local meantime: 2009

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Hoşça Kal Uskudar

we are moving again. our friend john is returning and for some reason wants his house back. i will be sad to leave our beloved bakery where they make the best fresh simit, my favorite breakfast place that makes the spinach pastries and apple cookies, my favorite produce guy who would clean the mushrooms for me, and that oh so killer view. but i am excited to move to our new place back on the european side located in that galata/tunel area off the istiklal. it's a little more lively and somehow we have lucked into another great top floor apartment with an amazing view. and when i'm jonesing for a fresh simit, i'll just hop on a ferry and visit my friend john.

we'll miss you uskudar apartment!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

giriş çikiş no. 1

recently k and i had to renew our visas. a turkish tourist visa expires every 90 days and if you're living in turkey and don't have a residence permit, you have to leave the country and reenter the country to get a new visa. the length of time spent outside turkey varies depending on the country and checkpoint you go to. some places like bulgaria are strict and require at leat 24 hours out and other checkpoints in greece require only a couple of hours. like everything here, it really depends on who you're dealing with.

even though this process is kind of a pain and costs time/ money i like being forced to take trips. turkey borders a lot of really interesting countries so visa renewal time a good chance for exploration. however, because k was in the middle of finals we decided to take a quick 24 hour trip into greece by bus. we found the closest greek city accessible by bus, alexandroupoli (about 3 hours west of istanbul), bought our tickets and were on our way!

giriş/enter, çikiş/exit

bus travel in turkey is really great. it's a very cheap way of travelling that everyone here uses. we chose metro bus, one of the biggest bus companies here. their buses are big and comfy. they also have tvs on the back of every seat and serve you tea and snacks. the only down side is that there are no bathrooms but they do stop every 2-3 hours at a rest stop so it's not a big deal. or you can bring a catheter. the ride was really fun though and i was entertained and well satiated for every kilometer of it.

the trip was great, although a little stressful in unexpected ways. the actual border crossing was kind of a pain as we all stood at the turkish checkpoint in line for 20 minutes outside in the windy cold and in the way of approaching cars. this process was repeated again 10 minutes later at the greek border where we had to wait for the bus in front of us to finish their inspection. we saw some interesting things while we were waiting (like georgian lettering and big bags of fish) but it was a little too cold to maintain a childlike sense of curiosity for more than 10 minutes.

also, for some reason you aren't allowed to buy a round trip bus ticket and have to purchase the return ticket in greece. but since we left on a saturday, all the travel agencies in alexdropouli were closed. of course we found this out AFTER our bus dropped us off, but in typical mediterranean fashion, the solution lay in a network of helpful strangers and phone calls. the very nice and helpful train office agent explained to us that all we had to do was track down the bus driver's cell phone number, call him about 2 hours before he was supposed to pick us up, and he would swing by and get us. of course. he then sent us to the tourist office which had a 50/50 chance of being open. luckily it was and the nice lady there got the number by calling the restaurant owner of a place near the bus stop who had it. so with the number safely tucked away on a strip of paper in k's pocket, we went off to go explore.

alexandroupoli, greece is a cute little beach town that borders the Thrace sea. it's a town that is clearly in full bloom in the summertime. no so much in the winter. while there were plenty of locals out and about, the town itself seemed to be operating at half mast. everything was hibernating including the deck chairs and amusement parks along the water. but i found its winter sleepiness rather comforting and charming. and there were christmas decorations everywhere, something i didn't even know i missed until i saw the lighted christmas trees peeking behind curtains of apartments and houses.

things accomplished while we were there include: eating a pork chop (something near impossible to do in turkey), drinking ouzo (a lot like raki but sweeter), drinking beer that wasn't efes, assisting in decorating a christmas tree, watching a chess game come to a draw, meditating on the amazing beach light of the thrace sea, and actually reaching the bus driver who picked us back up and took us back home.

also the duty free shop on the greek border is one of the best ones i've seen anywhere. you can buy all sorts of fun things for really cheap like really good olive oil for 3 euro or german beer for 6, which we did.

all in all it was a fun trip and if anyone is needing to renew their visas from istanbul, i would highly recommend alexandroupoli as your turn around point. just make sure you get the driver's cell phone number before you get off!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

T.G.I.T.F.F: turkish breakfast (kavahltı tabağı)

Today I would like to expound on the joys of breakfast a la Turk. Called "Kahvaltı" (pronounced kav ALL tuh) it literally means "before coffee". There are many things to eat for breakfast here but my favorite dishes usually includes the following:

A french baguette like bread I like to refer to as bunny bread for obvious reasons
Sliced Tomatoes, Sliced Cucumbers, Olives
Sliced Cheese very similar to feta called Beyaz Peynir (Beyaz means white, peynir means cheese)

Eggs (either hardboiled or omelette-ish mixed with herbs)
Kaymak (a clotted cream that is very rich and very delicious)
Butter, Honey, Jam. And tea of course.

