The Girl from the Golden Horn

My friend Jen nominated a book I was unfamiliar with for our Istanbook feminist book club, and it became my biggest guilty pleasure read of the year. 

The Girl from the Golden Horn, by Kurban Said, is a novel relatively unknown to most. It had been published in the 1930s and translated from the German. Truly, there are about two reviews of it online. We didn't have to blow dust off our Kindles obviously to read it, but if this book is sitting in libraries somewhere, I suggest it isn't getting its due. That's a shame, as it has much cross-cultural discernment to share with today's reader.

Are there so many novels that feature young female Ottoman intellectuals? I haven't run across another. The protaganist in this book, despite living in Berlin as an exile from her failed Ottoman Empire, had kept her identity and way of thinking as an Eastern woman intact, no easy thing in decadent European society of Berlin and Austria. The book follows her as she pursues her destiny, with agency. 

   

Contemplating:

is this the exact perfect spot

on Istanbul's Golden Horn

to hold our book discussion

of Kurban Said's book,

The Girl from the Golden Horn?

I think it will do, what do you think?

Who had the best view of the Golden Horn

on book discussion day?

Us or the sailboat?

What a magnificent expat experience!

We felt lucky to experience the setting, 

each other's company,

and the book all together.

Just as it would take a unique writer to portray both Ottoman society and Vienesse society so intimately in this book, we felt unique as readers reading a book we felt would be lost on, for example, most American readers back home. 

Jen had been posted to Vienna before she was posted to Istanbul, so you can imagine all of the insight she brought to this discussion from both societies. We had a great exchange of ideas. With three women from the West, and two from the East, there was a perfect number for a fascinating discussion. And here I will stop in my description -- so you get the same joy from the book as I did, knowing nothing about what would happen as I read.

Where is the female movie director from the East who will bring the heroine Asiadeh Anbara's story to the big screen? It's so cinematic!

Celebrating the City of Joy

My City of Joy movie posse,

Ladies from Global Minds and Istanbook book clubs

here in Istanbul

What a powerful evening last night was! Eight of us assembled for our film screening of The City of Joy, celebrating the work of the new Nobel Peace Prize winner, Dr. Denis Mukwege. He cares for women in the Congo who are victims of sexual violence that has occurred in pursuit of mineral wealth for famous global corporations. Also featured in the film were Congolese humanitarian leader Christine Schuler Deschryver and fundraiser/playwright Eve Ensler.

The City of Joy Movie Documentary Trailer

One of the most meaningful things I have ever participated in as an activist was the inaugural year of Eve Ensler's #1BillionRising global event. Eve Ensler, a deeply-respected thought leader on the issue of sexual and domestic violence was asking the world to consider how different the culture of the globe could be if the estimated one billion women who have experienced sexual and domestic violence, did not experience the violence they had lived through. 

How would the spirit of those women be different? How well could women thrive with less trauma? How could that impact their families? Imagine one billion families around the globe headed by women whose spirit hadn't been clipped. Eve Ensler's efforts and thought leadership were just so moving. She has raised over $100 million dollars to support women recovering from violence around the globe through her plays, the most famous of which is the Vagina Monologues (another great experience I had in Istanbul - acting in my first play).

I remember the inaugural year of #1BillionRising, the journalists covering the story didn't talk to Eve in a studio in New York. Instead, they reached her in the Congo. I remember being so shocked that she would be that far away from the media when her big idea debuted. Watching this movie helped me understand why she was in the Congo. That was where she was needed the most.

This would be a tough film to watch alone at home on Netflix. I am proud of my fellow book club members for not turning away from this story. No solutions can be found without first facing the problem, right?

As I watched, I kept remembering childrens' television host, Mr. Rogers. He always said, 'in stressful events, always look for and lift up the helpers.' Why not hold a watch party of your own to lift up 'helper,' Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege, and spread the solidarity.

Americans, how well do you know your global neighbors?

Americans ladies

having lunch with legendary journalist

Suzy Hansen (second from right),

after her reading at PAWI,

the Professional American Women of Istanbul

This month I had the joy of interviewing legendary American journalist Suzy Hansen and reviewing her first book for Lale Magazine, the bimonthly-publication of the International Women of Istanbul. Suzy Hansen's book is called, 'Notes on a Foreign Country : An American Abroad in a Post-American World.'

