Turkey is a country of
contrasts, and an example of how different cultures can meld together harmoniously.
Straddling Europe and Asia, everything about Turkey, ranging from its food and
culture, to the physical environment, is tinged with a stunning blend of the
East and West. Although some may wonder whether this has caused an identity
crisis, we feel that it has actually created a most amazing and unique identity
of all...
It was not our first time
visiting Turkey – in fact, we had visited 24 years ago in 1990, but needless to
say, bringing kids to places when they are 6 and 9 years old respectively is a
huge waste, because the only thing we remembered from the trip were the dirty
toilets on the ferryboat and a dancing bear.
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| In front of the blue mosque in 1990 |
A few of our observations
from the trip:
Turkish people are incredibly warm and genuine. Although most people we interacted
with spoke perfect English, even those who could not understand us would give
us a smile and try their best to help. I emphasize that they are genuine,
because they haven’t been jaded like locals in countries that see a large
influx of commercially-minded tourists. This phenomenon has made us hesitant to
recommend Turkey as a travel destination to other people, for fear of tainting
the innocence. Turkish people are generally fair skinned with dark hair
coloring and delicate features, giving them a somewhat exotic look but also a
way to almost blend seamlessly into any race.
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| Our adorable guide from the Culinary Backstreets of Istanbul tour |
Turkish food is a true ‘hidden gem’, with very little of the actual food eaten on
the streets and in mom & pop stores making it abroad. Some of our favorites
from the trip included borek (lasagna-like snack that is made by layering in
pastry dough and baked with white cheese, then cut up with slices of cooked
pasta sheets in the middle), pide (Turkish pizza), mezze (dazzling array of
spreads like hummus, eggplant, and pepper puree to be mopped up by an
ever-present supply of freshly baked Turkish bread), a thousand different types
of kebabs and wraps, menemem (Turkish scrambled eggs in skillet served at
breakfast), gozleme (a savory crepe-like snack that resembles a Chinese onion
pancake, baked over a hot clay stone and filled with spinach and cheese). In
addition, yogurt is used frequently, including as a topping on savory dishes to
offer a tangy flavor contrast, made into dips with herbs such as dill, and also
eaten as a snack or dessert when drizzled with honey. We were a big fan of the
Turkish yogurt! On the whole, Turkish food is light on the salt and seasoning,
with most of the flavors coming from the freshness of the ingredients as well
as the frequent dollop of yogurt or sour cream. Ironically, Turkish desserts
such as baklava, kunefe and trilece are so intensely sweet to the point of being
overwhelming, which contradicts the subtle flavors of their savory food. Due to
the amazing variety of indigenous Turkish foods, we noticed very little presence
of cuisine from other countries, and agree that there is hardly any reason for
them to exist! More details on Turkish food in the second to last section below.
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| Borek |
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| Gozleme |
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| Chicken and Iskender kebab at Kosap Osman |
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| Fish wrap at Furreyya |
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| Kaymak drizzled with honey |
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| Traditional breakfast spread |
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| Kunefe |
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| Baklava |
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| Trilece |
Specialization: During our ‘Backstreets of Istanbul’ culinary tour, we learned about
the incredible dedication that the Turkish people have to their specific trade,
with specialization down to the finest detail. It is not uncommon to have someone
practice a trade for his entire adult life. When we went to visit a restaurant
that prides itself in making Turkish pides, we found out that it was a 3-man
shop, with 1 man who was in charge of kneading the dough and sprinkling on the
toppings, 1 man responsible for throwing the dough into the oven for baking,
and the third in charge of cutting up the pide and putting it into delivery
boxes. This is what each person did all day, every day, for the last few
decades. Their exceptional dedication and attention to detail is astounding,
particularly in this day and age, where many people have trouble concentrating
on a single task for more than a few minutes at a time.
