I have been documenting my food-related experiences during my visits to Turkey for the past 3 years,
and finally I was able to publish these in a visual-essay format.. Enjoy:
Glorious Gourmet Gluttony - Street Edition, Turkey
Here we go again.
I start my trip with something I had been craving since I had landed in Istanbul: Doner. Traditionally large, thin layers of lamb and beef are skewered on a giant rod, and roasted vertically over charcoal fire. This version is served inside a pide, a puffy, yeastless, oven-baked bread, with slices of tomato and pickles as garnish. And remember: NO SAUCE. Thousand years of culinary progress brought this meat to its naked perfection. It does not need SAUCE.
Next day a few old friends and I decide to do some late night eating. These 'bufe's offer near-24 hour street food eating convenience in Istanbul. Although their menus have gotten a bit convoluted with different items trying to please everyone's palates, it's still good, round the clock eating..
My friend Mert and I share a midye tava sandwich, deep-fried mussels dressed with a creamy garlic sauce and served inside a crusty quarter loaf of bread. Most people will not eat mussels around Istanbul, because of its reported high mercury content. I, my friends, proclaim that the best mussel is still served in Istanbul, and until the government or my melting brain stops me, I'll be enjoying these tasty bivalve molluscs..
..'community' hot peppers to put on whatever. Similar to banana peppers, except a bit hotter..
Translation: French Fries. 1 portion: 3 YTL, inside half loaf of bread: 2.5YTL. ... and NO, a plate full of frites stuffed inside half loaf of bread is NOT traditional turkish food, and i doubt it's traditional ANYTHING.
A day later, another street food classic in Turkey: Buttery white rice pilav with chickpeas, topped with shredded roasted chicken pieces. Later I found out that this 'meat-over-rice-pilaf' combination was the very first traditional and indigenous dish from the early Ottoman cuisine. Pretty much everything else was added later on by other cultures the empire contained. Ayran, the traditional salty yogurt drink accompanies.
A visit to the restauran "Sofyali," which is famous for its small plate 'mezes'.
Fava bean puree with olive oil and dill (Left), and 'pasa mezesi,' a combination of feta cheese, chopped walnuts, and roasted peppers. "Pasa mezesi" translates to 'General's Meze," which shows a strange Turkish preoccupation / belief that if a high-ranking military official likes to eat something, it has got to be good.
Fresh "ezme," finely chopped tomatoes, hot peppers and onions, topped with olive oil and pepper flakes. On the right, "Deniz Borulcesi," a salad whose main ingredient is a kind of sea weed that grows wild in the Mediteranean. It tastes like the sea and is delicious.
Otlu Peynir (mix of blended cheeses with fresh herbs), and Hummus.
..of course accompanied by Raki, the anise seed flavored grape alcohol.
..arugula salad with tomatoes. which reminds me.. not to get eastern-euro-centric on anyone, but what most people eat in the United States as tomatoes are NOT tomatoes. Compared to these counterparts, they are round little red balls filled with sand and slime. These tomatoes have the ability to overwhelm your senses with flavor.
.. the name of this pastry escapes me, but I remember it being flakey, cheese, not unlike the Brazilian cheese biscuits (Pao de Queijo). Except they're better because they're Turkish. :)
...The next day I have a 'date'. A date with perhaps my favorite thing to eat, EVER: Lahmacun. When asked 'well-done', these crispy, thin-crust pastries topped with finely minced lamb meat, onions and spices become my favorite nap-inducing dish ever. It's traditionally served with stems of parsley, sumac marinated red onions and a slice of lemon.
A simple "Domatezli Kebap". Chunks of the same lamb meat skewered along with the same incredible tomatoes i talked about, and served with bulgur wheat pilav, more parsley, lettuce, grilled hot green peppers, and...
...lavash bread smeared with the kebap's drippings and red pepper flakes.
.. which then can only be properly washed down by tart black tea and.. well.. backgammon.
...a few days later on Istiklal Caddesi (perhaps Istanbul's busiest street), I find another one of my favorite things being sold on the street by a vendor...
