Glorious Gourmet Gluttony - Turkey, Winter 2007 Part 6
(Almost) Everything I ate in Istanbul - Winter 2007 - Part 6 
The next night, my friends' and family's Kebab House of choice was visited. Yusuf Usta, the owner, proves us AGAIN that his dimly-lit, badly decorated, poorly ventilated kebap house makes the BEST kebabs you can eat in Istanbul. A quick de-ja-vu of dishes: Patlican Salata: 
Fire roasted eggplant and red pepper salad, 
Gavurdagi, freshly chopped, salsa-like salad of tomatoes, white onions, peppers, parsley, pepper flakes, lots of olive oil, and pomegranate mollasses. 
Tahinli Ezme: A thick paste made out of tahini, garlic, parsley and olive oil, sprinkled with sumac and hot pepper flakes. I wouldn't mind being hooked up to this particular dish intravenously on my deathbed. 
Haydari: Thick, strained yogurt with chunks of cucumbers and mint. 
Cig kofte: The ultra-traditional dish of southeastern turkey where raw, minced lamb meat is kneaded with LOTS of hot pepper flakes, parsley, cumin, other spices and lemon juice. The heat of the pepper and the acidity of the lemon juice slightly cooks these morsels of sin, and they are traditionally served inside a lettuce leaf. 
Findik Lahmacun (A smaller version of what I had at KONAK, a mini- cheese pide, and an "Icli Kofte" kick off the hot dishes. 
Icli kofte is another traditional southern dish. Little balls of minced lamb meat is mixed with walnuts, cumin, and onions, and then sealed with cracked wheat and pepper flakes. Depending on the region and season, these are either flash fried or boiled right before serving. The boiled kind, (pictured) is my favorite by far, and it is quite hard to come by. 
Next morning, still feeling the aftershock of the meal from the night before, we head to a small coffee shop in Bebek called "Happily Ever After". Peculiar name,.. 
...and even better brownies... 
...make sure that we don't stuff ourselves too much before the highlight of our day at my grandmothers house later on: 
A MEGA-ULTRA traditional, micro-freakin' regional, 'my-forefathers-had-this-same-thing' kind of experience awaiting at my grandmothers kitchen: A classic of the black sea region, the "Hamsili Pilav" ... 
Hamsili Pilav is an oven baked rice dish that is made with a kind of fish that is indigenous to the Black Sea, Hamsi. It's larger than smelt, yet smaller than Sardines. It's fatty, somewhat chewy and very fishy. A base of these little guys cover the bottom of the pan, A thick layer of pilav made with butter, lots of black pepper, and little raisins is poured over, and then another layer of Hamsi is layered on top of the rice, basically completely sealing the rice with filets of little fish. This magnificent sight is then baked in the oven for a couple of hours until the top is crispy. Drizzled with a few drops of lemon juice, this also becomes one of those things that is better left unexplained, only experienced. The End.