American author James Baldwin asked, 'has American prosperity come at the expense of the American Negro?' Suzy Hansen, whose admiration and interest in James Baldwin inspired her to move to Turkey, extends the question. She asks, 'does American prosperity and identity come at the expense of the world?'

You can read my review here on pages 32-34 of the January/February issue. 'Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World' was chosen by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2017. Excerpts appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Guardian.

Thank you to editor Monisha Kar for the opportunity. Thanks also to Monica Fritz, of Monica Fritz Photography, for the photos used in the story.

A Month of Turkish Literature for Global Literature in Libraries

On a ferry between two continents

 is a great place to read

In the last two years, one of the most fun things I have done is get involved in the fledgling Global Literature in Libraries movement. Did you know that around 3% of what is published each year in English has been translated from another language? It astonished me to learn that English-language readers read so provincially (for comparison, in Turkey, 42-50% of everything that is published has been translated from another language).

What could the world be like if English-language readers read more globally? Would there be more empathy? Less fear? Would there be more collaboration on big global problems? Would there be more international business and international travel? It's fun to think about.

In August, I served as the Turkish Literature Month editor for the Global Literature in Libraries blog. See, I was still blogging! Just in a different place. It was so much fun working with over nineteen different contributers from around the world to showcase 50 different titles. Gosh, that was fun. Here's the summation post with links to all the blog posts about Turkish Literature. 

You can follow along and read around the world too by following @GlobalLitinLibs on Twitter

or 'Global Literature in Libraries Initiative' on Facebook.

Watching Tom Shadyac's movie "I Am"

Official HD Trailer

for Tom Shadyac's documentary

"I Am"

Years ago, Oprah recommended a movie called "I am" by director Tom Shadyac. If Oprah tells me to watch something, I'm going to do so - after all these years, I love her more than ever. I miss her weekday show. It's as if a friend moved away.

 I finally got around to watching the documentary "I am." It was, just as she described, wonderfully uplifting. I recommend it too! The central questions of the film are "What's wrong with the world? What can we do about it?"

Watching it from Turkey, I can't help but see how American the inquiry of ideas is in the film. An American viewpoint celebrates individual achievement above all else. In pursuit of capitalism, world and human resources are to be used in pursuit of the profit of whomever is building a company requiring them. The long-term consequences to the Earth or others isn't ranked as high as the need to continue wealth creation. So this is where Tom Shadyac started out and he shared his travels to a different point-of-view.

The central premise of his new viewpoint (gathered from interviewing some of the most interesting thinkers on the planet) is that we, as humans and species, are all interconnected. In a capitalist society, it's very easy to discount the weak, the elderly, the disabled as non-contributors and to assign them less value. But if they aren't there, what happens to the entire society? Does it continue to exist? 

I reflected afterwards that this idea of non-contributers is so central to American life it even has a number assigned to it: the 47%. It's not a very empathetic point-of-view. People usually spend some time in their life in the 47%, for example, when they are children or an elderly person.

In contrast, I would describe Turkish culture as a hive culture where people assume cooperation with each other in most settings. The capitalist system is an adjustment in the last generation from an older culture of togetherness among people of the same ethnicity. The spirit of competition and zero sum game is a new practice here.

A simple example of how it is expressed is that Western students would hide a bad test score from their peers, but Turkish students share this information openly. Their attitude is geared more toward helping each other rather than competing with each other.

 Another idea from the film is that our emotions have the power to influence events and other living creatures. We under estimate the power of each of our individual acts and how they influence others.

People also live their emotions much more openly here in Turkey and this energy contributes to creating an exciting hum in Istanbul.

I think a Turkish friend watching this movie would say, "Duh. Everyone knows these concepts that we are all interconnected and that our energy and emotions influence the energy of others." Yet, I don't think all Americans do know that, which is why Tom Shadyac's film resonates so much. 

