A Taste of East Thrace (Europe)

I had one day in Istanbul and wanted to try to see and learn about as much of the culture as possible. In my opinion, one of the best ways to do this is through food. I had such a great time on my food tour in Cambodia a few months back, and decided I wanted to do something similar during my short time in Turkey.

I signed up for a full-day food walking tour called "A Taste of Two Continents" by a company called Yummy Istanbul, and it turned out to be one of the best travel experiences I have ever had (which is really saying a lot!).

I met the group at our meeting point, a coffee shop in the lobby of a grand hotel in the oldest part of the city. 

I arrived a bit early and sat down for a cup of hot coffee. It was a very cold morning, and I was glad for the warm cafe. Coming from Thailand, I didn't have any cold weather clothing with me except for a hoodie sweatshirt. It was just a few degrees above freezing, and Istanbul had just had its first snow days before I arrived.

Everyone arrived presently. There were about ten of us in total, from the United States, New Zealand, and South Africa. Our guide was named Sinan, or, as he liked to be called, "The Kebab Guide". Sinan was phenomenal. He took great care of us for the entire day and taught us so much about Turkish food, culture, politics, and history.

"You can ask me anything", he told us, "even something controversial. But I will be biased. Every Turkish person is very opinionated".

We started out by walking through a large plaza between the New Mosque and the Spice Bazaar.

We began the morning in the old part of Istanbul on the western side of the Bosporus. Istanbul is a city that spans two geographical (and, as a matter of fact, cultural) continents. The western part of the city, located on the landmass known as "East Thrace", is located in Europe.

This is where the most ancient monuments, palaces, and mosques are found. It was where the seats of power of Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire were once located. The European part of Istanbul is ancient, cultural, traditional, and exactly what you might picture if you imagine Istanbul.

Our first stop was at one of the newest monuments in the city, a monument to simit, the classic sesame-encrusted Turkish bagel that is a local staple.

Sinan explained that we were going to have an entire day of eating. "I hope you are all hungry". He told us that first we were going to have breakfast, followed by a second breakfast. That would be followed by lunch, then a second lunch with snacks in between. Finally, we would end the day with three desserts.

We began by stopping near the entrance to the old Spice Bazaar. Sinan took us to a local open-air shop selling olives, cured meats, cheeses, and other Turkish breakfast staples.

Everything looked amazing, but what impressed me the most was the incredible variety of multi-colored olives on display. Olives are one of the major staples of Turkish cuisine, and there are so many different types, each tasting different. We got to try several different types of olive.

The pink ones are fermented in beetroot juice, and the purple ones are fermented in blueberry juice! You can't taste the fruit flavors at all, but the taste was definitely distinct between the two. They were a little bit tart.

Sinan bought several bags of meat, cheese, and olives from the shop, then we walked across the square for our bread.

Every full Turkish breakfast needs to include simit. He also bought a big bagful of simit for us.

Then, we sat down at a local restaurant to eat our meal. The stuff that Sinan had bought at the previous shop was just our starter! 

The restaurant owners toasted up the simit for us, and we sat down to snack on our meats, cheeses, and olives while waiting for them to serve the main course of our breakfast.

We tried several different types of cheeses, pastirma (a goat pastrami aged inside of a goat skin), lots of olives, simit, a spicy tomato paste to dip the bread into, and of course, the freshly toasted simit.

The main dish was menemen, a popular Turkish breakfast dish made from scrambled eggs cooked with tomato, green pepper, lots of spices, red chili, and olive oil. The dish was served in a big pan, and we shared it family-style, scooping portions onto our plates to enjoy.

Next, we were served a sizzling pan of fried sujuk, a spicy sausage fermented with garlic similar to a very thick and dense pepperoni. This is one of the items that we had bought outside of the market that the shop had fried up for us.

Every good Turkish breakfast needs to come with a cup of çay, strong, hot Turkish tea served in a little glass cup.

But the meal wasn't over yet! Before moving on, it was time for our first breakfast's desserts!

First was fındık ezmesi, a rich hazelnut paste. We tried two different types - creamy and chunky. Personally, I liked the chunky type the best (just like I like my peanut butter). To eat it, we scooped spoonfuls of the fındık ezmesi onto our simit.

It was delicious! It tasted just like Nutella without the chocolate (which, of course, is pretty much what it was)!

Although we were worryingly already starting to get full, we still had one more dessert to enjoy - the richest and most decadent dish of the morning: bal & kaymak. This dish consists of a large block of clotted cream made from the milk of a water buffalo and drowned in honey. It was incredible! We also ate this by spooning it onto our simit.

Luckily, we were going to be walking a lot on the steep streets of Istanbul that day to help burn off some of the calories and to work up an appetite between meals.

We walked on to the Spice Bazaar.

The Spice Bazaar was built in 1660. Its official name is Mısır Çarşısı, or the Egyptian Bazaar. The reason for this is not because it was built for or by Egyptians, but rather Ottoman taxes levied upon their administrative territory of Egypt were used to fund the construction of the bazaar.

The Spice Bazaar is the second-largest market in the city. It is actually part of the New Mosque complex, and funds from the market were used to fund the building of the New Mosque and pay for its upkeep.

Today, you can find spices, jewelry, sweets of all sorts, dried fruits and nuts, and souvenirs.

The bazaar is vibrant, colorful, lively, and full of amazing smells, but we didn't buy anything. Sinan told us before going inside that anything found inside the Spice Bazaar would cost four times what it cost outside! I think it definitely caters to tourists nowadays.

It reminded me a lot of the spice souk I visited earlier this year in Dubai.

The Blog of Michael Desrosiers: Old Dubai (دبي)

One very interesting feature in the Bazaar is the prayer balcony which is located near the central intersection of the cross-shaped market. Every Friday, an imam comes to the market to pray for God's blessings for success in business.

As we left the bazaar, Sinan informed us that it was now time for second breakfast. I was beginning to feel like a hobbit.

Second breakfast was beyran çorbası, a popular Turkish breakfast soup.

Beyran çorbası is a rich and savory soup made from lamb fat and shredded lamb meat cooked with rice. The lamb broth that the meat is cooked in is stewed with garlic, tomato, and pepper paste.

The soup can be very spicy (though we had a milder version). It is traditionally served with a plate full of fresh, peppery arugula and lemon wedges. Sinan encouraged us to take a bite of the arugula between every two or three bites of the soup. The bitter, herbal, peppery flavor of the herb acts as a sort of palate cleanser, and he guaranteed us that it would enhance every bite of the rich, hearty beyran çorbası. 

And like any good Turkish soup, the beyran çorbası came with a side of pide (pita) to dip into the broth.

We had eaten so much already, but the day had just begun.

Now, it was time to walk to the Bosporus ferry port. We were going to be leaving Europe, crossing the strait, and heading into Anatolia on the Asian side of the city.