A few people were asking where I have disappeared to recently and I’m happy to say that I’m not locked away in a dungeon and I haven’t run away to live in the forest by myself for the rest of my life. I’m actually somewhere very exciting and I’m loving every day of it. I love food, I love Istanbul and I love Turkish food!
About 8 months ago I received an invitation from a very good friend here in Istanbul to come and help her start her home decor/craft/woodwork business. She said I could stay in the apartment here by myself and work in the studio. I could also work on my own art and internet projects.
It was an invitation that came out of nowhere and at the most perfect time for me. I couldn’t say no and I boarded a plane to Turkey as soon as I could. I arrived here in the Turkish winter towards the end of 2018 and I’m still here towards the end of the Turkish summer in 2019! How cool is that?
Some of you may know that I was coming to Turkey about 20 years ago, so I knew what to expect. But I hadn’t been here for more than 15 years so it wasn’t an easy adjustment settling in. Thankfully my beautiful Turkish friend has helped me out whenever I’m in need. I still don’t know the language so I’m always in need of help! I’m learning Turkish of course but not fast enough!
The Food in Turkey (Istanbul)
The food in Istanbul has been divine. From the street food markets filled with fresh produce, to the Turkish fast food joints selling lahmacun or tantuni, through to the fine food restaurants serving up the most amazing Turkish dishes you could ever imagine! I’ve savored every mouthful.
Obviously I’ve also had to do some serious exercise along the way otherwise I would be the size of a baby elephant by now. I’m probably the size of a baby cow instead but my goal is to be gazelle sized soon hehe 😜
I had a lot of favorite foods from my first trips to Istanbul twenty years ago so I had to go through and tick a lot of those boxes. Things like baklava, sucuk, cecil cheese, simit, lahmacun, kazandibi with ice cream, kebab, and on and on. Ok, so the boxes I had to tick were numerous!
Oh I also went through a period where I was trying everything in supermarkets. Unfortunately this testing phase included biscuits, chocolates, chips and ice cream! I have mostly cut back on all the junk food now though as I’m no longer using the excuse that it’s new to me so I have to try it.
Anyway, this was just meant to be a quick update post. I have decided to start sharing more Turkish food and culture as I’m in such a fortunate position to do so. I have a visa until March 2020 and I hope I can afford to stay here for at least that long.
I will start taking the camera with me when I go out. I’ll try to capture some of the wonderfulness that is Turkish food. From the fresh food markets through to the fine dining restaurants and everything in between.
I also plan to start making some Turkish recipes and sharing them. My Turkish friend’s mum is a great cook so I’ll be getting some recipes and tips from her.
Let me know of any foodie suggestions here in Istanbul too, I would love to hear them. Is there a restaurant I should go to, a food market, a great cafe? Please share them below.
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