I am slowly learning about all the strange and wonderful things that Turkey has to offer by way of food and beverages. In my time spent in my new surroundings, I have realised the huge passion and love for food and beverages that the Turks have. For example the weird and peculiar things I have tried and tasted include a raw meat dish, which looks much like some kind of meat ball. Çiğ Köfte is it's formal name and it is served with lettuce leaves and lemon. You wrap the lettuce around the raw meat ball and add lemon. Çiğ Köfte comes with spice, without spice, with potato and with or without bulgar. The best one is with bulgar wheat, bit of spice and lots of lemon and fresh crunchy lettuce and some crunchy radish on the side. It is common for it to be made at home in a large round shallow tray and it is mixed and kneaded by hand. On my first visit to Ankara to meet Ken's family, Yasin (Ken's brother) made it for us for supper and I haven't looked back!Last night I encountered a strange beverage known as 'Boza'. Although I had never heard of it, Ken was insistent that it was a very popular drink in Turkey. I thought only Ayran and Turkish çay were the only pop
ular drinks in Turkey? We ventured through the backstreets to our old neighbourhood of Fatih to a very famous establishment known as Vefa Bozacısı which was established in 1876. The drink (much to my guts' disapproval) is made from fermented wheat. It is served with cinnamon on top and to my surprise I watched as people dropped chickpeas into their glasses and used a spoon to fish them out. Apparently, this goes very well with Boza. Eeh? Given my chronic IBS symptoms of late, I thought I would be best to only consume half the glass and leave the rest for Kenny to gulp down. I was amazed to see people streaming through the door as the man behind the counter poured glasses of the fermented thick stuff from a ladle like pot from a significant height directly into the glass. No spillage, of course. Although I somewhat enjoyed this new and strange taste, the fermentation gives it a strange flavour. In Ken's words "if you drink again in two, three days, you become addict". Think I might find something else to become addict to or I could spend much time in the bathroom...
ular drinks in Turkey? We ventured through the backstreets to our old neighbourhood of Fatih to a very famous establishment known as Vefa Bozacısı which was established in 1876. The drink (much to my guts' disapproval) is made from fermented wheat. It is served with cinnamon on top and to my surprise I watched as people dropped chickpeas into their glasses and used a spoon to fish them out. Apparently, this goes very well with Boza. Eeh? Given my chronic IBS symptoms of late, I thought I would be best to only consume half the glass and leave the rest for Kenny to gulp down. I was amazed to see people streaming through the door as the man behind the counter poured glasses of the fermented thick stuff from a ladle like pot from a significant height directly into the glass. No spillage, of course. Although I somewhat enjoyed this new and strange taste, the fermentation gives it a strange flavour. In Ken's words "if you drink again in two, three days, you become addict". Think I might find something else to become addict to or I could spend much time in the bathroom...The thought never crossed my mind that you could make desserts using meat. Early on when I first arrived I was introduced to 'kazandibi' known also as tavuk göğsü (ta-vook ger-soo), a white custardy looking dessert that is that is burnt brown on the outside, similar to being caramelised. It's consistency is think and solid, but once in your mouth has the same texture as custard which I am a fan of. The first time I ate Kazandibi, Ken didn't tell me that it was made from chicken!! After tasting it, he told me that it is made from sugar, cream, milk and chicken, of course, without the bones or skin. Although it seemed the strangest thing to me, it was very tasty and if you searched your mouth enough you could feel some slight shreds of chicken inside. If you ever get the chance, you should definitely try it! Just don't think about the chicken!
