Street (and Other) Food

Turkey officially ranks third after Italy and Cambodia as my children's favorite places to eat in the world. Mine would be Thailand, by a margin so enormous as to dwarf second place, then Szechuan Province of China, followed distantly by Italy.

The food in Turkey was delicious and every meal was a delight (ba-dum-pum! Get it, Turkish delight? I slay myself), but Turkish food does not have the spicy tang of hot curry from Thailand or the mystical numbness of 花椒 Szechuan pepper. So, while the cuisine gets two thumbs up, and is a solid #3 on children's favorites, it doesn't quite make my top three list. Sorry, Turkey.

But, it was all delish. And here are some of the highlights:

Rice pilaf. On the street, no less. Rice pilaf is basically rice bathed in broth (and sometimes, we found, in butter) often with bits of crispy onion, and in this case, with a sprinkling of chick peas on top.

It was hot, when the weather was cold, and a nice blend of some protein in the chick peas with the salty starch of rice bathed in something fatty. Yum. And, drum roll, gluten free.

But these little beauties? Gluten through and through. Deep fried dough dipped in melted sugar. We had something similar in Croatia. Delicious.

The hat? Yes, I knitted it. Thanks for asking.

Dinners were kebobs, not too spicy, so the children enjoyed them, although I though they were a bit bland.

Pide, advertised in the tourist areas as "Turkish pizza" was also a huge hit. Pide is a staple Turkish food. It's a long thin banana shaped bread, rolled to form a small ball of dough. The bread is then covered with the topping of your choice and slammed into a large, solid fuel burning oven for about 10 minutes.You can get it with everything from plain cheese to tomatoes, egg, meats, spicy potatoes and served hot from a fiery oven. For the bread and cheese freak, it's grander than grand.

We also ate a good deal of Clay Pot Kebab in Cappuccino.This is reminiscent of tanjine, a dish we had in Morocco. The meal is a flavorful stew cooked in a fiery hot oven. The little clay jar is sealed for cooking, and unsealed with a solid THWACK from the server.

POP! And your meal is ready to eat.

It was all good. Although, this still might be my favorite.

A loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese, a map and thou.

Comments

[Debbie Hanson]

Did I just read that you thought the kebobs were....bland?? I could have sworn you liked bland.