Food & Drink

Macit quote of the day: Drink one raki, you feel like a lion; drink two raki, you feel like you can fight anyone in the bar; drink three raki, you feel like a donkey.

This will be the compulsory account of Turkish food and beverages.  Barb, one of historians of the Ottoman Empire, has been raving about the food since our webinar weeks before the trip.  I’ve enjoyed the food to a point, but haven’t been overly wowed.  Turkish food is heavy.  I don’t remember at any point during the trip where I sat down for a meal and actually thought, “I’m hungry and can’t wait to eat this 5 course meal”.  No matter what time of the day it is the Turks serve tons of food, which is ironic since it’s Ramadan and a healthy amount of the population is fasting throughout the day.  The food itself is pretty tasty, there is a heavy reliance on cheeses, olives, figs, honey, and other typically Mediterranean food.  The vegetables, for me, are the highlight as everything is fresher than in the US.  Their tomatoes are especially delicious.  Meat is an integral part of every meal that we have had and I don’t think there has been any point in my life where I have so consistently ate beef and lamb.  Most lamb is served from a doner, which is a vertical spit, exactly the same as a Greek gyro.  My favorite lamb has been the doner Ishkender, supposedly named because it was Alexander the Great’s favorite dish when conquering Anatolia.  The meal consists of pita bread with a creamy tomato sauce layered on top, doner, onions, yogurt, and a heavy butter.  Filling, fattening, and delicious.

As a man who can’t handle hard alcohol most of my experience has been drinking beer in Turkey.  Most Turks’ beer of choice is Efes, a Pilsner.  It’s delicious, enough said.  I have had one experience drinking the national beverage of Turkey, raki. 

As Mecit mentioned above, raki is a powerful beverage.  It’s usually consumed as an aperitif.  I had it with the aforementioned, Barb, who immediately put me to shame by ordering a double.  Our waitress, whom we named Vicki, affectionately patted me on the head and told Barb in Turkish that I was like a small child who couldn’t drink.  Ouch…my pride.  Raki however, is nicknamed lion’s milk for a reason, it injects pride and courage into you with every sip.  The best part about raki, wasn't the taste (it had an anise flavor which wasn't terrible) but the mixing of the drink at the table.  Raki looks like and is served with water.  Barb told me that you pour the water into the raki and then top it off with a couple pieces of ice.  The water and alcohol react and the mixture turns an opaque color, it’s really pretty cool to watch.

Next up on the blog we’ll be discussing some communication breakdowns and the hilarity that ensues.