It’s All About Food

Monday, 15 August 2016
Alsancak, İzmİr  — Turkey
Temps: Hi 92F (33C) / Lo 72F (22C)

It’s been two weeks since I left Mui in Eskişehir with his mom and sister, and returned to İzmir to spend time with my mom and sister.

Truth be told, we haven’t done much outside the house.  With the temps ranging from 96F to 102F (36C to 39C) it’s been much too hot to spend time outdoors.  That changed a bit this weekend … a cold(ish) front came through, dropping the temps down a bit.  Not for long, I’m sure, but we’re delighted to get a respite from the overwhelming heat.

Looking back on what we did do, however, everything revolved around food in one form or another.  Make sure you’ve already eaten before you proceed with browsing through this post :-)

We wrap up lunch at B’ready with a yummy double-chocolate brownie and uniquely presented, refreshing sour cherry iced tea.

Breakfast in Turkey is like no other anywhere else in the world.  It’s a feast that consists of a selection of small dishes shared family-style.  These breakfasts are known as serpme, a word that essentially means “sprinkled” … an appropriate description for the way the tapas-like dishes are sprinkled around the table.  Add to these dishes things like cream and honey, cooked-to-order eggs, sucuk [Turkish sausage], fresh breads and pastries, and gözleme [a type of flatbread filled with various savory toppings] … well you can understand why I describe breakfasts in Turkey as a feast.

Breakfast at Turkuaz Café in Ildır on a lovely Saturday morning.

An outing to Urla this past Saturday held a surprise in store for us — a harvest festival.  The town square was filled with kiosks where locals were selling goods ranging from handcrafted items and throw rugs to fresh-from-the-field produce.  After wandering around and buying some produce to take home with us, we wrapped up our outing with lunch at a small eatery that serves food cooked home-style.

Meatballs in a tangy broth at Ömre Bedel Yemekler [roughly “Food Worth Your Life”].

One last meal worthy of a mention in this post … an early dinner at Veli Usta Balık Pişiricisi [fish restaurant].  While we all enjoy the fish dishes on offer at this restaurant, we tend to order a variety of meze [Turkish tapas] instead … that’s what happened again this time.

Left: Murat’s plate with [clockwise from the left] sun-dried mackerel; purslane and
yogurt salad; octopus; roasted eggplant dip; a typical Cretan dip made with cheese, pine
nuts, olive oil, and garlic; marinated perch; and shredded carrots.  All yum-yum good.

Right: grilled calamari rings … much tastier (not to mention healthier) than deep fried.

I think I made your mouth water enough, don’t you think ;-)

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