Food Geeks

As some of you know, today is my birthday and I chose to spend it in Istanbul, like I did 2 years ago. A huge part of the draw here is the eating - just amazing Turkish food.  We signed up for a private food tour with Tuba Satana, a food writer, to get some inside information on Turkish food since we both love to cook it on our own, as well as as eat it in Turkey. 

 First we went to the sweets shop and Tuba explained the traditions surrounding sweets. We tasted some amazing lokum (Turkish Delight), made with fresh pistachios, rose petals and dried pomegranate seeds. We loaded up and then went to the fish market to see the local catch. The red gills are turned out to show how fresh they are (the gills should always be red. If they aren't, the fish is not fresh).

Next up was the offal butcher (think organs, tripe, sheep heads) and then the spice shop, where I loaded up on all kinds of special Turkish spices I use at home, extremely fresh and a fraction of the price they would be in California (if you could even find them).

Next was the pickle shop, where we sampled pickled plums, cranberries, beans and carrots, as well as the usual cucumber. Pickling has a long tradition in Turkey, and people drink the pickle juice as a refreshment on a hot summer day. Really!

Lamacun is a kind of flat bread with a very crispy crust, baked in a wood fired oven. Tuba took us to the best place for lamacun in town, where it has been made for generations for a pre-lunch snack. Delicious!

Finally it was to Ciya for a lunch of Anatolian specialties. There were so many dishes we had never tried before, we went crazy trying everything and were so stuffed, we could barely drink our zahtar (thyme) tea.

Tuba was great and taught us so much about food and culture here. It just made me appreciate it that much more!