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| Left: Baker, Right: Topping sprinkler |
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| Cutter and packer |
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| Turkish pide (pizza) |
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| Similar division of duties by women making gozleme |
Turkish tea or ‘cay’ is a critical component of Turkish culture. It is brewed
strong, diluted with hot water, and served in clear vase-shaped glasses meant
to resemble the curvaceous shape of a woman’s body. Turkish people use tea time
to catch up with friends, conduct business negotiations and as a break during a
hot day. Each cup of tea is small (around 150ml) and 7-8 glasses are consumed throughout
the day. Coming from the US, where the smallest cup is at least 350 ml, Jie
found each portion of tea to be quite miniature. Drinking tea is such an
important part of doing business, that each ‘han’ or guild that houses
workshops and retail stores selling a particular type of good, must have a
teahouse where business dealings take place.
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| Cup of turkish tea |
Although not
consumed as frequently throughout the day, Turkish
coffee is also a strong fixture in the culture and is served in a small
espresso cup. Turkish coffee is very strong and is poured with the grains
inside the cup. After a cup of coffee is finished, it is turned over onto a
saucer to let the grains settle. A person’s fortune can then be read from the
coffee residue remaining at the bottom of the coffee cup. In fact, there is now
an app that people use to take a picture of the coffee residue and then sent to
a central processing team who can provide an analysis of your fortune. Jie and
Mei felt that this was a great marketing scheme on behalf of the coffee
companies, because our tour guide secretly admitted that although she was not a
coffee fan, she would drink many cups of coffee just to get the residue in
order to have her fortune read.
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| Coffee grain residue |
No other
aspect reflects the historical significance of Turkey better than its historical monuments. Turkey simply
bursts at the seams with historical artifacts, with alleyways lined with buildings
that are easily hundreds of years old, and glorious mosques scattered
throughout the skyline. The four main sites we visited in Istanbul were the
Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern and Topkapi palace. The Hagia
Sophia was in fact a Greek church that was then converted into a mosque after
Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. As a result, although the
outside architecture resembles that of a mosque, there are unmistakable
features of the original church that remain.
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| Blue mosque |
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| Hagia Sofia |
Turkey’s landscape is absolutely stunning. In Istanbul, Jie and Mei loved
walking around the city, enjoying both the cobblestoned streets as well as the
water’s edge. When crossing the Bosphorous over to the Asian side of Turkey on
a ferryboat, we were greeted with gorgeous views of the sparkling blue water
against the iconic Istanbul skyline.
Like many parts of Europe, Istanbul is
filled with winding, cobble stoned streets and open-aired cafes, which reminded
Mei of the plazas in Rome. However, nobody warned the sisters about the large number
of steps and steep slopes, so it was quite a work-out when moving around on
foot!
For the second half of the trip, Jie and Mei flew to Cappadocia, which is
a totally surreal environment, filled with strange limestone formations
spanning the entire region. It reminded Mei slightly of Arizona or the Grand
Canyon, and made for unforgettable views when suspended in a hot air balloon
(which is a must-do!). Influenced by the unique terrain, many residences were
built into caves, and we in fact stayed at a cave hotel! There were also many
underground dwellings that were used by the Christians to hide from the Romans.
During a tour of Argos Cappadocia, a high-end resort hotel in the town of Uchisar,
the manager advised us to use the ‘Transfer Filter’ option on our iphone when
taking a picture inside cave. This ended up making all of the difference in the
world! We also learned that caves have naturally regulated temperature inside
and it is always 13-15C regardless of how hot or cold it is outside. As a
result, they make for perfect wine cellars as they can keep wine at the appropriate
temperature every day.
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| At a rooftop in Istanbul |
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| Galata Tower |
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| Cappadocia hot air balloons |
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| Cave hotel |
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| Cappadocia |
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| Cappadocia |
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| Cappadocia Goreme open air museum |
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| Cappadocia |
The Evil Eye is everywhere! It is actually
supposed to serve as an amulet to ward off evil spirits (or what is known as
the ‘evil eye’). There are trinkets, jewelry and decorations adorned with the
Evil Eye icon everywhere. It became a game for us to spot the Evil Eye whenever
we entered a room as it was usually always present in some capacity.
