I do not about know your house, but sure mine does not have two lovely ladies sitting infront making swiss chard dolma… They giggled when I took their picture, invited me over for dinner. In Anadolu, it is very common to gather around for preparing food, gossiping about the latest…
It is around midnight, when the büryan ovens are light up in Bitlis. There is only smoke in the dark streets of the city. Bitlis has its own pace, like all the Anatolian cities. The büryan restaurants open at 5.00 a.m and close around 11.00 a.m. It is very hard…
It is that time of the year. When the sun softly touches your back, a lovely wind carrying all the earthly and flowery smells. It is time to hit the road, to Aegean Coast, where all the hills are covered with daisies, edible wild greens, ladybugs, wild flowers… Yalıkavak pazarı…
Gazoz! Before Coca Cola ruled the world and hacked Turkey, most of the cities in Turkey had their own soda pop brands. Mostly vanilla, some has orange, mandarin, cherry flavors as well. Like local Schweppes. All in glass, 200ml or 250ml bottles. I came across this one at Safranbolu, Kastamonu. Bağlar…
Şanlıurfa is a city that never sleeps, not for the partying though, for eating! The liver stalls go on 24-7. The famous ciğerciler -the liver grillers- yelling out or sitting in front of the mangal -the mini bbq-, chatting with their customers, scattered around the city, on the pavements. Şanlıurfa pepper…
Funny enough my friends around me have been asking me to make kısır for them, like all my life… It started in high school as far as I remember, being alone at home frequently, I had the whole gang at home shooting tequilas, singing and sometimes studying. Those study days…
This is what we had for breakfast, back in Artvin. They like their döner to have thicker layers then in Istanbul, Ankara and elsewhere I know. The meat has a unique taste, because of all the delicious wild herbs and grass the herd feeds on… One of the best döner…
All you need is in a single bite; comforting taste of the bread -tırnaklı ekmek- just baked at a local wood-burning oven, the velvety texture of the chickpeas, the crunchiness of onion, the hot Urfa pepper flakes and the fresh taste of parsley. A bite of perfection…
5.00am, first buzz, snooze. 5.15am again then jumped out of bed around 5.30am remembering why! I was on my way to Ali Haydar for morning liver kebab! How could I forget! I took a taxi and at 6.00am and one minute later I was in front of the small, smoky,…