Having stopped in Kas, southern Turkey, we 're-anglisized' our taste buds at the home of my auntie and uncle. After a swim in the turquoise sea, we sat in a cafe on the beach, eating homemade chips and drinking lovely cold Turkish beer. A definite highlight of the trip.
Our little stop made me reflect on our Turkish culinary adventure so far and I decided that this would be an ideal opportunity to wax lyrical about Turkish staples (although the word 'staples' does not do them justice).
First up is the mighty Turkish breakfast. It's almost unheard of for a hotel not to provide breakfast and regardless of the size of establishment, the first meal of the day is an absolute feast. You can expect Turkish cheese, olives, tomato, cucumber, boiled eggs, fruit, honey and tonnes of fresh bread as well as tea, coffee and 'juice' (squash). Extras might include an omelet, yogurt with bowls of sweet jams and slices of dubious looking sausage. An exciting addition to our breakfast recently was feta crumbled up with syrupy blackberries. The Turkish take breakfast very seriously and we feel it only polite to indulge them (and ourselves).
This morniıng we ventured out for breakfast and ended up in a cafe around the corner. Here we had chewy Turkish bread wıth the most amazing honey and fresh cream. What better way to start the day? My god it was good!
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| Worth dragging yourself out of bed for... |
Something else that is taken seriously is travelling by bus. Although perfectly comfortable, cheaper and often quicker, few people choose to travel by train. In Turkey, it's all about the bus. Travelling by bus is like taking a plane. Each bus has an attendant who, when not showering you with lemon cologne to make you smell of jif, brings you drinks and snacks. Having used a variety of companies for different journeys I have found the service to differ in the details and yet always be pretty special. One company stands out in particular. Where you are usually given a cake in a packet, this attendant allowed you to rummage around in a box and take what you like. Sitting near the back of the bus, I watched as hands dipped in the box as the trolley slowly made its way down the aisle. And I started to break out in a cold sweat. What if all the good stuff had gone by the time he reached us? WHAT IF HE RAN OUT?! Shedding my Englishness, as soon as the box was within reach of my sweaty little hands I grabbed the last chocolate biscuits and made a mental note to ask for seats nearer the front next time. On a different journey, I was delighted to find the only options were orange fizzy pop and a slice of cake thus making me feel like I was at a kid's birthday party and giving me the sugar rush to go with it. Not as much fun when you're the wrong side of 30 and at the beginning of a 4 hour bus journey.
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| How to keep the customers happy on a long old journey |
Finally, a word on tea. Tea is drunk sweet and bitter in a small glass. On previous visits to Turkey I could never cope with the bitterness. However, this time I have been converted mainly because I have a)taught myself not to think of it as 'tea' and b) started adding at least two lumps of sugar. Of course, I still dig in to my supply of earl grey whenever we are near a kettle and for the last few days I've been back on the English tea. The purchase of a scarily efficient Turkish coffee kettle means that we can get hot water in less than 1 minute which should keep me going. But I have to admit, I'm beginning to crave a cup of the bitter/sweet hot stuff... Oh and here is an old man wandering around the internet cafe selling tea! What perfect timing! Well, if you insist...
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| Finn and tea seller in Antalya. He wouldn't stop giving us the stuff |
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