Forgive me

It's been almost four months since I've last written to this blog. Not that I was away from my computer but because I had so much writings to do. I kept writing to my Turkish blog though since it's so much easier to write in your own language.

Yes this post won't be a long one but I want to share few photos from Burhaniye Farmer's Market which is one of the joys of life here in the Ida Mountain area for me. Summers are so colourful here so that you cannot easily choose what to but.

All sorts of summer fruits; peaches, cherries, sweet figs, watermelons, melons, grapes...

And all kinds of summer veggies; tomatoes, peppers, zucchinis, eggplants..

You can cook whatever you want with them. Turkish cuisine is known (not only that though) for it's variety of eggplant dishes. Summers are great chances to try new recipes with them. One of my favorites is the eggplant gozleme which is kind of a pastry filled with eggplant spread (it has tomatoes, onions, garlic etc in it). I like it crispy and fresh. With a glass of tea. Yes tea. Even if it's so hot outside, tea is still a nice cooler for Turks.

Okra is another lovely summer treat for us. Fresh from the garden, it's a tasty veggie. My special recipe is the pear okra dish cooked in fresh grape juice. It has a nice surprise even for people who don't like okra. A but of sesame is of help in that of course! Have a nice summer, although we're coming to an end.

Children of the world

These are the children of the world. Every year, they gather in Turkey to celebrate their day: April 23st Children’s Day. It was Atatürk’s idea, the founder of Turkey, to celebrate a day for kids. They are our future. They will live in this world when we’re gone. And we are responsible for them. We need to leave a better world for them to live better. Not wars, not famines, not hunger. They deserve a better world. Don’t they?

I took these pictures in Antalya on April 19th, 2006. Children from 60 countries came to Antalya to show their folk dances. They were in their folkloric costumes. They were flowers. They had hope. They had laughter. All I need to do is to take their pictures. Unfortunately I couldn’t see the whole show. I missed most of it.

The kids from Moldova, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Japan, Hungary and Ozbekhistan were the ones I could see, touch and share a smile with. Their joy broke my heart. What could I say to them? How could I explain the wars? The killings? Why rich countries don’t help the poor? Why we have to feed ourselves with these genetically modified foods? Or unhealty biscuits, fries, drinks, sugary foods...

Do they deserve that ugly food? Do we have to make rich international food companies richer by buying their junk food? I have answers for all these questions in my heart but I know all I can do is to change my attitude towards the world. Towards children. Towards nature. So let me leave you with the beautiful smiles from the children of the world!

Turkish breakfasts

This morning, I got up early. Even if it wasn’t cold outside, I decided to stay in bed and share the joy of birds. I decided if I stay in bed and keep quiet, I wouldn’t disturb their morning ritual.

Then I heard a voice coming from far away: “simitçiiiiiii”. It was the voice of our neighborhood’s early bird. The ‘simit seller’. He’s one of the few simitçi’s who pass from our street every morning. Immediately, I rose up from bed, opened my window to morning. The cherry tomatoes I got from the farmer’s market yesterday, a ready to eat avocado, ‘örgü peyniri’ (a special local cheese from the Eastern part of Turkey)

and my green olives would be a perfect match for a simit. Unfortunately when I get dressed and reach to the balcony, he was walking away. I thought another one would come but no, none came after him. So I had to go to the local market to buy two simits. One for me, one for mom. I prepared the tea, cut the tomatoes and prepared the rest of the breakfast.

Breakfast is important for us, Turks. We want our tea (not a teabag, real, brewed tea for our breakfast. One glass wouldn’t be enough. We don’t enjoy large mugs for tea. It should be glass with a thin belly which keeps the tea hot. With tea, cheeses, butter, olives and jams are served. At times (depending on the season) tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, even parsley and fresh greens are added.

Omlette is not a must but be present on the weekend breakfasts. It could be eggs with ‘sucuk’ too. Sucuk is similar to sausage in a way. Ground meat mixed with some spices and garlic is filled in dried, cleaned intestines and let be dried for sometime. It used to be made at home in the past. Some families still make it I guess but it’s not made at our house anymore. I don’t eat it since I don’t eat meat but ‘sucuk’ is a beloved breakfast companion for many Turks.

Breakfasts won’t be ready without breads. It could be homemade bread or bread from the baker. It could be white and sponge like or brown and tough. It depends on your taste and decision but we love bread! Yes, we may prefer ‘simit’ to bread at times but we don’t have simit for breakfast everyday, don’t worry. Were breakfasts be like that fifty years ago? No, soups would have been eaten in many households. With a ‘tarhana’ or ‘mercimek çorbasi’ (lentil soup), homemade filo pastry would be served. Cheese? Yes, at some houses. Olives and oliveoil? Yes, if you live in the Aegean region. Butter and jam? Not jam at so many places but tahini and pekmez (grape molasses) mixture would be great for winter!

In each region, the breakfast tradition is different. It totally depends on what you have on hand or what you grow or can prepare. If you have sheep, cows or goats, cheese would be a part of your breakfast. If you own chicken, boiled or cooked eggs would be for breakfast. Soup is still preferred at some regions but it can be served with cornbread in the Blacksea region where wheat bread would be at hand in the central Anatolia. So much could be added to this breakfast issue but let me add the pictures to speak for it…

This pastry is made by my friend Sema few weeks ago for breakfast. It’s called ‘cantik’ and is made by Tatars mostly. It’s filled with mashed and spiced potatoes (normally a meat filling is preferred) and made with wholewheat flour. It’s made with white flour by many women.

This actually was a lunch photo but it could be eaten for breakfast too. I took this last summer when we visited an oliveoil factory in Edremit (a Northeastern Aegean town). We had olives and oliveoil, the bread came from a nearby village, cheese from around and tomates were from the garden. It was a great lunch if you ask me. I could eat it for 3 times a day in summer!

This is a ricotta-like homemade cheese. We don’t normally serve cheese with fruits and fruits are not a usual breakfast item but I like making that cheese with herbs and dried tomatoes. In Turkey an easy to made cheese, ‘çökelek’ is made at many houses. You might have heard making cheese by adding a bit of sour element (either lemon juice or vinegar). That’s how I made it. (If you want the recipe of this cheese, please visit yogurtland where you can find it.)

This is one of my favorite breakfasts. I have it once in a while and cannot forget. My friends own a boutique hotel on the Ida mountains. Their chef (and one of the owners) Erhan is a talented chef. He and his sister Menend prepares one of the greatest breakfasts of the region. You might want to experience it yourself. For more info check their website: www.zeytinbagi.com

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE YOUR OWN BREAKFAST IDEAS WITH US?