Turkish food delights

Tuesday 3 September 2024

Today is our last full day in Turkey, we’ll miss the country - it’s hospitable people, the lovely towns, villages, coastline and historical sites. We’ll also miss the amazing food. It’s not as cheap as it used to be (with an inflation rate currently running at 64%) but everywhere we’ve eaten the food has been amazing. A traditional Turkish loaf costs 22p, a beer and a soft drink costs £5, and this mornings brunch of 2 filled flatbreads and 4 cups of tea cost us £9.50. As they say in Turkish - Afiyet olsun / Enjoy your meal!

We have a selection of Turkish cookery books back home and whenever we are in London visiting my sister we make a trip to an amazing Turkish supermarket nearby to stock up on yufka pastry (like filo for making borec), olives, beyaz peynir (white cheese) and manti (tiny ravioli). I’ve just sent my sister this new vegetarian recipe book written by Özlem Warren.

Our friend Annie kindly gifted us another Turkish cookery book to add to our collection. It’s written by Angie Mitchell Sunkur, who used to work with us in Turkey back in the 80’s. Our little 2 burner hob and limited space makes it difficult to create elaborate dishes but as soon as we’re home I’ll be sourcing the ingredients to knock up some of our favourites. This beautifully illustrated book ‘Secrets of the Turkish Kitchen’ features lots of them.