eG Foodblog: sazji - Istanbul Glutfests

[sazji]

This was a fascinating blog, I was sorry to see it end. Thank You.

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Thank you and what the hell are you doing in your oven?

(Referring to your avatar)

Edited December 17, 2006 by sazji (log)

[Swisskaese]

Thank you for a beautiful blog. I will definitely contact you before I go back to Turkey.

I loved the baklava in Istanbul, especially the pistachio ones.

[Sentiamo]

I now know so much more about Turkish cuisine after this magic carpet ride with you Sazji...thanks so much! The last series of photos in the baklava shop are exquisite and it is very obvious pistachio's cost a lot less than they do here.

And yes, you sure have left lots of subjects to cover in your next blog. Coffee for one!!

Have a safe and Happy Christmas!! ( just what DO you eat for Christmas??...lolol, next time maybe?)

[Timh]

This was a fascinating blog, I was sorry to see it end. Thank You.

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Thank you and what the hell are you doing in your oven?

(Referring to your avatar)

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I was actually cleaning the oven when a waiter saw me half in it. Lots of bad humor later ,she thought it would make a funny photo.

[sazji]

I now know so much more about Turkish cuisine after this magic carpet ride with you Sazji...thanks so much! The last series of photos in the baklava shop are exquisite and it is very obvious pistachio's cost a lot less than they do here.

And yes, you sure have left lots of subjects to cover in your next blog. Coffee for one!!

Have a safe and Happy Christmas!! ( just what DO you eat for Christmas??...lolol, next time maybe?)

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Well...cheaper but not really all that cheap. Good baklava is not cheap either, if you look at it from the standpoint of what most Turks earn.

Coffee - well actually that subject will be fairly easy. There's one company here that has the reputation, Hacı Mehmet Efendi. It's okay, I can't say I'm wild about it. The best coffee I have had here came from Iraq, was roasted quite dark and had cardamom in it. (This was in Silopi, where people get a lot of their staples from Iraq.) As for making coffee - I think the main thing is to do it slowly; heat it on a low flame rather than high, and after pouring the foam off, to heat gradually and just to get it bubbling up again, not to boil it violently. Some people don't even do the final boiling. (In the Balkans, many places boil the coffee only to the point of foaming up, and bring you your indiviual serving with the head of foam in the pot.) Compared to Greece, they don't drink much coffee here any more; tea is the winner. In many places now they will even bring you a coffee with no water alongside; you have to ask (and pay) for the water! This is because Istanbul water is safe but tastes disgusting, so everyone drinks bottled water, and the PET bottle has become almost the rule at restaurants...

[prasantrin]

Thanks for bringing a bit of Turkey to me. I'm thinking more seriously of visiting. I'll try for February, but it would be February 2009--is that too late for coffee? Or maybe Fall 2008. Decisions, decisions...