If you judge the systems based on wealth created, the American system is better. Is that the only way to measure individual success? Humanity's success? In the movie, Tom Shadyac gives up this measure for measuring the success of his own life. And he has never felt happier. He adopts more of an indingenous cultures' viewpoint that pursuit of gain beyond one's own immediate needs is considered mental illness.

Watch "I Am" for yourself and ask yourself what your cultural lens taught you growing up. Has it changed as you've aged? If so, why? Do you think that your cultural lens will help or hurt the long-term survival of the species - not only the human species but all other species as well?

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An Istanbul Food Tour with Olga from 'Delicious Istanbul'

Olga and me

"I'll tell you a secret," my Russian friend Olga Tikhanova Irez said. My husband and I are moving from Istanbul." 

I was shocked. Olga had built a business known all over the world giving culinary walks in Istanbul. She had foodies beating a path to her door. The seats for her monthly breakfast cafes were so coveted, Istanbullians were lucky to get a spot. How could she give that up? 

"We purchased a place in Alaçatı, Turkey and we're going to create a restaurant there. I want to feature the food of our grandmothers," she added.

Alaçatı is a well-known resort area on Turkey's North Aegean coast where many Turks go to vacation. Every year it hosts the world wind-surfing championships because its bay has the perfect conditions for windsurfing.

I had been to Alaçatı and knew how fantastic its open-air produce market was, how the relaxed resort atmosphere would contribute to joyful gastronomy and a wonderful experience for her future diners. "I haven't announced it yet," she added. 

I was so grateful to know! I simply had to go on one of Olga's culinary walks before she left Istanbul and began her new life. I immediately cleared the next day of any other activities. This was an Istanbul experience on my bucket list that I simply could not miss.

"Try not to eat before you come. Come hungry." Olga advised with understatement.

"Let's take a group photo

while we're all still skinny!"

My fellow foodies on the walk were two couples from Hong Kong, fast friends for twenty years, who had travelled the world together. They were in town for a medical convention where the two doctors would be presenting. The couples' warm friendship and enthusiasm for life added to the joy of the day. 

Three different kinds of menemen,

wonderful Turkish comfort food.

We started at the dock in Kadiköy, a beautiful neighborhood for culinary exploration because so much of what makes Istanbul famous for Turkish food is all available within a couple blocks. Our first stop was a breakfast featuring two Turkish classics: menemen and Turkish tea.

Olga knows her menemen; her own recipe for the dish had been featured in the Guardian. So if she said "this is the place where you should come for menemen," I knew it had to be incredibly special. To preserve her 'secrets' I won't show you the names of any of the places she took us.

A beautiful Turkish tradition:

soldiers write notes on napkins here

and pin them to the wall,

as they come to eat

one last menemen

before leaving for their service,

or return for one

in celebration

 of surviving it!

I loved the pride of these men -

all proud menemenciler!

Fıstıklı dürüm.

Dürüm is a Turkish word

used to describe

anything rolled,

making this

rolled-pistachio baklava.

Next up was a specialty of Gaziantep, Turkey, baklava. Gaziantep is famous as the culinary capital of Turkey. The number one thing to eat there, on a very long list of gastronomic treasures, is baklava. I had never tried fıstıklı dürüm baklava before this day. It has become my new dessert obsession.

How good is this baklava? Just to learn about this one particular type of baklava would be enough of a culinary education to make the whole day a success. I love it that much. Yet, we were just getting started!

The walnut-based baklava in back

is topped with kaymak,

a very fragile Turkish

clotted cream

that can make one swoon.

Kaymak,

a pillow of extraordinary excellence,

must be eaten

the day it is made.

There are no words.

The taste! The perfection!

The tradition!

I love all of the imagination

Turks bring to making nuts sing

in their desserts.

 And then they add: kaymak!

People travel

from all over the world

to eat this.

The green baklava

is fıstıklı ezme.

Think of it as pistachio marzipan.

Isn't that a brilliant idea?

Pistachio marzipan?

It is every bit as fantastic as it looks.

What brilliant imagination!

The other baklava

features a bit of crunch

paired with the pistachio goodness.

As global as

Western markets have become,

there are still

many, many produce surprises

to discover via travel.

Here are three offerings

I had never seen
until moving to Turkey.

