick soft cheese/spicy (canned) eggplant/lettuce/parsley/sumak sandwich for pre-lunch, and thought about how to describe my new love of parsley. I always thought it was a kind of tacky, a 'just throw it on' herb, always popping up without being invited in tuna salad and what not... but ... well, more on that later).



After extensive strolling and checking out two mosques, I require a pick me up.



Beautiful candies. They feel good in your mouth (it's the weird pointed shape and the fact that they are not too sweet, and one is big enough that you don't need 3 more (but I bought 6 beyond the one I got for free)). Think of amber and fossilized insects; instead we got colored sugar and fossilized hazelnuts, sesame seeds or nougat. Take that, Jurassic park.

But another mosque later, watching a cat dismember and enjoy a freshly caught fish, a seagull get speared by a local's hook, a game of backgammon, and such oriental activities...

A seafood snack.

Let me tell you that I am NOT afraid of a guy with mussels. Served chilled, this riced-and-spiced beauty packs a punch in one bite. With a big squeeze of lemon, 40 cents.



Then the classic fill-her-up-her.



With all the lettuce, onion, lemon and parsley a gal could need.




(Honestly, after all this, I am quite a bit hungry)