Spice of Life - Foods of Turkey

Greetings my dear friends (and new readers, too).  Today's post is going to be about food.  Lovely, colorful, tasty, Turkish Food.  My dear daughter told me I should write about different port cities, sights, landmarks, etc., and I may in the future, but I thought I'd spice it up a bit and talk about food!  I love to eat delicious food and make delicious food.  So, here are some photos of some great Turkish food from my last trip to Turkey in July . . .

We arrived in our seaside town the first part of July during the Ramazan festivities.  Corn was in season and on the way to our home this guy had set up a roadside roasted corn stand.  We stopped a couple of times and bought delicious, warm, roasted corn.  He wrapped it oh so carefully and even included some wet wipes to clean our hands!

We always look forward to going to the weekly farmers market.  Every Thursday the vendors set up their wares in the small streets behind one of the big grocery stores.  Since we know the area and know where to park, we love to venture to this market each week.  I've never seen such a  huge selection of fruits and vegetables as in the Turkish market.  It reminds me of all the years I used to visit Pike Place Market in Seattle.

 

We had very warm temps this year in July and it seemed even warmer at the market stalls.  My husband loves to bargain (it's in his blood), and he made friends with one of the fruit sellers. 

Turkey has an array of wonderful breads.  One afternoon we went downtown to do some banking/business.  We decided to eat lunch at one of the "tourist" restaurants.  We usually like to find places off the beaten path, but it was a warm day and we were hungry.  We chose a corner restaurant and we were not disappointed when this bread suddenly appeared, hot from the oven!

My husband always like to order adana kabob, but I love Turkish Pide or Turkish pizza.  This one is topped with seasoned ground beef which was spiced just perfect on a warm, hot, crusty base.

We are lucky that we have some large grocery stores in Alanya.  We were shopping at Carrefour and found this lovely lady making Gozleme in the bakery department!  We had tried this delicous hand rolled pastry that is stuffed with oil and herbs at the farmers market but we were surprised to find it at the bakery.  Of course, we bought a couple of gozleme hot off the grill and enjoyed them when we returned home.

I know I've shared this before, but experiencing a Turkish breakfast is a must when you come to Turkey.  This is our "breakfast" at our favorite little restaurant tucked up on the mountain.  Most of the items have been homemade by the restaurant owner.  And, of course, endless glasses of Turkish tea!

If you're not a tea drinker then you can try Turkey's Efes beer.  This year at the beach they served it to me in a glass with ice.  It was delicious and so cooling under the hot rays of sunshine.

And, if beer is not to your liking, there are many coffee/tea shops in Turkey, including Starbucks.  But, I'm not a Starbucks person really.  Being from the Seattle area, when coffee shops first took hold they were classy places with coffee served in proper cups.  Sadly many of the coffee houses have gone by the wayside.  My OCD really gets me going when I go into a Starbucks and see the overflowing trash, paper cups, napkins, etc., all every which way.  Here comes Roberts Coffee to the rescue.  It's a classy, beautifully decorated coffee house in Alanya.  I could spend the whole day there.

 

 On the last day of our trip, we decided to try a new restaurant down on the waterfront.  The seafood salad was delicious and the view was even better.

I love trying different foods and places.  Sadly, I don't have a photo of our favorite place called Simitci where we can enjoy coffee, tea, pastries, or sweets while sitting at their sidewalk cafe and people watching.  

Turkey is a vast country with a huge array of agricultural products that they produce.  I found it quite interesting that the following are some of their largest exports:

1.  Refined sunflower oil (Turkey #1 exporter)

2.  Hazelnuts (Turkey #1 exporter)

3.  Raisins (Turkey #1 exporter)

4. Poultry

5. Pasta (Turkey took over market in Africa)

I hope you have enjoyed another glimpse into this fascinating country.  Please feel free to share what you have been busy with as I'd love to hear from you.  Until next time. . .

My Best Wishes,

Pat

Linking with:

Five on Friday . . .  

P.S.  I finished knitting my Amulet Shawl - Hooray!  I'll share a photo of it with you another time.