The New York Times's Frugal Traveller turns out to also be a shrewd traveller, heading down on his latest voyage to Turkey's culinary Mecca of Gaziantep, which sits in the heart of the country's pistachio growing region. The frug, Seth Kugel, gets down to business in Gaziantep, sampling the city's famous baklava and several of its other iconic dishes. From his report:
Back to the baklava. I tried about 10 places over five days, from cheap (around 18 Turkish lira a kilogram) to pricey (40 a kilo and up). (A kilogram is 2.2 pounds.) And while I would agree with Kamil — he said he buys the cheap stuff because the worst baklava in Gaziantep is better than the best baklava everywhere else — I could sense a real dedication to craft (and to customer service) at the more expensive places.
My favorite spot was Celebiogullari, which has three locations around the city. (I went to the one at the far eastern end of Gaziler Caddesi, a lively market area.) I ordered baklava variations that had higher pistachio-to-phyllo ratios, which delivered slightly less sugar shock and more explosive pistachio flavor.
The friendly young men on the staff were so intrigued by the American with the camera spouting random words of Turkish that they came over to sit with me and chat as I ate my triangle-shaped havuc dilimi and the green sushi roll-shaped fistik sarma. (Imagine American waiters simply plopping down uninvited next to a customer to talk.) When an attractive news anchor came on the flat-screen television, I pointed and said “fistik!” Big laughs! My first Turkish joke!
I have no idea how much I spent, because another customer, witnessing the scene, paid my bill for me: another bump for Turkish hospitality.
EatingAsia is a thoroughly mouthwatering food blog written and photographed by a husband and wife team that is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They are currently in Turkey and recently went on a culinary road trip that took them through southeastern Turkey. Their wonderful reports and photos from the trip can be found here. Highly recommended reading.
Ciya Sofrasi in Istanbul, where keme (the "Mesopotamian Truffle") is now being served
Via Istanbul Eats, a post about the springtime return of keme, AKA "The Mesopotamian Truffle." From IE's post:
Impossible to cultivate and with a season that spans only a few weeks, this specialty of southeast Turkey is worth seeking out, with a taste that's like an earthy cross between a Portobello mushroom and a very delicate potato. Last year, we got our keme fix at Kadikoy's excellent Çiya Sofrası, where it is grilled on a skewer and served like a kebab (as well as incorporated into several other dishes).
In this morning's edition of the English-language Today's Zaman, though, we learned about another place in Istanbul that also serves keme, Kübban Gaziantep Mutfağı. We're not familiar with this place, but the article (you can find it here) makes it sound very promising.
The good news? The article -- at least in the print edition -- gives an address. The bad news? It's all the way out in Güneşli, a neighborhood on the western outskirts of Istanbul.
