My best meals in Istanbul

Turkey, last July, seems so long ago!  Ethan and I were previously talking about taking a one-year anniversary trip to Kyrgyzstan.  But that's not going to happen this year.  So I'll have to rely on my memories of Turkey until that next big vacation.

Today I am thinking about my two favorite meals in one of my favorite cities, Istanbul.  The first was at Meze by Lemon Tree, which is an intimate restaurant, tucked away on a small cobblestone street in the trendy Beyoglu neighborhood.  Because it was Ramadan, and I was too hungry to wait until 8pm to eat, we had the entire restaurant to ourselves for most of our meal.  

But my best meal was Ciya Sofrasi, on the Asian side of Istanbul, via a ferry ride and a walk through a bustling market, where olives, antiques, olive soap, and fish are peddled.  The New Yorker wrote an article about the cafeteria-style restaurant, here. It's kind of a legend.  Dishes rotate every day and I've heard mixed reviews depending on what is on offer. But we must have been lucky, because I loved everything I ordered--and I ordered a lot: stews of lamb and okra, eggplant things, and mezes that made my mouth water.  I finished off the meal with rosemary tea and a plate of kunefe, a sweet cheese pastry.

And finally, the Uighur restaurant we visited (cannot remember the name) also deserves an honorable mention.  We searched for this restaurant and it took us two separate trips before we finally found it.  In honor of Ramadan, the fare was a prix fixe of lamb kabobs heavily spiced with cumin and lagman pulled noodles, among other things.  I felt like I was back in Kashgar, China. 

Izmir Kofte

Put a stewed casserole of meat and tomatoes in front of me and I often cannot resist.  I had this dish in central Turkey. It came to our table bubbling hot, hearty, and accompanied by this bread and a plate of crumbly cheese.

I'm making a variation of it for dinner.

Izmir Kofte
Recipe by Ozlem Turkish Table

Ingredients

For the kofte (meatballs):

 

450 gr /1 lb ground lamb
1 medium onion, grated
2 slices of stale bread, soaked in water and squeezed dry
1 egg, beaten
1 bunch finely chopped Italian parsley
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

A bowl of water for kneading kofte / wetting hands

For the rest:

450 gr / 1 lb medium potatoes, sliced like thin apple quadrants
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
1 medium carrot, coarsely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400 gr /14 oz (1 can of) chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
240 ml / 1 cup water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Process

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F.

Discard the crusts of the bread, soak in the water, and squeeze dry. Then crumble them into a large bowl. Add all the kofte ingredients except the meat and knead well. This will soften the onions and enable the spices to blend in the mixture evenly. Add the ground meat and knead well again until the mixture resembles a soft dough. With wet hands take a piece the size of a large walnut and roll into a large finger shape about 1 inch thick. Continue until all the mixture is used. The meatballs can now be covered and stored in the fridge until required.

In an oven dish, create layers with the vegetables and the meatballs. Add the chopped tomatoes, water and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Bake in the oven for about 55 – 60 minutes or until the potatoes are soft and the sauce has thickened.

Serve hot, with plain rice or some crusty bread.       

[Post-edit: I adapted the recipe by adding fresh thyme and mint to the meatballs and  eggplant to the veggie mix. I baked the mixture for one hour and 45 minutes.]

Another post on Istanbul, human rights work, and my need for sleep.

Twice a year, diplomats, government officials, civil society, and human rights defenders from all over the world descend on this city for an international institution's annual and spring meetings. Those weeks are nuts for me.  This time around, it was six days straight of meetings upon meetings, side events, conversations, working lunches, dinners, endless cups of coffee, and just a touch of sleep.  It's mostly tiring, but some moments (particularly, I find, when you meet communities who have been working on human rights issues related to these international development projects) it's inspiring and a little rad.  There were a few of those moments last week.

With that week behind me, I took two days off to rest. Time off was needed.  Time off was great - except that when I have free time, I start to plot. And invariably, that plotting involves places I want to visit. 