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Evil eye trinkets
Bazaars and markets: This was definitely influenced from the Asian
side! The biggest markets are the Egyptian Spice market which sells a dazzling
array of spices, dried fruit, nuts, Turkish delight, candy and (of course),
spices near the historic town center. The Egyptian bazaar reminded Jie and Mei
of the Taiwanese night markets except it was indoors, and the crowd was definitely
very different. Istanbul also has the Grand Bazaar, which is one of the oldest
and largest covered markets in the world, selling trinkets, jewelry, and mostly
non-food items. Lastly, we also visited a wet market on the Asian side, which
was reminiscent of the wet markets found in Asia, selling fresh fruits, meats
and vegetables.
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| Turkish delights |
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| Fabrics sold outside the Egyptian Spice market |
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| Teas at the Egyptian spice market |
Religion
is fairly open and provides the freedom for each person to choose how to practice
their faith. There is a call to prayer five times a day, and the majority of
Turkish men will gather their carpets and kneel down to pray during this time.
The acceptance of varying degrees of religious practice is also evident in
women’s fashion. In a store window selling swimwear near the Grand Bazaar, we
saw one mannequin wearing a bikini while the other wearing a fully covered
number, reflecting the diverse range in practices. In addition, women are free wear
headscarves as they please, and drinking alcohol is common practice.
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| Store window |
Turkish baths reflect the Roman and middle eastern influence. Our experience taking
one happened in Cappadocia, where we decided to go one afternoon after a hot
day of exploring the rocks and underground cities. Turkish baths are taken in
‘hamams’, which are stone buildings that have a common/central area and smaller
rooms attached on the side. Traditionally, hamams were used by Turkish ladies
to scope out potential wives for their sons, since that was the only time they
could assess a girl’s body. We started out by entering the main part of the
bathhouse, which is quite steamy, and into a separate sauna room connected in
the back. After steaming for a few minutes, we were told to go back into the
main area and lie on our backs to rest before we were summoned into a smaller
room with 2 massage tables. We then proceeded to go through a human car-wash:
Lying on our backs on the massage tables, 2 bathers (1 for each of us) entered
and used a scraper to scrub off our dead skin from head to toe. Mei had no idea
we had that much dirt on our skin (well maybe it wasn’t that much of a surprise
considering how much we walked outside!). After being thoroughly scrubbed raw,
a soapy towel released a thick layer of soap suds onto us, and the bather
lathered and massaged each of us thoroughly. Afterwards, the bubbles were
rinsed off and we were told to go back into the main room to rest and rinse off
some more. Overall, we found it to be a very relaxing experience, although we
heard that the bathers at some of the Turkish bath houses were these enormous
men who were quite rough.
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| Turkish bath house 'Hamam' in Urgup |
Protests and young people: At the time of our visit, there was a mining
accident where over 300 miners were killed. This had the entire nation in
mourning and spurred protests due to lax safety regulations and company
negligence. Although we did not witness any violent protests, we did see a
group of young adults march through the Asian side (Kadikoy) when we were
there, voicing their views. To our surprise and delight, the crowd was
supportive and many even applauded with their encouragement.
The Whirling Dervish is a unique spiritual act practiced by Dervishes of the Mevlevi order in Turkey. They perform a whirling ceremony through several phases, with the goal of praising the lord and participating in a conscious form of 'revolution', which is a natural state of being for the universe (an electron revolves around a proton and the earth revolves around the sun). This is a sacred ritual, and almost all dances are performed by performers instead of by the actual Dervish. We thought that the seven pieces of advice that the Mevlana followed were thoughtful guidelines to live by.
