Never Hungry in Turkey

At our local Finike market, these women worked hard, making delicious ultra thin crepes filled with cheese, spinach or mushrooms.  They worked all day but still had time for a bit of fun for a picture.

It is amazing how provisioning (read eating) takes a primary role in our lives.  And it is fun!  When we get to a new anchorage, part of our exploration is the selection in the local supermarket.  What new treats does it have?  What familiar foods are available?  

The best, by far, wherever we go is the farmer's market and local street food.  Here's a tour of what  Turkey has to offer.

We travelled to our neighbouring town's market, Kumluca, by local bus to try something a little different.   Honey, olive oil and various ground nuts at this booth.  Honey sold dripping on combs.  We bought a pine honey - the bees feed on pine nectar.

The simit man at our local market.  He carries his table on his shoulder and his simits on his head very neatly arranged, just so.  Simits are like thin, sesame clad bagels.  Fresh, they are delicious!  On a rainy day, the simit man covers his treasure in plastic.

The simit man is very short.  His legs move quickly in short, fast steps, over curbs, through puddles, while his head stays motionless.  

These sausages are beef, not pork.  Pork is almost impossible to come by in Turkey, although our friends did know of a wild boar vendor in Fethiye.  But sausage of a highly processed, bright pink variety is available. Not sure what this guy was selling.  We didn't try it.

On our Turkish road trip that I have yet to blog about, this bazaar in Gaziantep was incredibly entertaining and colourful.

A special hot mulberry juice sold by this guy with a specialized thermos on his back and the spigot at his waist.  I purchased a glass and passed it around.  It was supposed to improve digestion, eye health, lower cholesterol, aid in weight loss, boost immunity etc.

Colourful spices heaped in pyramids always look attractive but time has been spent on the one on the left.  It's a fashion plate.  The mound of nuts beside it are pistachios waiting to be made into baklava - a specialty of the city.

We gorged - and then regretted it - on an assortment of not-so-sickly-sweet, fresh baklava.  The variety on the same theme  was amazing and overflowing with pistachios.

Hanging like Christmas decorations, necklaces of hollowed and dried aubergine, peppers, tomatoes and zucchini, are waiting to be filled with some rice mixture.  I thought they'd be great on the boat but humidity would likely make them a lovely home for mould.  

This market had every plant part available for any ailment you can think of.  Admirable was that every part had a purpose. There was very little waste.  Even cherry stems were dried and good for something or other.  Our tour guide was a firm believer in tea concoctions for what ails us.  She was determined to treat the food poisoning that half of us suffered from later in the trip with a tea of some sort.  Problem was, we had no appetite for an unknown flavour at the time.

We finished off our trip to the bazaar with a wild pistachio berry coffee served in a coffee house in a cave.   The roasted berries are ground into a paste.

Caves are dark so this doesn't show well.  It is a ornate cup, carved cup and saucer with lid for the small cup of caffeine-free "coffee" inside.  Thick and a little creamy.  

Nothing like fresh bread right out of the wood oven.  Hopefully, the guy squatting has clean shoes!

Bushels of pistachios  - roasted, with or without salt - outside the baklava cafes.

And then a demonstration of rolling out the tissue paper thin pastry for baklava.  Progress was made from thicker to thin super smooth dowels with an upper body workout by this baker.  He was bathed in sweat by the end.

One sheet of baklava pastry at the end of the process.  The dowel has many sheets rolled around it with a dusting of special flour between.

It felt like silk!  After all that work, he munched it all up into a ball and discarded it.  Good to know that  all our hands were not considered hygienic enough for the finished product.

Turkish people drink an incredible amount of tea.  If we ever had to spend more than a few minutes in a shop, we were offered tea as we waited or were being served.  No wonder you can purchase tea leaves in such huge quantities.

Freshly picked almonds.  The pod, later shell, is soft and pliable.  The almond inside is also soft and sweet.

An array of sweets, nuts, dried fruits are at every market.

The spice market in Istanbul.

Not edible but just as colourful as fruit is fruity soap.  

Istanbul, the biggest city in Turkey, also had the biggest piles of baklava.  Each pastry store along the pedestrian street  tried to make a castle of pastry bigger than their neighbours.

Doners are everywhere in Turkey - a cheap and tastey street food in chicken, beef or lamb - but nowhere bigger than Istanbul.

The fish boats in Istanbul in the Golden Horn.  Fish and bread is a famous dish - not sure exactly why. 

Perhaps it's the idea of getting a lightly breaded fresh fish grilled on these ornate boats and served at the simple street side tables.  A thin slice of fish on a hunk of bread was all it was.

Alican introducing Tom to limits fresh from a roving street vendor.  The best!

Tea served to Tom and I as we perused the sweet shop for nuts in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

A slow-cooked stew served in individual ceramic pots and heated in fire table-side for the show.    It was a served with drama.

Turkey had no shortage of interesting edibles.  We have missed photos of the double tea kettles which puzzled us.  And lahmacun, a simple street food that we often had for lunch - about $2.50 CDN a pop.  And so much more.  Some delicious, some not so much but all interesting!