And today, I thought:  What I wouldn't give to be back in Istanbul right now . . .

Did you know that the mosques in Istanbul were often (always?) built with an attached market, where the rents of the shops went to the upkeep of the mosque?  One day, as we walked around the tourist-laden district of Sultanahmet, we came across a small mosque. It had an adjoining garden and a strip of shops.  I asked the shopkeeper how long his shop had been in business.  He looked at his wife, and they laughed.  He shrugged his shoulders and said, "always."  

More on Istanbul

Swimming in my mind this Sunday morning: images from the Hagia Sophia . . .

 

 

the Grand Bazaar . . . 

 

the Basilica Cistern . . .

and one of many sweet shops in the city.

 How was that only two months ago?

Breakfasts in Istanbul

My memories of mornings in Istanbul--of prolonged breakfast meals, the sound of sea gulls, the sliver of bright blue on the horizon, and the contours of the skyline-- will have to tide me over for a while.

Istanbul street cat chalets

One day in Istanbul, as we walked through the Cihangir neighborhood, we came across several street cat chalets.  I was surprised by how well stray cats were cared for in Istanbul. 

Beyoğlu, Istanbul

Our afternoons spent walking from Sultanahmet (the Old Town), where we and many tourists stayed, across Galata Bridge to Beyoğlu were some of my favorite memories of Istanbul.  I loved exploring the winding streets in this part of the city.

Cafe culture and Turkish coffee, Istanbul

I've been struggling with words lately.  And when I call back to our time in Istanbul, when I try to explain my impressions to friends and family, I tend to ramble in some incoherent manner a mix of thoughts, incongruent expectations, and longings.  Modern Istanbul, with its cafe street culture, cobblestone streets, and numerous mosques dotting the horizon, sweet shops, and tea gardens where men spend afternoon hours over games of backgammon, presents an obvious charm.

But it took some days--a few ferries rides between the European and Asian side of the city (where I had my best meal), several walks through Beyoğlu, and a trip to Cappadocia--to win me over.  Win me over it did.

Istanbul was a destination on my list two previous times. The first was during my train trip from Beijing to St. Petersburg.  I had a half-baked idea to travel from St. Petersburg to Istanbul, which I didn't do.  The second time was three years ago, when Ethan and I did part of our Silk Roads trip.  He and his brother were climbing Mount Blanc, and we considered starting our leg in Istanbul.  Instead, we met in Almaty and traveled east.

I am rambling again.  I confess that some days I feel as if Cambodia smacked the succinct, logical, linear-thinking lawyer right out of me.

Today my Istanbul memories center on Turkish coffee, mud-thick and strong, oft-served with Turkish delight.  I'm also thinking of the many cups of tea I drank in that city.

Cappadocia to Istanbul, and in between

After five days of sitting still in Cappadocia, my obsession with train travel started to emerge.  My resolve not to embark on a train ride that would leave us yet again rushing to catch a flight on the other side of the country started to dwindle.  (Although I appreciated the easy flight from Istanbul to Cappadocia, having not traveled by land left me wondering about the landscape.) 

Eventually, reason won out, and instead we spent a day, traveling by bus, train, and then ferry on the Sea of Marmara back to Istanbul.  As our bus climbed higher and higher, and the sand-colored ground gave way to pink lakes and to green trees and mountains (and a view of the sea), I knew we had made the right choice.  Some of my favorite memories of travel include sitting on a train or bus, marking the slow transition as the landscape (of central Russia or the Gobi Desert, for example) shifted from dramatic snowy landscapes to flat arid desert, and then back.  Cities emerge and then dissolve into the background ... I find that there's something magical about it. 

View from the fast train

Not the Asian buses I am accustomed to, the Turkish buses had a steward, entertainment, drinks and internet.

We stopped for a night in the capital of Ankara, walked through the park, witnessed families' iftar celebrations at dusk, ate at an Urfu kepab restaurant that seated us and others so far out onto the street that our table shook as cars passed by, and woke up early the next day to see the Atatürk Mausoleum, which was impressive.