I belong to a social media group of foreign women residing in Istanbul. One of the most common topics is the frustration women feel with their Turkish partners eating habits. Turks are famously Turkish cuisine centric and for the most part whole heartedly believe that their food is the best food in the world and …
Tag: Istanbul
Nixtamalized Corn Tortillas
It is an ongoing disappointment in my life that Istanbul has a very limited and mediocre international culinary presence. But that is a rant for another day. As a person who loves Mexican food, tacos in particular, this leaves a taco shaped hole in my heart. In the past year or so a handful of …
A day on the Bosphorus
The Bosphorus strait is a waterway which divides Istanbul separating the European side from the Asian continent. It also connects the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The shores of the Bosphorus are densely packed with restaurants, cafes, Ottoman mansions, parks, hotels and gardens …
Father-in-Law’s Garlicky Pickled Green Peppers
As mentioned in a previous post, my in-laws are currently staying with me and my father-in-law really enjoys going to the market. He likes to buy things in great quantity. Recently when he had the feeling that the price of potatoes and onions was going to go up, he started to stockpile kilos and kilos of …
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Şeker Bayramı, Sugar Festival!
Ramadan is finally finished and we are now into the 3 day holiday period known as Şeker Bayramı, or Sugar Festival. The name is given for all the candy that is handed out to children as they go door-to-door wishing their elders a ‘good Bayram.’ If I could make a cultural comparison I would say …
Spring Stinging Nettle Spanokopita
A tradition I love that is still going strong are the weekly vegetable markets that set up in neighborhoods across the city. Some of them block off streets, wreaking havoc on the traffic. Old ladies who may elbow you to get the best produce then toddle home carrying their hard won kilos of tomatoes, eggplants …
Homemade Corned Beef
When I was learning to cook in San Francisco I lived up the street from this hofbrau named Tommy's Joynt, it is an institution that has been around for 70 years, it serves ridiculously large portions of delicious corned beef, pastrami, ham and turkey among other things for an equally ridiculously low price. Whenever my …
The Pigeon Feeders
During a spring cleaning of my pantry I decided it was time to address the surplus of oat, buckwheat and flax seed I have from my previous life as a sometimes granola-baker. The solution I came up with was to make a bird seed blend. I recently read that there are 300 species of native …
Fire Roasted Peppers Marinated in Oil and Balsamic
One of the challenges that many of us face living in Istanbul is a lack of access to products that we are familiar with, ranging from books, tv programs, the kind of underwear you prefer, medicines you need and of course the types of food you love to eat. As much as you want to …
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Pickled and Fermented New Garlic
Every spring, for a week or two, our markets and bazaars are flooded with fat bulbs of fresh Black Sea garlic. Fresh garlic is great for so many things, but during this time, It’s nearly impossible to find dried garlic, the standard garlic we use in everyday cooking. Fresh garlic season has gotten me into …
Keshkek Meshkek 