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!

Enjoying Olga's #Istanbulbreakfastclub

Watching the passing ships

in the magical morning light

I knew it was going to be a magical day just from the weather. The morning light was sublime. I missed the ferry just as it pulled away from the dock and didn't mind a bit. To sit down in this beautiful little ferry terminal, and watch the passing ships, was a moment of Zen stillness.

Passing by Maiden's Tower

and the Üsküdar Mosque

The half hour of still calm was broken only by my own laughter at myself when I looked down and realized my own silliness. I was carrying dress shoes across continents to wear to breakfast, forgetting that no one wears shoes in Turkish homes.

Enjoying the passing parade

of ferries on the Bosphorus

I was on my way to Olga Tikhanova Irez's home in Moda, a fashionable neighborhood on the Asian side of the straight. Olga is originally from Russia and is married to a Turk. She used to be a strategic management consultant and gave it all up when she realized what really made her happy was exquisite food: sourcing it, buying it, cooking it, and sharing it. She blogs at Delicious Istanbul and tweets at @Delish_Istanbul. 

Olga slicing the first of four

 fresh-from-the-oven

homemade loaves of bread

served that morning.

This was the third time I had been to Olga's breakfast. Once a month, she hosts a breakfast cafe in her home and 14 very lucky people get to come to breakfast. It always sells out. It is always hard to get a reservation and be one of the 14 (you have to fill out the form on her blog, and do so immediately when she posts her monthly invitation).

The first time I went I met all kinds of interesting locals, both Turks and expats, from all over the city. It's such a small intimate gathering that everyone had a chance to learn about everyone else there.

The second time I went she was just back from Morocco where she had gone to learn Moroccan cooking and she prepared a Moroccan breakfast for us. I pinched myself for being there!

One of the things that distinguishes Olga is her standards. I tease her that she could be the princess and the pea, so sensitive is she to any product that in less than top notch, and therefore unworthy of her table. If you sense a certain snobbiness...well, you are right.

Olga began to assemble her buffet.

Turkish breakfast is famous

for consisting

of real actual food.

Look at those fresh-baked savory pastries!

And that homemade hummus

made with lentils.

Oooh, and three different kinds of jams.

And not just any cheese,

but cheese sourced direct

from the farmers themselves.

The final magnificent spread.

Afiyet olsun!

Marc Gulliet, of @TurkeyReport

and enjoy-istanbul.com,

deserved a great breakfast.

 He and his wife had been reporting

from Soma, Turkey

all week

on the mining disaster.

Orhan Bozkurt,

owner of Ligos Guest House

near the Küçük Hagia Sophia

in the Sultanahmet area,

gave Olga's cooking the 'thumbs up.'

This month I co-hosted Olga's breakfast with her. She cooked breakfast and I shared with our guests how to use Twitter to update and globalize your personal learning network (PLN). It was great fun to compare experiences with people. Their energy completely uplifted me for the rest of the day - actually even now, as I write this.

At the end of the meal,

Olga hand-roasted and crushed

cumin, cardamon,

and other spices to make her

final batch of tea.

"It's a wonderful detox," she said.

I floated out of Olga's home, well fed, completely and spiritually uplifted; it just seemed to me that all of Istanbul was gloriously, gratefully 'alive.' 

After a week of horrible news from Soma, I felt a sense of gratitude for the sheer gift of life. It gave me a new energy to live to the fullest and take pleasure in small things.

I stopped on the way home to

'take tea' at the Moda Tea Garden

along the Bosphorus.

It's an Istanbul tradition to while

away hours here over a glass of Turkish tea.

I was too well-fed to join the long line

at Famous Ali's Ice Cream Shop,

another Moda neighborhood

beloved, weekend

tradition in Istanbul.

The trip home across the Bosphorus

was quiet, contemplative & joyful

thinking about the

amazing friends

and food

I had experienced that day.

I was and am grateful.

I invite you to follow the Empty Nest Expat blog on Facebook.

You may also be interested in these posts:

Enjoying Istanbul Waffles

Crossing Continents with a Covered Dish

My Morning Menemen

Christmas Eve Lunch with Pomegranates

Playing More With Pomegranates

My Morning Menemen

Hot and steaming

before I added my parsley garnish

The easiest Turkish recipe to cook is this one: menemen. I love the name because it is so exotic, yet it is a dish that could be cooked all over the world because the ingredients for it are so ubiquitous and inexpensive. The recipe is easy too. It really can't be messed up.

Bread is necessary to mop up the juices.

I make the slices as thin as possible.

Today I made my breakfast for myself, but one of the emotional tugs I feel writing about menemen is the memory of all the times I have shared it with friends. Breakfast is a very social, very shared meal in Turkey. Sometimes, instead of assembling and eating an entire Turkish breakfast, or ordering an entire Turkish breakfast, one dish of hot comfort food suffices.