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| Whirling Dervish Ceremony |
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| Guidelines |
Fishing on the Galata bridge: One of the greatest puzzles we encountered on the
trip was the Turkish male obsession with fishing on the Galata bridge when
there seems to be no fish to catch! Nonetheless, it was a popular spot to set
up a fishing rod, and we suspected this was more of an excuse to enjoy the
ocean view and for the guys to escape from household chores on a weekend
afternoon.
Turkish words
are not easy! However, our tour guide at the Culinary backstreets tour was
fantastic and helped us remember how to say ‘Thank you’ (teşekkür ederim) by stringing together the
English words ‘Tea Sugar a Dream’ really fast.
Below are the details of
our itinerary:
· Day
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Date
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Activities
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Day 1 - Istanbul
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Saturday, 5/10
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-Arrive in Istanbul
-Dinner: Furreya (fish kebab): Serdar-i Ekrem Sok. 2,
Beyoglu or Karakoy Lokantasi: Kemankes Cad. No : 133 Karakoy, Istanbul,
Turkey (Beyoğlu)
-Dessert: Karakoy Gulluoglu
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Day 2 - Istanbul
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Sunday, 5/11
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-9:00 Blue Mosque
-10:00 Hagia Cistern
-11:00 basilica cistern
-12:00 Topkaki palace
-1: lunch at Kasap Osman
-Short Bosphorous circle cruise: 14:30-16:30
-5:00 pm head over to Egyptian spice market
-Dinner at Naif restaurant (this was so-so)
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Day 3 - Istanbul
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Monday, 5/12
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-9:30-3 pm Grand bazaar culinary eats food tour
-Galata Bridge
-Dinner at Durumzade (Turkish wrap) near Taksim Square
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Day 4 - Cappadocia
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Tuesday, 5/13
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-Depart for Cappadocia
-Red Tour
-Dinner at Ziggy's
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Day 5 - Cappadocia
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Wednesday, 5/14
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-Cappadocia hot air balloon ride
-Blue Tour
-Wine tasting at Argos
-Dinner at Elai in Uchisar
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Day 6 - Cappadocia
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Thursday, 5/15
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-Full day tour (green tour)
-Turkish bath in the afternoon
-Whirling Dervish ceremony in Saruhan Carevanserai
-Dinner at Sofra in Urgup, dessert next door
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Day 7 - Istanbul
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Friday, 5/16
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-Dinner at Furreyua
-Shisha by Galata tower
-Dessert at Karakoya Gulluogulli
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Day 8 - Istanbul
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Saturday, 5/17
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Depart Istanbul
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Hotels:
Istanbul
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Sub Hotel
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Cappadocia
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Serinn House Cave Hotel
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Other general observations
and tips:
Cappadocia was definitely
eye-opening and a must-visit. We highly advise going on the Hot air balloon!!
We joined these day tours arranged through our hotel by Rock Valley tours: http://www.rockvalleytravel.com/and
it seemed to be the most common thing to do by travelers in the region. The
tours are pretty small (around 10 people, sometimes less) and most travelers
come from US/Australia/Europe so it’s interesting to meet different people
along the way.
In Istanbul, we normally
got around by foot or metro and it is very convenient. The historical sites
(Blue mosque, Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern, Topkapi palace) are all within
walking distance from each other and can be done in ½ a day. I don’t think you
need to do the full Bosphorous cruise (where the ferry goes up and down the
Bosphorous), because for 3 Turkish Lira (1.5 USD), you can take the ferry from
the European side over to the Asian side and get a great view while you are at
it.
There are many steep
roads and steps, so it is important to wear comfortable shoes! Also, trams and
cars appear frequently on the roads, so it is important to always look both
ways and pay attention to prevent getting run over.