I love the mystery of them.

What does one do with them?

We passed many mysteries

as we walked around

Kadiköy's open-air market.

Olga would

patiently explain each one.

Next up, was one of the most beautiful of Turkish food ideas:
mezes. Mezes are usually the appetizer to a meal and Turks have hundreds and hundreds of different recipes for them.

The meze tradition is to offer a little taste of this and a little taste of that. I have always thought it was the perfect way to acclimatize children to more sophisticated tastes. "Just try a bite," I can imagine Turkish parents saying.

We popped into one of my favorite spots in the open-air market of Kadiköy, a great gastronimical shop showcasing tantalizing mezes and superb regional food products.

Olga had her favorites

she wanted us to taste.

There were so many choices!

Olga assembled a

model meze masterpiece.

Most of these mezes

are vegetable-based.

You can't go wrong

they are so delicious and healthy.

I love the taste combinations

new to my American palate

like the carrot and eggplant meze

right in the middle of the plate.

I've gone back for it again and again.

If I could popularize

one vegetable

back home in America

it would be eggplant.

I never grow tired

of all the different ways

Turkish cooks use it.

It's fantastic!

If you had told me that,

I would never have believed it

because I really

hadn't experienced it before.

The meat on the left is pastirma,

a specialty of Kayseri, Turkey.

I lived in Turkey a year before

I had the guts to try it.

It seemed so different:

dried meat with a paste around it?

How could that be good?

Sounds like something

mountain men

would pack in a duffle.

Then I had pastirma in menemen.

Wow. I'm hooked. 

On the right
a meatball new to me
that was a more subtle

taste sensation.

The mezeci loved giving

Olga a hard time

as they posed for photos.

All kinds of Turkish cheeses

vacuum-packed

to take home to Asia.

Next stop: a UNESCO

"intangible cultural heritage"

'Turkish kitchen' isn't just about the food. Yes, the food is fabulous. 'Turkish kitchen' is also about the rituals that go with each different food. Our next stop was to try a Turkish ritual so globally cherished UNESCO has labeled it "an intangible cultural heritage."

Around the corner

from our meze shop

was one of Istanbul's

most beloved Turkish coffeeshops.

It was the perfect spot

to wind down

from an exciting morning

before venturing out

for more discovery.

Each Turkish coffee

is accompanied by a

glass of water

and a single bite

of sweetness.

See the lokum?

In English,

it's known as 'Turkish Delight.'

Turkish coffee is exquisitely satisfying. The first steaming hot sip of the foamy concoction sends a signal to all nerve endings: slow down, enjoy, relax.

Me telling fortunes

Photo by Olga

Each sip is savored as simply as the conversation and fortune telling that ensue when the cup of coffee is finished. The cup is turned over and the pattern of the coffee grounds fortell one's future as a friend 'reads' the inside of the cup.

The ritual of it all is enough to make an overseas Turk cry out with homesickness at a mere photograph of Turkish food rituals.

 

Pickled cabbage

There were more specialty food stores to explore after our coffee. We were off to the pickle place next. It seems everything can be pickled!

Olga offered us

a cool refreshing glass

of pickle juice.

She also offered us

fresh turnip juice

called şalgam.

Don't turn it down

because it sounds odd.

It's fantastic,

especially when paired

with the

specialty meat kebabs

from the cities

out East.

Şalgam is zingy, fresh, delicious!

All of these

fresh regional food products

can be vaccum-packed

to take home in one's suitcase.

You didn't think

we would go through an

Istanbul culinary adventure

without fish, did you?

This gorgeous plate

of fried hamsi

is from the Black Sea.

The Black Sea

has its own special culture

and hamsi (fried anchovies)

makes a Black Sea Turk

puff up with pride.

Bet you can't eat just one.

I forgot the name

of this spicy chicken dish

but it was tender and juicy

and yummy over rice.

After our lunch

of fish and chicken

Olga had one last

open-air

produce market

she wanted to show us.

It was huge,

stretching for several blocks.

We walked through it all,

pausing here and there

to explain

produce new to us. 

They taste as wonderful
as they look -

Çanakkale tomatoes.