When I first started eating it, I enjoyed it but I never GOT it. There were so many elements to it, something a one big plate of French toast American like me isn't used to. Like breakfast tapas. And why would you eat tomatoes and olives and a feta-esque cheese for breakfast? Too many sharp salty flavors for my tastebuds first thing in the morning. But coming back this time, I really started craving it. Maybe I had finally gotten used to the tastes. Or maybe it's because I figured out the right combination of egg, cheese, olive, and veg to put in my mouth. Or maybe it's because we lived down the street from the best bakery that bakes their bread so fresh that when I go to buy a loaf it's still warm from the wood fire oven. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to start the morning.

-turkish breakfast is best enjoyed with loved ones!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

europe ~ asia

one of my favorite things about living in üsküdar is that i usually have to cross the bosphorus to take care of some errand on istanbul's european side. not only do i get a nerdy thrill knowing that i'm crossing continents, but there's always an interesting parade of man made floating devices to look at as well. i board one of the 20 ferries that are on the water at any given time and ride alongside gargantuan oil tankers, eight story cruise ships, military destroyers, tugboats, and teeny fisherman boats.

on this particular rainy day though it was just the lone freighter ship and our little motör ferry.

Friday, October 16, 2009

T.G.I.T.F.F.- Turkish Triple Onion Soup/ Türkçe Soğan Çorba

A few weeks ago, K and I were both feeling under the weather so I whipped up this soup.

Along with being a mood panacea, I believe consuming as many onions and garlic as you can helps boost the immune system when you're feeling sick. While not a traditional Turkish dish, it was created IN TURKEY, so technically it is Turkish. But I hope its healing powers are universal. I've made it three times now and it's made us feel better, even if just to combat the colder weather.

Serving Size: 2

INGREDIENTS
The amounts are catered to my love of garlic and onions as well as an estimation of what would fit in my smallish pot so feel free to add or substitute where you see fit. This recipe is very flexible.

1 bulb of garlic sarmısak
3-4 white/yellow/red onions soğan
shallots soğancık (however many you want and can afford. they're a little smaller here and really inexpensive so I use about 10)
5-6 stems green onions yeşil soğan

2-3 carrots havuç
1/2 LB or 1 kilo button mushrooms mantar
1 tsp each of your choice dry herbs ot or 2-3 tsp fresh herbs. I used dry oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme
2 bay leaves
3 Tbs olive oil zeytin yağ
3 Tbs unsalted butter terayği
salt toz and black pepper kara biber
6C stock/broth OR 6C water/su+2 boullion cubes bulyon
French bread loaf, sliced into rounds optional
Grated white cheese ( swiss, mozarrella, parmesean) optional

Other veggies that would be yummy to include would be leeks, celery, zucchini, or eggplant. I prefer keeping it down to a few vegetables though since the onions are the stars of the soup.

PREP
Mince garlic and set aside for at least 15 minutes (very important to do, since according to this article, garlic needs to sit for at least 15 minutes to maximize health benefits). Slice white/yellow/red onions into 1/4" thick half moon slices and shallots into 1/8" circles. Chop green onions and separate into three piles. I separate them because I like to add the first pile for initial flavor but since they lose their color so quickly I like to reserve the other piles to add later for brighter color. I also think adding them at different times adds more complex flavor.

Chop up rest of vegetables into 1/4" thick pieces.

COOK
Melt butter, olive oil in medium size stock pot over medium heat. Once butter begins to bubble a bit, turn heat to medium low and add white/yellow onions, shallots, garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, about 10 mins. Add herbs, salt, pepper and cook until fragrant.
Stir in carrots, green onion pile 1 and cook until relatively soft, about 5 mins.
Add mushrooms, cook until relatively soft, about 3 mins.
At this point there should be a decent amount of liquid on the bottom where all those delicious flavors are stewing. Add stock/water+bullion as well as the bay leaves.
Bring soup to a boil and then turn down to simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding green onion pile 2 halfway through simmering. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaves, Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle final pile of green onions on top.

To take the soup to the next level, toast french bread rounds with your favorite grated melty white cheese in the oven to make cheesy croutons. We use kaşarli peynir, a turkish white cheese that is very similar to mozzarella in texture and swiss cheese in taste. Place on top of soup and enjoy a taste of Turkey!