Foodies in Istanbul

Since I determined in 2013 that Istanbul is one of my new favorite cities, I wasn't too sad when an education conference that I usually attend as a part of my role on the school board met there this year.  Since pictures of lots of meetings aren't very interesting, I don't usually mention this event on the blog.  But on our free evening, several of us headed out to urban Istanbul on a foodie tour to explore lots of interesting culinary treats across the city.

After four hours of walking, talking, eating, walking, eating and eating, we were happily stuffed.  It was also an excellent time for our team of trustees on the board to bond outside of more formal meetings where we usually see each other.

Our guide, Korhan, founder of the company Istanbul on Food, was fabulous.  He is a lover of all things food and spent nearly six months trying restaurant, kiosk, food cart after restaurant, kiosk, food cart to find just the right places for his food tour.  

And we're off.  Here we all are at the start of our tour: Hala, Leslie S, Sallama, Shahin, Leslie B, me and Tom.  Tom got a kick out of telling the tour guide that he was our chaperone.  Given that we were coming from the UAE, I think our guide wasn't sure at first if he was joking.  Nonetheless, Tom was an excellent chaperone and we ended up with all accounted for at the end.  We'll have to bring more of the men from the board next time so Tom has a bit more company.

First stop - street food!

Laura, Sallama and Shahin

Hala at her namesake restaurant.  We discovered that Hala means "Auntie" in Turkish so we just might start calling our Hala "Auntie" as a fun inside joke to remember our lovely stop at Hala.

Early stop where this guy is making us a Turkish burrito-like wrap (called a tantuni) with meat cooked in a savory sauce, fresh herbs and veggies. 

Street food with Sallama and Shahin - the two of us voted least likely to enjoy street food in a new city!  Kudos for lots of adventurous spirit this evening.

Our Turkish tantuni place

Now we have a Turkish quesadilla-like dish (called gozleme) with potato, spinach, cheese and saffron stuffed inside a homemade tortilla and a homemade ravioli-like dish (called manti) served with a sour yogurt sauce on top. 

Rice pudding with a delectable topping of fruit and nuts

Pide - like a pizza but with no tomato sauce.  We ate this dish at a lovely cafe in a charming alley.  Tables and tables of people were filled enjoying the wonderful evening and weather

One of the many small, vibrant, lovely side streets near Istiklal Street

At the rice and beans place, lots of notes were written and placed under the glass of the table praising the food.  We were happy to find one in Arabic, too.

Rice, turkish beans and slow-cooked shredded beef.  This was served with an apricot juice and pickled vegetables

The family that has been serving rice to the sultans for over a hundred and fifty years.

A giant pot of the famous rice cooked in bone marrow broth.  They start cooking at 6:30 in the morning and when their last pot runs out, they close up shop and head home.

Next stop - the same menu since the 1950s - only the prices change occasionally

The famous Iskender kabob with pita bread and yogurt underneath.  This cafe felt like a place where the mob (if there is one in Turkey) might congregate.  I don't think anything has changed in 70+ years!

A raki break.  It's a clear liquorice flavored liquor that turns cloudy when diluted with water.  *Almost* all of us gave it a try but my lips are sealed on who that was!

Almonds in ice cubes.  We peeled the soft coating off to eat.

Another "burrito-like" street food.  This one is grilled over hot coals.

Fried oysters!

Lamb intestine sandwich.  Yup, you read that right.  And I ate it!

See???

So did Leslie!

And we topped our evening off with this amazing baklava and special Turkish ice cream.  The ice cream is eaten with a fork and knife and as it wasn't too sweet, it went so well with the pastry dishes.  Yum, yum, yum!