Why can't we have
tomatoes like this

back home?

Skinny green peppers

are the Turks' favorite;

They are frequently grilled

and served with kebab.

Even before I went on

this food walk

with Olga,

I think of her whenever

I see beautiful market greens.

She knows exactly

what to do with them.

Foraging for nettles

and spring greens

is a beautiful Russian

childhood tradition.

These flat beans

which I've never seen

for sale in America,

make a delicious cold salad

called Ayşe Kadin Fasulye

(the woman Ayse's beans).

Plan on buying a lot?

Porters will carry

all of it for you

as you make

your selections.

I was so grateful to experience 'Olga's Istanbul' before she moved.
I can't wait to follow her restaurant adventure. You can follow her restaurant adventure too via her blog, Delicious Istanbul, or make reservations directly at the Babushka Alaçatı website.


If you enjoyed this post, you may enjoy these other foodie posts about Istanbul:

Enjoying Olga's #Istanbulbreakfastclub

The Days of Wine and Roses and Tulips: Wine Tasting at the Four Seasons Sultanahmet

Dinner on the Bosphorus at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski's Bosphorus Grill

Afternoon Tea and Pastry with Guest Chef Yann Duytsche in the Gazebo Lounge at Çırağan Palace Kempinski

"Midnight at the Pera Palace Hotel" with the Global Minds Book Club

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Thanks for reading!

Exploring Üsküdar's Historic Fish Market

Üsküdar's Historic Fish Market;

Fishmongers shout to the customers

what is on offer.

It adds to the fun.

There were so many kinds of fish,

yet I wanted to use the kind

I was most familiar with.

Where were the salmon fillets?

I saw just one lonely salmon fillet

on display.

When I said what I wanted,

the fishmonger urged me

to go behind the counter.

I did as told, not understanding.

The other fishmonger opened up

the deep freeze and went in.

Will this do?

I almost screamed

it was so fun

to see that giant fish.

A memory of watching

Martha Stewart videos

with my oldest child

came rushing back to me.

It was before Martha

became really big.

We marveled that Martha

would buy and handle

a gigantic salmon

in her kitchen.

She bought the entire fish??

We admired Martha

risking all that money

preparing one gigantic salmon. 

What if it didn't turn out right

when she cooked it?

Martha was thinking big,

obviously.

The fishmonger thought

I was German.

In my imperfect Turkish,

I tried to say,

"I'm not German, I'm American."

But like all language learners everywhere,

it wasn't exactly right.

Apparently, I said:

"The German doesn't exist!"

Custom-cut fillets.

I felt so lucky,

and so full of anticipation

to enjoy my own cooking.

I wanted to take advantage

of Turkey's incredible

nut crop

and make

pistachio-encrusted salmon.

Later, after I had my wrapped salmon fillets from the fish market, I went to the nut shop to buy fresh pistachio meats. I was asking questions in slow Turkish about the various kinds of pistachios.

A Turkish man barged into the shop, shouted out his order, oblivious to the fact that I was ordering. The shopkeeper switched to the new, louder patron. "Men get waited on before women in Turkey, even if the woman was first?" I asked, after the man left.

"Maalesef (unfortunately)," the shopkeeper replied. I said 'no thank you' to placing my order with him and took my small request (1/4 kilo) to the shopkeeper's competitor across the street.

"Roasted pistachio nuts please," I ordered in Turkish. The man reached inside a heated drawer and scooped up the warm nuts into a paper bag for me. It was so satisfying to take my business there. I swear the pistachios tasted better for the lack of sexism!

My meal turned out so well!

Martha would be proud, I think.

My finished dinner

of pistachio-encrusted salmon

and Mediterranean bakla,

pine-nuts & herbs

(Bakla is Turkey's version

of green beans).

Shopping the Üsküdar fish market

was a fun experience.

And delicious too!

Interested in other posts about homemade food in Istanbul?

Take a look at these:

Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire

Enjoying Olga's #Istanbulbreakfastclub

Crossing Continents with a Covered Dish

My Morning Menemen

Christmas Eve Lunch with pomegranates

Sam's Salad with Cherries, Goat Cheese, and Pistachios

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