Istanbul
Last weekend we had a short trip to İstanbul, the most famous city of Turkey. It is a kind of dream city for everyone in Turkey as it has a special effect on people with the odour of history blowing from its streets. There were a lot of wars in different periods of time in the cause of this glamorous city.
It is located on Bosphorus Strait and the city is divided into two sides of Bosphorus; The European and the Asian (Anatolia) sides. People pass from one side to another either on motorways (Bosphorus Bridge and Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge) or via sea transport. Sea transportation has a vital importance for poeple in İstanbul as the city is surrounded by sea from all sides: the Sea of Marmara, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Black Sea.
It is one of the most important ancient cities around the world, so it witnessed several wars and periods of several empires. It was the capital city of Roman Empire between the years of 330-395, of East Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) between 395-1204 and 1261-1453, of Latin Empire between 1204-1261, and finally it was the capital of Ottoman Empire between 1453-1922. Romans and Byzantines called it “Constantinople” and “Byzantium”, Ottomans called it “Dersaadet”, and Turkish Republic has been using “İstanbul” as its name since 1930.
Istanbul has always been the flower of people throughout the history, so it has always attracted people and emigration to the city has always been in large numbers. With its so significant and strategic location as a joint between Asia and Europe, it has become one of the most attractive cosmopolitan city of the world. It shelters people from several ethnicities and religions, which can be obviously seen on buildings while walking around the city. To give an example, Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia), which was the biggest patriarchal cathedral of its period, was built by the Roman emperor Constantius in 360. This church was later converted into a mosque when it was conquered by Ottomans (by Sultan Mehmet II aka Mehmet the Conquerer). And it served as a mosque until 1935 when it was converted into a museum by Republic of Turkey.
The conquest of İstanbul is known as the symbol of the end of Middle Age, so it has a worldwide significance. After the conquest in 1453, Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı) and Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı) were built. Then several new schools and Turkish baths were built and with the emigration of many people from all over the world besides the poeple of the country, it became a city of Muslim, Jewish and Christian people.
After an enjoyable train travel, the magnificient train station, Haydar Paşa (Haydarpasha train station) welcomed us with its majestic architecture. Its roots go back to the year 1872 and it locates at the Anatolian side of İstanbul. By the time we got off the train, we felt the exciting smell of the sea without seeing the sea itself. Our hotel was at the European side of the city, so we had a short travel on a ferry boat to pass to the other side. I must say that all of our senses became so active during this travel as we had the chance of watching this mega city from the middle. We became more and more excited by the blow from the sea licking our faces.
When we arrived the European side, we felt another impressive smell coming from some special boats on the sea. These boats are known as floating restaurants serving grilled fish in half bread with some greens and onion. This is my favorite fast food in İstanbul. As it was still morning, we decided to eat at one of these restaurants later.
After some rest at our hotel, I had a meeting with some colleagues. I must admit that I was looking forward to finishing the meeting because I would go deep into the city with my husband in the afternoon.
After the meeting, we went out from the hotel and started to discover the city. Our first destination was the most famous square of the city, Taksim. On our way to Taksim, we saw a historic tram along İstiklal Avenue, which serves between Taksim and Tünel. This tram completes the historic view of the city with its old fashioned appearance and its nostalgic sound.
We walked around the historical narrow streets of this avenue and we came accross Saint Anthony Catholic church on İstiklal Avenue. There were a lot of tourists visiting this church, which has a fascinating architecture.
Then we went on our tour on the same avenue and we saw another famous building, the historic Flowers Passageway (Çiçek Pasajı). The history of this passageway goes back to 1800s. The original name of it was Cité de Péra and it was originally a passage for various shops and upscale flats. After several years it became a passage for flower shop and it got its name as Flowers Passageway. After years, drinking houses (meyhane) replaced flower shops and today, flower is just seen in its name and in the vases on dinner tables. The passage has become one of the most preferable entertaining places with drinking houses in it. While you’re having your dinner and drinking your beer or raki, musicians often come and walk among tables playing clarinet, accordion, tabor or violin. So it becomes an unforgettable evening for you. You are often supposed to tip these musicians.
We had our dinner at one of these drinking houses. We generally have raki with fish, but this time we craved for cold beer as it was too hot on that day. As an appetizer, fried calamari is always our first preference, and it wasn’t different this time. We adore fried calamari, but it’s hard to find fresh calamari in Eskişehir. And we were aware that Istanbul was just the place of fresh calamari.
It was served with a usual sauce of yogurt and garlic. We finished all at once. We were so happy to dip our calamari into this sauce and eat it without waiting more and to have a swig of cold beer just after it.
While having that marvelous fried calamari, we ordered two portions fried pilchard, which was special for that restaurant. It was served with lemon slices, sliced onion and fresh arugula. When I had a small piece, I felt in heaven and it could have been impossible to stop eating all of them at once if my husband hadn’t reminded me of the pleasure of eating.