Things to buy in Turkey:
Dried fruit & nuts (particularly dried apricots and figs), they also make
amazing nut-butters and our hotel gave us some sample-sized home-made nut
butter to take home. Some people also choose to buy turquoise and Turkish tea
sets
Turkish food in Detail:
- Breakfast
usually consists of Simit, a sesame
crusted bagel-like pastry or Pagaca, which is softer, slightly oilier pastry
and has a texture closer to that of a croissant. Breakfast is typically
accompanied with white cheese, cucumbers, olives and kaymak, a thick block of
clotted cream that is drizzled over with honey and served with the bread.
- Menemem is
Turkish scrambled eggs with tomato and peppers, served in a skillet
- Havla is
a block of sesame paste with nuts inside, and resembles a nougat
- Turkish delight is very sweet a gelatinous substance often filled with pistachio nuts
and sometimes dusted with powdered sugar or coconut flakes
- Dried fruit is popular, including figs and apricots. Nuts including macadamia,
hazelnut, cashew nuts, walnuts and apricot nuts are widespread.
- They have the
most amazing home made nut butter
- Bread
is served with every meal, and takes the shape of either a flat pizza-like pita
bread or crusty baguette-like slices
- Mezze
(dips), including hummus, yogurt dip, pepper and eggplant puree were some of
our favorite things to eat
- Gozleme
is a savory crepe-like snack that resembles a Chinese onion pancake, and is
baked over a hot clay stone and filled with either spinach or cheese
- Pide
is the Turkish version of pizza, which is usually smaller, oval-shaped and
topped with either cheese or a mix of cheese and minced meat.
- There are many
different kebabs, including Doner
kebab (shaved from a big skewer of layered meat), iskender kebab (leaner meat
over bread cubes soaked in tomato and cheese sauce and served with a dollop of
yogurt)
- Durum
= wrap, and there are many different kinds, including those filled with chicken,
fish and doner kebab. The outstanding aspect of durums in Turkey are that the
wraps themselves are flaky and flavorful (forget the limp and bland tortilla
skins!)
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| Durum at Durumzade near Taksim |
- Borek (not Borat) is
a lasagna-like snack that is made by layering in pastry dough and baked with
white cheese, then cut up with slices of cooked pasta sheets in the middle.
This was also one our favorites.
- Kokorec (not cockroach):
Sheep intestines that is grilled on a spit with spices, chopped up and served
in the form of a sandwich. The Turkish joke that this is the main reason why
the EU refuses to let Turkey join.
- Çiğ köfte:
Raw meatball mixed with spices, wrapped with lettuce and drizzled with a lot of
lemon. When we visited this vendor, we were amused by how animated the man
would jump around and massage the raw meatball before picking out a fistful and
serving it to us on a lettuce leaf. That is passion!
- Wet burger
is like a soft, greasy slider with a thin piece of doner meat inside
- Manti:
Turkish mini raviolio topped with yogurt
- Fried liver with French fries (both of us tried this even though we hate liver!) Verdict: still not a fan, but the side of vegetables were good.
- Mussels stuffed with rice: ingenious way of preparing rice that is cooked
into a mussel shell and when opened, the shell also serves as a spoon to eat
the rice.
- Yogurt is
used as a side or topping for many dishes. Dill is also a popular herb to
flavor dishes. Thick Turkish yogurt drizzled with honey makes a great snack or
dessert
- Freshly
squeezed orange, grapefruit and pomegranate juice is everywhere
- Ayran – salty
yogurt drink
Restaurant highlights
- Kasap Osman near Eminomou (Iskender Kebab)
- Durumzade
near Taksim Square: http://istanbuleats.com/2009/04/durumzade-wrap-artists/
- Yasemin’in mutfagi hummus and eggplant near grand bazaar
- Ziggy’s in
Urgup: http://www.ziggycafe.com/
- Elai in
Uchisar (good mezze): http://elaicappadocia.com/site/
- Sofra in
Urgup (good chicken with rice and wrap)
- Argos in
Cappadocia (for wine tasting): http://www.argosincappadocia.com/EN/
Bye bye Turkey! We'll be back!