...who has been selling these deep fried balls of bulgur wheat filled with minced lamb meat, walnuts, parsley, and red pepper flakes since the early 70's. This was the best one i have ever had. Slightly warm, with some melt-in-your-mouth action.
..we pass by a street vendor selling 'Kavurma," which is that conical hunk of meat conisting chunks of sheep meat (all parts, all kinds) and fat. It's then rendered down on a grill either by itself or with tomatoes and green peppers.
..another street vendor selling charcoal-roasted corn on the cob.. Again, no sauce, no cheese, nobutter. Only the now-heightened-by-coal-fire flavors of the corn itself..
That night I tried something that I had been curious about since childhood: Buzda badem.(Literally : almonds on ice)
Usually in places where there is a lot of restaurant traffic, these traveling salesmen walk aroundwith a tray of fresh, chilled almonds sitting on ice. Later I was informed that they are knownto be one of the best accompaniements to Raki during long dinners with lots of drinking and conversation.
When we were done with our meal, we ran into this advertising sign for a bar, which reads (when translated from slang to slang) : "Hold off dude, let's get a mojito."
That same night witnessed the carefree guzzling of lots of different kinds of alcohol, which impaired judgement, which in turn resulted in the carefree post-drunkeness consumption of this street food: the ISLAK (wet) BURGER. Now this might not look all that intimidating, but it is pretty much agreed even among most adventurous eaters that this is one of the sketchiest, and most risky street foods you can consume: Inside a burger bun, an unknown mixture of ground meats and spices are SMEARED RAW, and then grilled inside a panini press. The whole thing is then basted with deluded tomato paste. No one knows where the meat comes from, and the meat mixture has been reported by my dear friend Eren as being transported in a container that used to contain silicate / plaster sealant for heavy construction. How's it taste? Delicious.
..only heavy Ayran can offset the construction residue..
...aaand next morning we fly to southwestern Turkey, Izmir. On our way to the town of Alacati, we stop at Urla. A little bit of questioning of locals about where to eat leads us to this small 'fish house' at the town square. One of the local fishermen's wife runs this little shop where you get to have all the fresh catches of the day, simply prepared for cheap..
First the Borulce Salad (the same sea weed salad we had at Sofyali, except WAY better and fresher here).
..roasted eggplant salad.. with nothing but a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and salt..
..fresh sardines marinated in lemon juice and rolled inside peppered olive oil..
and the glorious MIDYE DOLMA (stuffed mussels,) which the fisherman's wife had prepared 10 minutes ago before we arrived. In this CLASSIC, spiced rice (lots of black pepper) is stuffed into roasted mussels one by one and put back in the shells. With a drop of lemon juice this is seafood crack.
..we also tasted some things that I never had before, like this dish called "Subye Yumurtasi". We learn that it is Squid roe, simply pan fried with butter and pepper flakes. The giant-maggot-like appearance might be unappetizing, but it was buttery in texture, and surprisingly mild in term of fishiness.
Here it is: The BEST Octopus i have ever had. Fresh off the boat, the octopus legs are first grilled over charcoal and then quickly tossed in a pan with LOTS of butter. Result: the tenderest, tastiest squid I ever had.
..a local fish called 'Patlak Goz' (Blown Eye) for it's large size eyes, simply grilled.
..and also tekir (baby red snapper, i believe)..
..next day in Alacati we are treated to Mucver, a balkan classic, which are incredibly tasty fritters made from shredded zucchini, mint and dill. Garlic yogurt with toasted pinenuts accompany.
..as the main course i decide to go light (!) and order the mackarel salad...
The next night, we arrive in Ciftlikkoy, which is home to a very old fish restaurant called Langusta, which actually takes its name from the kind of shellfish it traditionally serves. The octopus salad is seen here, with bits of parsley and pepper flakes.
a traditional greek meze. I believe the name is Niko, with a pickled pepper paste..
roasted peppers in yogurt sauce, topped with deep-green olive oil..
and this local sheep's milk cheese that stank up the whole restaurant. Even though it was a fairly young cheese, the fact that it was aged inside a 'bag' made of a skinned coat of a goat made it stink to high heavens. Yum : I