It was another must for us to order a season salad to accompany the fish. With our fried pilchards, a fresh season salad came and we made its dressing on the table with lemon juice, natural olive oil and vinegar. They went together very well. We left there with happy stomachs. I can still feel their tastes in my mouth.
The following day, after our meeting for work, we passed to Anatolian side to meet some friends. We hadn’t seen each other for months, so we were so excited to see them. It was a wonderful day, so we decided to walk on the coast for a while to feel its pleasure.
Our friends, then, took us to a club house and I had this yummy drink there. At first, I didn’t want to order it. But my friend insisted me on tasting it. It was scrumptious! The main ingredient was milk, so I didn’t think it was worth tasting, but I was wrong. The mixture of milk, ginger, cinnamon, sugar, black tea and ice made it incredible.
And as everything beautiful has an end, the day was very close to the end, so we went out to watch the fascinating sunset.
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Anchovy in Oven
Everyone knows that consuming fish is so important for our health. We are trying to cook fish once a week. Altough Eskisehir is not a coastal city, we have a large fish market here. There are a lot of kinds of fish here coming from different seas of Turkey, which is surrounded with sea on three sides. I love shopping in this market as everything is so fresh here. Besides fishes, there are also fresh vegetable and fruit, so while the fisherman is cleaning your fish, you can do shopping from the vegetable and fruit vendors. If you think that you won’t buy anything from here because you have everything at home, you are completely wrong. You can’t help buying from these fresh fruit and vegetables as you can’t take your eyes from these shiny colors. You can see a photo from our fish market below.
On every Saturday, fishermen bring fish from Turkey seas, so we generally prefer going to fish market on that day to have the freshest fish. Among the fishes there, anchovy is my favorite because it has a strong taste and its bones are so thin that it’s not problem even if there are some bones left. In fact, removing its bones is so easy that it’s impossible to miss any bones. Anchovy fish originally lives in Black Sea, but it also lives in Marmara Sea. I prefer Black Sea anchovy as it is more delicious. You can see how anchovies are exhibited in this market.
Last Saturday was our fish day and we wen to fish market and we cooked anchovy in oven. Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
• 1kg anchovy
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lemon
• Red pepper flakes
• Salt
• A few bay leaves
When you buy fish from this fish market, they clean it for yourself, fishermen (you see one of them above) remove bones. So when you take them home, just washing is enough.
Oil the oven tray and place the anchovy fishes on it. Since they are so small you can put one on another (their interior parts should stick to each other).
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F)
In a small bowl, put olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper flakes, mix them. Then spread this mixture on anchovies with a brush. Finally put a few bay leaves. Place the tray into oven and cook it 40 minutes untill all the water’s gone.
You can serve this scrumptious anchovy with onion and lemon.
Grilled Fish Recipe
I think you can reach the best taste of fish while on boat. You catch fish yourself, clean it yourself, grill it yourself and eat with friends. If you have the opportunity of saling on your boat, try it and you’ll understand how it tastes different.
Equipments
• A boat
• Fish net
• Griller
• A pair of tongs
Get on your boat with friends, sale for a while and stop in the aproppriate point (where fishing is allowed). Place the fish net properly. Wait for some time. When you think the number of fishes hooked in the net is enough, pull it.
Clean the fishes you catch and put them on griller. Turn the fish with a pair of tongs to grill the both sides equally. When you get the color you want, it’s done.
Do not wait any more, eat it without seasoning it. It doesn’t need any other ingredients.
(I hope you enjoy this recipe. In the picture, you see the small gilthead seabreams we caught last summer when we were in Bodrum/ Turkey)
Gilthead Seabream in Oven Recipe (Fırında Çupra Tarifi)
Turkey is surrounded by seas from three sides, so it is rich in kinds of fishes. I think one of the most delicious fish is githead seabream, which is popular in Agean Sea. And I try to make this recipe at least once a week. Fish is both healthy and delicious you know. If you have children, it is a must to cook fish.
In Turkish cuisine, fish is generally served with green salad. Then as a dessert after fish, helva (a sweet prepared in many varieties with sesame oil) is the indispensable one. You see the picture of helva below.
Ingredients
• 4 gilthead seabreams, whiting, sea bass or any kind of fish (serving: 4)
• 4 onions
• bay leaves
• 2 lemons
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed
• salt
• pepper flakes
Clean the fishes and wash them. Put them in a large bowl, cut onions in big pieces and combine it with fishes. Add salt and 1 lemon juice, wait at least half an hour. This will take the bad smell of fish.
Preheat the oven to 190 C. Cover the oven tray with foil paper.
Place the gilthead seabreams in the tray.
In a seperate small bowl, mix mashed garlic, olive oil, 1 lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Spread this mixture on fishes. Put some bay leaves on them and cook it for 50 minutes.
Then you feel that piquant smell coming from your oven.
To peel dried almonds easily, soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes.
