Apple tea and street snacks

Part of the reason we were excited about coming  to Turkey was the food.  So many things we wanted to taste.  

This first part of our stay in Istanbul has been focussed on Sultanahmet.  Which is a terribly touristy area and probably not the best place to eat.  But even so, you can’t miss the things that make the locals smile.

And apple tea is, of course, one of the staple drinks.  As in China there is a complete ritual to Turkish tea preparation.  There are usually two pots: one atop the other.  The upper one is for the steeped tea, the lower for the water, appropriately boiled.  A small amount of steeped tea is poured into a tiny glass, usually outwardly curved, resting on its own saucer.  Water from the bottom pot is then added to correct the taste for individuals.  

Our first night in Istanbul we ate in a local Ottoman kitchen very close to our apartment.  Apple tea was on the house after our meal.  So far it is the loveliest tea we have tasted as the lady chef, and co-owner, sliced fresh apples into her brew and not only could you smell fresh apple but you could taste the tart sweet flavour of it. We promised to go back when we returned from touring the countryside.

Apple, dried, ready for tea.  Viagra, too.  

You cannot go too far without seeing something you want to eat — and eat right now.   On the square are the Simit sellers and the chestnut roasters who make a killing each day.   Simit are round pretzel-type snacks eaten at any time, often sliced horizontally and filled with chocolate and hazelnut spread.  They are softer than they look, and with just the right touch of sesame flavour.  

Roasted chestnuts are just as conspicuous, especially in April when there is still a lovely chill in the air.  The smell of these alone is irresistible and they are fatter and meatier than the chestnuts we find in England in winter.
  

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Food is arrayed from early morning.  Around the clock.  Massive quantities and variety are eagerly displayed to the passing public as it would have been in the Byzantine or the Ottoman era.  Great mounds of rice.  Puffs of mashed potato over meatballs topped with cheese, grilled golden.  Sliced grilled eggplant, smokey and rich.  Red peppers, roasted and sweet.  Chilis, long and green and spicy, burned black on the skin.  Cool quartered fresh tomatoes, fat buttery beans, and yoghurt as thick as whipped cream then tossed with mint. 

Early on, we found ourselves reaching for the salt often, but then after taking another bite, found that we didn’t need to add salt at all.   The perfect mouthful seems to be in the taking the right combination of food into your mouth: a briny olive with a wedge of tomato, a chunk of sharp salty cheese with a spoon of potato.  So far this is working.  

Feast for the feast

Pomegranates and oranges must be in season as you can’t walk a metre without running across a massive mound at a fresh drink vendor.  Drinks are made to order and with thousands of tourists passing on any day it is stunning that the vendors still use the old tough metal squeeze presses that take so much time and effort.  Though the flavour is straight from the fruit to your mouth: with no added sugar. 

Fresh pomegranate and orange drinks to go

The fruit of the pomegranate is so fat and swollen that, often there is no white pith to the fruit at all.  It is quite the reverse that we see in Australia.  I didn’t even know pomegranates could get this rich with fruit till now.

Fat juicy pomegranate

On our second day we caught the tram down to Eminönü on the water and found the bridge loaded with mackerel fisherman providing fish to chefs on the fishing boats, who were charring them for the public, making one of the most popular dishes in Istanbul, balik ekmek, which literally means ‘fish bread’.

We sat down on little stools around a street stall table set with a salt cellar and lemon juice.   A young tout sold us a packet of the ubiquitous hand wipes which was very welcome,  then one of the attendants provided us with our own package of a grilled mackerel fillet, topped with tomato, onion, and spices, over which we simply added lemon juice.  A lunch fit for a king.  

Delicious balik ekmek

We were heading out to Chora Church in the ‘burbs, by bus, and while crossing the square to the interchange we were stopped by our dessert: Loukomades.  These little circles of white dough dripping with honey were perfect.  Part of the legacy brought by the Greeks who once occupied so much of the coastal parts of Turkey, tho’, after the war, Ataturk had many relocated back. These street treats do them proud.  So very moreish.  

Had we wished for something sweeter there was a candy man offering his wares.  With amazing skill he could roll dripping ribbons of fine spun sugar about a wooden skewer, around and around, creating an elongated candy, swirling like a stained glass window with all its interwoven colours.  A work of sweet art which we will definitely try next time we see it. 

The Candy Man can

And finally, in late afternoon, tired and heading home we found watermelon slices on offer.  Great loaded vans of watermelons are visible all over the place this week.  Clearly in season.  These watermelons were chopped into slices, then chunked for us,  and served in little plastic bowl with forks to go: the perfect snack for when you don’t want to eat but feel like a pick-me-up.

I read somewhere that Turkey produces all its own foodstuffs.  What is wonderful is that it is all so fresh, and available: there, on the street,  just when you want it.  Not surprising in this wonderful Mediterranean climate.
  

Chopped watermelon

oooOOOooo