Glorious Gourmet Gluttony - Turkey, Winter 2007 Part 4
Glorious Gourmet Gluttony - Turkey, Winter 2007 Part 4 (Almost) Everything I ate in Istanbul - Winter 2007 - Part 4
Next day, more meat. This is the FIRST establishment I can remember visiting as a child with my mother and my grandmother...
It's amazing to see that the simple combination of grilled meatballs...
...
...Piyaz (white bean salad with onions, lettuce and carrots dressed with oilve oil and vinegar) ...
and Ayran, the creamy yogurt drink not unlike a salty-lassi...
..has not changed since the first day I visited there as a 4 year old.
Of course the lack of anything interesting to look at in the interior only makes me love this kofte-shop even more.
A day later my family and I were invited to our old family friends' house for dinner. It was designed as an early new-years dinner, so the menu was conducive to long hours of eating, drinking and chatting.
Stuffed grape leaves,...
...home made hummus drizzled with melted, peppered butter...
...Another recipe for "Fava"...
...this time topped with red onions and parsley...
Just as we thought we were done eating, our host Afife whips out this giant roasted turkey..
..and serves it with almond-pilav and a ..
..."I-ve-never-eaten-anything-like-this" good chutney made with onions, raisins and dates...
As we approach the sub-35bpm heartrates, we finish the meal off with perhaps one of the most traditional Turkish desserts called "Asure". I have seen so many variations that to this day I am not sure about what it is at this point, but it tends to have a pretty thick pudding component that is then topped with all kinds of grains, nuts, fresh fruits, candied fruits and spices. Ever wonder how Sultans kept their Harems in check? This is it.
